Not much is known about Charles James Dorn. He lived from 1838 to 1909. Charles J. Dorn was a pianist, guitarist, and composer. He was well known in the Boston area as a guitarist and composer of guitar music. It seems that he may have published the compositions and arrangements he wrote for guitar under the name “Charles J. Dorn” and his other compositions under the name “Carl Dorn.” There are a few secondary sources that mention that he was an enthusiastic player of Mertz compositions and opera arrangements. He apparently died during a train journey to Orange, Massachusetts.