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A classical guitar (as opposed to being a standard guitar) judging by the shape, larger size, headstock, bit wider fretboard, and the manner of his holding it. The photo looks too post war to be of interest to us here on this forum -- can anybody date this (if Mark has no date otherwise) from the clothes, shoes, lighting, print type ? Looks like a paper print.
Everything points to the image being of Civil War era vintage from the man's clothing to his hairstyle to the style of the cdv card. I owned another cdv (since sold), ID'd, carrying a Boston-area backmark, and dated "June 1862," which showed a young, upper-class man wearing an almost identical cravat. The photographic firm "Davis & Co." was definitely active in Boston during the 1860's as evidenced by this photo:
A revenue stamp on the back would have been nice, the better to more precisely date the image, but I'd be willing to put up a sawbuck this cdv dates to c.1862-1864. Indeed, a perusal of available reference works and/or city directories listing 19th Century Boston photographers would likely confirm my speculation.
Incidentally, while searching for info on "Davis & Co." I found a very interesting scholarly journal site carrying many articles dealing with 19th Century representational art (including photography). Here is the link:
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