Mark Twain, 1906

Colorized by Jordan J. Lloyd
based on an original photographic print by A.F. Bradley
License this Image

• Collectible giclée fine art print;
• Hand-printed in England, with individual embossing;
• Ships with a Certificate of Authenticity;
• Guaranteed archival quality for over a century;
• Each sale directly supports the artisan;
• Global shipping available;
• Listed dimensions include a white border for easy framing

ABOUT THIS IMAGE

Taken May 20th, 1906. New York, United States
(Library of Congress)

"This photograph of the Great American Novelist, taken by A.F. Bradley, was used as a relief fundraiser for his friend the poet Ina Coolbirth, who lost her worldly possessions in the San Francisco earthquake on April 18th, 1906. The autographed photographs, along with books went for USD$10 (that's USD$285 in today's money).

George Wharton James, writing in an issue of Physical Culture, recalls the sitting. '[I]t occurred to me that if I could get Mark Twain to pose, and Mr. Bradley would make me some photographs at a wholesale price, and Mark would then autograph them, I could sell quite a number, to the happy increase of our "Ina Coolbrith Home Fund." Mr. Bradley agreed and said he would help make the posing as easy as possible by building a revolving platform, to save the usual troubles and annoyances of constantly moving the sitter to produce the proper effects of light and shade... of the negatives thus obtained he [Twain] wrote me that he regarded four as the finest photographs of himself that had ever been taken of him in his life.'"

– Jordan J. Lloyd

This historical photograph has been meticulously researched and rendered into colour from a black and white original by a skilled artisan, continuing a craft tradition that has existed since photography began.