Martin 2-23 Size 2 Preowned circa 1850-1865

The C.F. Martin 2-23 is one of the rarest and most historically significant acoustic guitars a collector or player can encounter - an instrument from the very earliest period of American guitar making, built in at C.F. Martin's original Nazareth, Pennsylvania workshop, and predating the introduction of serial numbers by some three decades. This instrument still features the 'C.F Martin New York' stamp, which Martin kept using until 1867 (Martin left NYC in 1838). The Style 23 was one of Martin's earliest catalogued styles, selling at the time for $23 and distinguished by its size 2 body, straight-line top border purfling, fan or early X bracing, Brazilian rosewood back and sides, red spruce top, cedar neck, ebony pyramid bridge, and ebony fingerboard. Individual variation between examples is considerable - reflecting a period of hand lutherie in which each guitar was built as a genuinely individual object - and surviving examples in any playable condition are extraordinarily rare on the open market.

This example is in fully playable condition - an important and meaningful distinction for an instrument of this age. The refret, replacement fretboard, shaved bridge with likely new saddle and nut, and replaced bridge plate represent the kind of careful, practical maintenance work that has kept this guitar alive and playable across 160 or more years of musical life, and none of these interventions diminish the historical significance or the tonal authenticity of an instrument whose body, top, back, sides, neck, and appointments remain substantially original. The Brazilian rosewood back and sides retain the depth, complexity, and natural brilliance that makes pre-war and pre-CITES Brazilian rosewood so revered among guitar enthusiasts and collectors, while the red spruce top - now aged and seasoned over a century and a half - produces the open, warm, and organically resonant voice of a genuinely antique acoustic guitar that no modern instrument can replicate. The original case accompanies the guitar.

Features

• An extraordinarily rare surviving example of a C.F. Martin Style 23 from the 1850-1865 period - pre-serial number, pre-Nazareth, and among the earliest recognisably modern guitars produced by one of the most important names in the history of the acoustic guitar.
• Brazilian rosewood back and sides of the pre-CITES era - a tonewood now unavailable for commercial use - retaining the characteristic depth, complexity, and natural brilliance that makes antique Brazilian rosewood instruments so prized among collectors and players worldwide.
• Red spruce top aged and seasoned over 160 or more years of existence, producing the open, warm, and organically resonant tonal voice of a genuinely antique acoustic guitar that no modern instrument construction can replicate.
• Fully playable condition following careful historic maintenance - refret, replacement fretboard, shaved bridge with likely new saddle and nut, and replaced bridge plate preserving the instrument's playability while the original body, neck, and appointments remain substantially intact.
• Accompanied by the original case - a significant provenance detail for an instrument of this age and rarity.

• Maker: C.F. Martin & Co.
• Model: 2-23 (Size 2, Style 23)
• Period: circa 1850-1865 (pre-serial number era)
• Origin: Nazareth PA
• Body: Size 2
• Top: Red spruce
• Back & sides: Brazilian rosewood
• Bracing: Fan or early X-brace (period typical)
• Neck: Cedar, slotted headstock
• Fingerboard: Replacement ebony
• Frets: Refret (bar frets period-typical)
• Bridge: Ebony pyramid style, shaved (likely new saddle)
• Nut: Likely replacement
• Bridge plate: Replaced
• Binding: Straight-line top border purfling (Style 23)
• Finish: French polish (period typical)
• Strings: Gut or light gauge appropriate
• Includes: Original case
• No serial number (serial numbers introduced 1898)
• Made in: USA