VIOLINS
AND
VIOLIN MAKERS.
BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY
OF THE
GREAT ITALIAN ARTISTES,
THEIR
FOLLOWERS AND IMITATORS,
TO THE
PRESENT TIME.
WITH ESSAYS ON IMPORTANT SUBJECTS
CONNECTED WITH THE VIOLIN.
BY JOSEPH PEARCE, JUN.
London: Longman and Co., Paternoster Row.
Sheffield: J. Pearce, Jun.
1866.
CONTENTS.
| PAGE. | |
| Preface | 5 |
| Introduction | 8 |
| Violin Makers, alphabetically arranged | 15 |
| Bow Makers | 88 |
| Cremona | 93 |
| Amati Family | 93 |
| Stradiuarius | 107 |
| On the Cremona Varnish | 119 |
| Guarnerius | 121 |
| Steiner | 131 |
| Why are certain Violins of more Value than others? | 140 |
| On the Production of Good Tone in Violins | 148 |
| Great Players and their Instruments | 152 |
| General Notes | 154 |
| Repairs of Instruments | 162 |
| Addenda | 167 |
PREFACE.
The Violin is an instrument which, though small and of triflingoriginal cost, has yet commanded most extraordinary prices. The reasonof the immense difference in the value of these instruments musttherefore be a subject possessing strong claims to notice from virtuosoand amateur.
To distinguish by the outward characteristics and peculiarities oftone, that which will be of pecuniary value to the possessor, and yieldthe utmost delight to the hearer, is an acquirement at once difficultto obtain and very valuable when obtained. To assist the amateur andcollector in this pursuit is the object of the present little work.Such a work has long been a desideratum.
Of late years, the History of the Violin and its congeners has receivedmuch attention. Elaborate and costly treatises have been published,some of which being written in Foreign tongues, are exceedinglydifficult to o