Bow & Bridge

Bresa, Francesco

As printed

  1. A dictionary of violin makers (1896)

    Bresa, Francesco. A maker of inferior instruments in Milan in the 18th century. A label is known, but it has the name of the town partly effaced: “Francesco Bresa, fece alla scala in Mil . . . 1708.”

    scan page 20, line 23See 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 20, line 23

    2. Brensi, Girolamo. A maker of viols in Bologna, probably at the beginning of the 16th century. A "viola da braccio" in the collection of the Lyceo filarmonico at Bologna has five strings and is labelled: "Hieronymus Brensius Bonon."
    4. Bresa, Francesco. A maker of inferior instruments in Milan in the 18th century. A label is known, but it has the name of the town partly effaced: "Francesco Bresa, fece alla scala in Mil . . . 1708."
    6. Breton, J. F. Worked in Paris, 1740-80. His instruments are rather heavy in character, but are fairly well made, varnish a dark brown colour, "Breton à Paris" is branded on their backs. Label: "J. F. (V.?) Breton, citharae fabricator, facit, vendit et reconcinat instrumenta musica omnes genis.—Parisiis, anno 1740." The same label, dated 1780, was found in a violin.

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

    Bresa, Francesco. A maker of inferior instruments in Milan in the 18th century. A label is known, but it has the name of the town partly effaced: “Francesco Bresa, fece alla scala in Mil . . 1708.”

    scan page 22, line 23; scan page 22, line 24See the scans: 22, 22source 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 22, line 23

    2. Brensi, Girolamo. A maker of viols in Bologna, probably at the beginning of the 16th century. A "viola da braccio" in the collection of the Liceo filarmonico at Bologna has five strings and is labelled: "Hieronymus Brensius Bonon."
    4. Bresa, Francesco. A maker of inferior instruments in Milan in the 18th century. A label is known, but it has the name of the town partly effaced: "Francesco Bresa, fece alla scala in Mil . . 1708."
    6. Breton. J. F. Worked in Paris, 1740-80. His instruments are rather heavy in character, but are fairly well made, varnish a dark brown colour, "Breton à Paris" is branded on their backs. Label: "J. F. (V.?) Breton, citharæ fabricator, facit, vendit et reconcinat instrumenta musica omnis generis.—Parisiis, anno 1740." The same label, dated 1780, was found in a violin.

Named in 2 books, all printed 1896. Read by software from scans of those pages, not yet checked by a person against the page. Entries from 2 books stand under this name, and the software judged them near-certain the same person. Tell us if that is wrong and we will split the record.

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Details and sources

Record note

Not established is the honest state of this record: it rests on one or more sources naming this maker, and nothing else on this site confirms it. Printed in: A dictionary of violin makers (1890); A dictionary of violin makers (1890); A dictionary of violin makers (1896). Entries from 2 books stand under this name, and the software judged them near-certain the same person. Tell us if that is wrong and we will split the record. No claim beyond what those sources state has been invented here; if you can add to it, we want to hear from you.

What the books say

Places and dates of work
Bresa, Francesco. A maker of inferior instruments in Milan in the 18th century. A label is known, but it has the name of the town partly effaced: “Francesco Bresa, fece alla scala in Mil . . 1708.” reported1
Places and dates of work
Bresa, Francesco. A maker of inferior instruments in Milan in the 18th century. A label is known, but it has the name of the town partly effaced: “Francesco Bresa, fece alla scala in Mil . . 1708.” reported1
Places and dates of work
Bresa, Francesco. A maker of inferior instruments in Milan in the 18th century. A label is known, but it has the name of the town partly effaced: “Francesco Bresa, fece alla scala in Mil . . . 1708.” reported1

How the pages were read

3 of the 3 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. 1 of them rests on a section heading above a list of names, not on a trade word printed on its own line: “A DICTIONARY OF VIOLIN 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 2 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 1 linesource record

    scan page 22, line 24

  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 22, line 23

  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 20, line 23