Bow & Bridge

Banks, James

1756–1831

As printed

  1. The violin: its famous makers and their imitators (1884)

    Banks, James. Brother of the above. For some years carried on the business of his father at Salisbury, in conjunction with his brother Henry. They ultimately sold the business and removed to Liverpool. The instruments of James and Henry Banks are of average merit.

    scan page 366, line 5See the scan

    Read the transcript line

    This is what the software read off the scan, not the page itself. The cited line is marked, and three lines either side are shown for context.

    scan page 366, line 5

    2. Banks, Benjamin, son of the above, born in September, 1754; died January, 1820. Worked many years with his father at Salisbury, afterwards removed to London, and lived at 30, Sherrard Street, Golden Square.
    4. Banks, James. Brother of the above. For some years carried on the business of his father at Salisbury, in conjunction with his brother Henry. They ultimately sold the business and removed to Liverpool. The instruments of James and Henry Banks are of average merit.
    6. Barnes, Robert, 1710. Worked with Thomas Smith at the Harp and Hautboy in Piccadilly. Afterwards partner with John Norris.

  2. A dictionary of violin makers (1896)

    As printed on this page: “Banks, James and Henry, fourth and sixth sons of B. Banks (1727-95). Both born in Salisbury, James about 1756, d. June 15, 1831; Henry about 1770, d. Oct. 16, 1830. They were in business together, Henry as…”

    p. 7

  3. Die Geigen- und Lautenmacher vom Mittelalter bis zur Gegenwart (1904)

    Banks, James. — Salisbury, später Liverpool. Geb. in Salisbury 1756, † in Liverpool 15. Juni 1831.

    scan page 53, line 27; scan page 55, line 30See the scans: 53, 55source record

    Read the transcript line

    This is what the software read off the scan, not the page itself. The cited line is marked, and three lines either side are shown for context.

    scan page 53, line 27

    1. Banks, Henry. — Salisbury, Liverpool. Geb. in Salisbury 1770, † 16. Okt. 1830 in Liverpool.
    2. Sechster Sohn von Benj. B. (I), bei dem er auch gelernt hat. Er verlegte sich in der Folge mehr auf das Reparieren von Pianofortes und war ein gesuchter Klavierstimmer. Er blieb aber dabei Theilhaber seines Bruders und hat wohl auch an verschiedenen Instrumenten, die aus der gemeinsamen Werkstatt hervorgegangen, mitgearbeitet.
    4. Banks, James. — Salisbury, später Liverpool. Geb. in Salisbury 1756, † in Liverpool 15. Juni 1831.
    5. Vierter Sohn von Benj. B. (I), Schüler seines Vaters, den er gleichwerthig nachahmte. Er gebrauchte die gleichen Modelle und verwendete den gleichen Lack, nur von etwas schwärzlicherer Färbung. Er arbeitete mit seinem Bruder Henry zusammen, mit dem er das väterliche Geschäft in der Catherine Street fortsetzte. Im Jahre 1811 verkauften sie dasselbe und siedelten nach Liverpool über, wo sie erst in der Church Street und dann in der Bold Street
    7. James and Henry Banks
Show all 5 printings

  1. An encyclopedia of the violin (1925)

    BANKS, JAMES, Salisbury, later Liverpool, b. Salisbury, 1756, d. Liverpool, 1831.

    scan page 35, line 5; scan page 37, line 9See the scans: 35, 37source record

    Read the transcript line

    This is what the software read off the scan, not the page itself. The cited line is marked, and three lines either side are shown for context.

    scan page 35, line 5

    1. BALLANTINE, ROBERT, Edinburgh, then Glasgow, 1850 to 1856.
    2. BANKS, BENJAMIN I, Salisbury, b. 1727, d. 1795. One of the best English masters, and probably the first one who abandoned the highly regarded Stainer model to work over the Amati and Cremonese patterns. The color of his violins is a transparent, reddish black. He worked exclusively for the publishing firm of Longman and Broderip. The label used by Banks is reproduced on Plate 20, and one of his instruments on Plate 21.
    3. BANKS, BENJAMIN II, Salisbury, later London, then Liverpool, b. 1754, d. 1820.
    4. BANKS, JAMES, Salisbury, later Liverpool, b. Salisbury, 1756, d. Liverpool, 1831.
    5. BARBANTI, SILVA FRANCESCO, Correggio, 1847 to 1850.
    6. BARBIERI, FRANCESCO, Mantua, 1695 to 1750.
    7. BARNES, ROBERT, London, 1765 to 1794.

  2. An encyclopedia of the violin (n.d.)

    BANKS, JAMES, Salisbury, later Liverpool, b. Salisbury, 1756, d. Liverpool, 1831.

    scan page 39, line 5See the scan

    Read the transcript line

    This is what the software read off the scan, not the page itself. The cited line is marked, and three lines either side are shown for context.

    scan page 39, line 5

    1. BALLANTINE, ROBERT, Edinburgh, then Glasgow, 1850 to 1856.
    2. BANKS, BENJAMIN I, Salisbury, b. 1727, d. 1795. One of the best English masters, and probably the first one who abandoned the highly regarded Stainer model to work over the Amati and Cremonese patterns. The color of his violins is a transparent, reddish black. He worked exclusively for the publishing firm of Longman and Broderip. The label used by Banks is reproduced on Plate 20, and one of his instruments on Plate 21.
    3. BANKS, BENJAMIN II, Salisbury, later London, then Liverpool, b. 1754, d. 1820.
    4. BANKS, JAMES, Salisbury, later Liverpool, b. Salisbury, 1756, d. Liverpool, 1831.
    5. BARBANTI, SILVA FRANCESCO, Correggio, 1847 to 1850.
    6. BARBIERI, FRANCESCO, Mantua, 1695 to 1750.
    7. BARNES, ROBERT, London, 1765 to 1794.

Named in 5 books printed between 1884 and 1925. Read by software from scans of those pages, not yet checked by a person against the page. Entries from 5 books stand under this name, and the software judged them likely the same person. Tell us if that is wrong and we will split the record.

Know something about this maker? Tell us.

Details and sources

Record note

An encyclopedia of the violin (1925); An encyclopedia of the violin (1925); An Encyclopedia of the Violin (1926); Die Geigen- und Lautenmacher vom Mittelalter bis zur Gegenwart (1904); Die Geigen- und Lautenmacher vom Mittelalter bis zur Gegenwart (1904); The violin: its famous makers and their imitators (1884) is what this record is built on, nothing more. Entries from 5 books stand under this name, and the software judged them likely the same person. Tell us if that is wrong and we will split the record. No claim beyond that naming has been invented here, so not established is the honest state of the record — tell us if you can change it.

What the books say

Places and dates of work
BANKS, JAMES, Salisbury, later Liverpool, b. Salisbury, 1756, d. Liverpool, 1831. reported1
Places and dates of work
BANKS, JAMES, Salisbury, later Liverpool, b. Salisbury, 1756, d. Liverpool, 1831. reported1
Places and dates of work
BANKS, JAMES, Salisbury, later Liverpool, b. Salisbury, 1756, d. Liverpool, 1831. reported1
Places and dates of work
Banks, James. — Salisbury, später Liverpool. Geb. in Salisbury 1756, † in Liverpool 15. Juni 1831. reported1
Places and dates of work
Banks, James. — Salisbury, später Liverpool. Geb. in Salisbury 1756, † in Liverpool 15. Juni 1831. reported1
Places and dates of work
Banks, James. Brother of the above. For some years carried on the business of his father at Salisbury, in conjunction with his brother Henry. They ultimately sold the business and removed to Liverpool. The instruments of James and Henry Banks are of average merit. reported1
Born (date and place)
Born 1756. As printed in the cited source: “BANKS, JAMES, Salisbury, later Liverpool, b. Salisbury, 1756” reported1
Died (date and place)
Died 1831. As printed in the cited source: “BANKS, JAMES, Salisbury, later Liverpool, b. Salisbury, 1756, d. Liverpool, 1831” reported1
Places and dates of work
As printed on this page: “Banks, James and Henry, fourth and sixth sons of B. Banks (1727-95). Both born in Salisbury, James about 1756, d. June 15, 1831; Henry about 1770, d. Oct. 16, 1830. They were in business together, Henry as…” reported1

How the pages were read

9 of the 9 lines here were read from machine text (software that turns a photo of a page into words), not by a person looking at the page image. 2 of them rest on a section heading above a list of names, not on a trade word printed on their own line: “VIOLIN MAKERS IN EUROPE”, “English Makers.”.

Notes

  1. Read from machine text (software that turns a photo of a page into words, or a typed transcription), not by a person looking at the page image. ↩

The books behind this record

This record draws on 5 sources. Each is listed below with how it was read, because a claim read from a photo of the page is stronger than one read from machine text.

  1. Alberto Bachmann, An encyclopedia of the violin (1925). archive.org, encyclopediaofvi0000albe_h3k7. https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofvi0000albe_h3k7.machine textcited for 3 linessource record

    scan page 35, line 5

  2. Bachmann, Alberto and Ysaye, Eugene, An encyclopedia of the violin (New York, Da Capo Press, n.d.). archive.org, encyclopediaofvi0000bach_r6r5. https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofvi0000bach_r6r5.machine textcited for 1 linesource record

    scan page 39, line 5

  3. Alberto Bachmann, An Encyclopedia of the Violin (1925). archive.org, encyclopediaofvi0000albe_u1d5. https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofvi0000albe_u1d5.machine textcited for 1 linesource record

    scan page 37, line 9

  4. Die Geigen- und Lautenmacher vom Mittelalter bis zur Gegenwart (1904). archive.org, bub_gb_cWCqAAAAIAAJ. https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_cWCqAAAAIAAJ.machine textcited for 1 linesource record

    scan page 53, line 27

  5. Die Geigen- und Lautenmacher vom Mittelalter bis zur Gegenwart (1904). archive.org, diegeigenundlau00vongoog. https://archive.org/details/diegeigenundlau00vongoog.machine textcited for 1 linesource record

    scan page 55, line 30

  6. Hart, George, 1839-1891, The violin: its famous makers and their imitators (London, Dulau and co. [etc.], 1884). archive.org, violinitsfamousm84hart. https://archive.org/details/violinitsfamousm84hart.machine textcited for 1 linesource record

    scan page 366, line 5

  7. Stainer, C. (Cecie), 1867-1937, A dictionary of violin makers (London ; New York: Novello, Ewer, 1896). archive.org, dictionaryofviol00stai_0. https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofviol00stai_0.machine textcited for 1 linesource record

    p. 7