Bow & Bridge

Blanchard, Paul François

born 1851

As printed

  1. A dictionary of violin makers (1896)

    Blanchard, Paul François, grandson of François Blanchard, a maker of guitars; b. Feb. 10, 1851, Mirecourt (Vosges); apprenticed there (1865) to Auguste …

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    scan page 18, line 11

    1. Bittner, David. A maker in Vienna, d. (?) 1880. He did a large trade in America. Exhibited a violin and violoncello in London, 1862.
    2. Blair, John. Worked in Edinburgh in 1820 with Matthew Hardie.
    3. Blaise. A maker in Mirecourt in 1820. Instruments not particularly well made.
    4. Blanchard, Paul François, grandson of François Blanchard, a maker of guitars; b. Feb. 10, 1851, Mirecourt (Vosges); apprenticed there (1865) to Auguste Darte (pupil of J. B. Vuillaume and successor to Nicolas Vuillaume). 1868, worked a few months at Marseilles with Daniel, and in October, 1869, settled at Lyons, working under Silvestre neveu, until he started his own business, 45, rue Ferrandieri, in 1876, which he moved, 1890, to 77, rue de la République. Two workmen are employed, one for repairs, the other for new instruments. Blanchard himself repairs old instruments and makes all the new violins, which have his label: "Fait par Paul Blanchard à Lyon en 18—, No. —," priced at £12 each. Up till now he has made 379 instruments (all numbered), he makes from 25 to 30 a year; about the same number made by his workmen are sold at half the price of his own and are labelled: "Fait dans l'atelier de P. Blanchard, Lyon, 18—." Instruments made by his pupils are sold at £3 or £4 each, and have a label representing the Lyons city arms inscribed, "Lugdunum, anno 18—." Blanchard generally follows the Stradivari and G. Guarneri patterns, but does not attempt to artificially age his violins; the tone shows great equality on all the strings, is powerful and clear, the oil varnish, very transparent, is a golden red colour for his own instruments, a lighter colour for those made in his shop. He first exhibited at Paris, 1889, and gained a silver medal; was awarded the "Grand Prix" at the Lyons Exhibition in 1894; was appointed "Luthier du conservatoire national, de l'orchestre et des théâtres municipaux."
    5. Bocquay. See "Boquay."
    6. Bodio, Giambattista. A maker in Venice about 1792 to 1832. The few instruments known show nicely finished

  2. A dictionary of violin makers (n.d.)

    Blanchard, Paul François, grandson of François Blanchard, a maker of guitars; b. Feb. 10, 1851, Mirecourt (Vosges); apprenticed there (1865) to Auguste …

    scan page 20, line 11See the scans: 20, 20source record

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    scan page 20, line 11

    1. Bittner, David. A maker in Vienna, d. 1887. He did a large trade in America. Exhibited a violin and violoncello in London. 1862.
    2. Blair, John. Worked in Edinburgh in 1820 with Matthew Hardie.
    3. Blaise. A maker in Mirecourt in 1820. Instruments not particularly well made.
    4. Blanchard, Paul François, grandson of François Blanchard, a maker of guitars; b. Feb. 10, 1851, Mirecourt (Vosges); apprenticed there (1865) to Auguste Darte (pupil of J. B. Vuillaume and successor to Nicolas Vuillaume) 1868, worked a few months at Marseilles with Daniel, and in October, 1869, settled at Lyons, working under Silvestre neveu, until he started his own business, 45, rue Ferrandieri, in 1876, which he moved, 1890, to 77, rue de la République. Two workmen are employed, one for repairs, the other for new instruments Blanchard himself repairs old instruments and makes all the new violins, which have his label: "Fait par Paul Blanchard à Lyon en 18—, No. —," priced at £12 each. Up till now he has made 379 instruments (all numbered), he makes from 25 to 30 a year; about the same number made by his workmen are sold at half the price of his own and are labelled: "Fait dans l'atelier de P. Blanchard, Lyon, 18—." Instruments made by his pupils are sold at £3 or £4 each, and have a label representing the Lyons city arms inscribed, "Lugdunum, anno 18—." Blanchard generally follows the Stradivari and G. Guarneri patterns, but does not attempt to artificially age his violins; the tone shows great equality on all the strings, is powerful and clear, the oil varnish, very transparent, is a golden red colour for his own instruments, a lighter colour for those made in his shop. He first exhibited at Paris, 1889, and gained a silver medal; was awarded the "Grand Prix" at the Lyons Exhibition in 1894; was appointed "Luthier du conservatoire national, de l'orchestre et des théâtres municipaux."
    5. Bocquay. See "Boquay."
    6. Bodio, Giambattista A maker in Venice about 1792 to 1832. The few instruments known show nicely finished

  3. An encyclopedia of the violin (1925)

    BLANCHARD, PAUL FRANÇOIS, Lyon, b. Mirecourt, 1851.

    scan pages 37, 39 · line 11See the scans: 37, 39source record

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    1. BIANCHI, NICOLO, Aix, Paris, Genoa, Nizza, b. Genoa, 1796, d. Nizza, 1881.
    2. BINDERNAGEL, JOHANN WILHELM, Gotha, b. Remstadt bei Gotha about 1770, d. Gotha, 1845.
    3. BLAISE, ——, Mirecourt, 1822.
    4. BLANCHARD, PAUL FRANÇOIS, Lyon, b. Mirecourt, 1851.
    5. BODIO, GIAMBATTISTA, Venice, 1790 to 1832.
    6. BOIVIN, CLAUDE, Paris, 1730 to 1754.
    7. BOLLER, MICHAEL, Mittenwald, about 1770.
Show all 4 printings

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

    Blanchard, Paul François, Lyon, b. Mirecourt, 1851.

    scan page 41, line 11See the scan

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    scan page 41, line 11

    1. Bianchi, Nicolo, Aix, Paris, Genoa, Nizza, b. Genoa, 1796, d. Nizza, 1881.
    2. Bindernagel, Johann Wilhelm, Gotha, b. Remstadt bei Gotha about 1770, d. Gotha, 1845.
    3. Blaise, ——, Mirecourt, 1822.
    4. Blanchard, Paul François, Lyon, b. Mirecourt, 1851.
    5. Bodio, Giambattista, Venice, 1790 to 1832.
    6. Boivin, Claude, Paris, 1730 to 1754.
    7. Boller, Michael, Mittenwald, about 1770.

Named in 4 books printed between 1896 and 1925. Read by software from scans of those pages, not yet checked by a person against the page. Entries from 4 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.

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Details and sources

Record note

If you can add to this record, we want to hear from you. As it stands, one or more sources name this maker and nothing else on this site confirms it: A dictionary of violin makers (1890); A dictionary of violin makers (1890); A dictionary of violin makers (1896); An encyclopedia of the violin (1925); An encyclopedia of the violin (1925); An Encyclopedia of the Violin (1926). Entries from 4 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 what those sources state is invented here, so not established is the honest word for it.

What the books say

Places and dates of work
Blanchard, Paul François, grandson of François Blanchard, a maker of guitars; b. Feb. 10, 1851, Mirecourt (Vosges); apprenticed there (1865) to Auguste … reported1
Places and dates of work
Blanchard, Paul François, grandson of François Blanchard, a maker of guitars; b. Feb. 10, 1851, Mirecourt (Vosges); apprenticed there (1865) to Auguste … reported1
Places and dates of work
Blanchard, Paul François, grandson of François Blanchard, a maker of guitars; b. Feb. 10, 1851, Mirecourt (Vosges); apprenticed there (1865) to Auguste … reported1
Places and dates of work
BLANCHARD, PAUL FRANÇOIS, Lyon, b. Mirecourt, 1851. reported1
Places and dates of work
Blanchard, Paul François, Lyon, b. Mirecourt, 1851. reported1
Places and dates of work
BLANCHARD, PAUL FRANÇOIS, Lyon, b. Mirecourt, 1851. reported1
Born (date and place)
Born 1851. As printed in the cited source: “Blanchard, Paul François, grandson of François Blanchard, a maker of guitars; b. Feb. 10, 1851” reported1

How the pages were read

7 of the 7 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: “A DICTIONARY OF VIOLIN MAKERS.”, “VIOLIN MAKERS IN EUROPE”.

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 4 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. Stainer, C. (Cecie), 1867-1937, A dictionary of violin makers (London: Novello, n.d.). archive.org, dictionaryofviol00stai. https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofviol00stai.machine textcited for 2 linessource record

    scan page 20, line 11

  2. Stainer, C. (Cecie), 1867-1937, A dictionary of violin makers (London: Novello, n.d.). archive.org, dictionaryofviol1899stai. https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofviol1899stai.machine textcited for 1 linesource record

    scan page 20, line 11

  3. 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

    scan page 18, line 11

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

    scan page 37, line 11

  5. 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

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  6. 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 39, line 11