Many thanks to Mary Leah Christmas for info on the gramophone recordings. My original post to the forum got garbled in transmission. But was curious about the passage from the Alex Ayres book _The Wit and Wisdom of Mark Twain_ where he indicates some recordings are still in existence and cites a passage from one of them. It appears he is quoting from a Hal Holbrook recording. Have been unable to reach Mr. Ayres for confirmation. Rasmussen's _A to Z_ indicates some recordings were destroyed in fire at Edison's studio. Thanks again to Mary Leah for helping round out the picture of those that have unfortunately been lost. Barb