Ernst, Franz Anton

1745–1805

As printed

  1. A dictionary of violin makers (1896)

    As printed on this page: “Ernst, Franz Anton; b. Dec. 3, 1745, at Georgenthal, in Bohemia; d. Jan. 16, 1805, Gotha. Was a celebrated violinist, but also the maker of some very excellent instruments. His first work was done in Pragu…”

    p. 26

    Died 1805. As printed in the cited source: “Ernst, Franz Anton; b. Dec. 3, 1745, at Georgenthal, in Bohemia; d. Jan. 16, 1805”

    scan page 34, line 20See the scan

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    scan page 34, line 20

    1. Engleder, Andreas. Was maker to the Court at Munich. In 1854 he exhibited there a quintet of instruments made on a new pattern of his own; they were of beautiful workmanship, and of full excellent tone; he was awarded medals. He is well known for his great experience and good work.
    2. Engleder, Ludwig. A maker in Bamberg. Exhibited at Munich, 1854, a violoncello with bow, and two violins, well made, on the German pattern, of excellent tone.
    3. Erikson, Knudt. A maker in Norway. Inside a sort of viola d'amore of the Hardanger peasants in Norway, was the label: "Fabrokert of Knudt Erikson, Helland, 1872."
    4. Ernst, Franz Anton; b. Dec. 3, 1745, at Georgenthal, in Bohemia; d. Jan. 16, 1805, Gotha. Was a celebrated violinist, but also the maker of some very excellent instruments. His first work was done in Prague, where he went for purposes of study about 1763; but in 1778 being appointed solo violinist to the Court of Gotha, he there found leisure to devote himself to the making of violins. He had at first working with him J. A. Otto, who later became one of the best German makers. When Otto started his own business at Weimar, Artmann and Bindernagel, both carpenters, left Weimar and became apprenticed to Ernst. He followed the Stradivari model, and the tone of his instruments is said almost to have equalled that of the Cremona instruments. In 1804 he published in the Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung (Leipzig) a very interesting article on the construction of violins.
    5. Esler. See "Elsler."
  2. A dictionary of violin makers (n.d.)

    Ernst, Franz Anton; b. Dec. 3, 1715, at Georgenthal, in Bohemia; d. Jan. 16, 1805, Gotha. Was a celebrated violinist, but also the maker of …

    scan page 36, line 20See the scansource record

    Ernst, Franz Anton; b. Dec. 3, 1745, at Georgenthal, in Bohemia; d. Jan. 16, 1805, Gotha. Was a celebrated violinist, but also the maker of …

    scan page 36, line 20See the scansource record

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    scan page 36, line 20

    1. Engleder, Andreas. Was maker to the Court at Munich. In 1854 he exhibited there a quintet of instruments made on a new pattern of his own; they were of beautiful workmanship, and of full excellent tone; he was awarded medals. He was well known for his great experience and good work.
    2. Engleder, Ludwig. A maker in Bamberg. Exhibited at Munich, 1854, a violoncello with bow, and two violins, well made, on the German pattern, of excellent tone. He died 1873.
    3. Erikson, Knudt. A maker in Norway. Inside a sort of viola d'amore of the Hardanger peasants in Norway was the label: "Fabrokert of Knudt Erikson, Helland, 1872."
    4. Ernst, Franz Anton; b. Dec. 3, 1715, at Georgenthal, in Bohemia; d. Jan. 16, 1805, Gotha. Was a celebrated violinist, but also the maker of some very excellent instruments. His first work was done in Prague, where he went for purposes of study about 1763; but in 1778, being appointed solo violinist to the Court of Gotha, he there found leisure to devote himself to the making of violins. He had at first working with him J. A. Otto, who later became one of the best German makers. When Otto started his own business at Weimar, Artmann and Bindernagel, both carpenters, left Weimar and became apprenticed to Ernst. He followed the Stradivari model, and the tone of his instruments is said almost to have equalled that of the Cremona instruments. In 1804 he published in the Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung (Leipzig) a very interesting article on the construction of violins.
    5. Esler. See "Elsler."

    scan page 36, line 20

    1. Engleder, Andreas. Was maker to the Court at Munich. In 1854 he exhibited there a quintet of instruments made on a new pattern of his own; they were of beautiful workmanship, and of full excellent tone; he was awarded medals. He was well known for his great experience and good work.
    2. Engleder, Ludwig. A maker in Bamberg. Exhibited at Munich, 1854, a violoncello with bow, and two violins, well made, on the German pattern, of excellent tone. He died 1873.
    3. Erikson, Knudt. A maker in Norway. Inside a sort of viola d'amore of the Hardanger peasants in Norway was the label: "Fabrokert of Knudt Erikson, Helland, 1872."
    4. Ernst, Franz Anton; b. Dec. 3, 1745, at Georgenthal, in Bohemia; d. Jan. 16, 1805, Gotha. Was a celebrated violinist, but also the maker of some very excellent instruments. His first work was done in Prague, where he went for purposes of study about 1763; but in 1778, being appointed solo violinist to the Court of Gotha, he there found leisure to devote himself to the making of violins. He had at first working with him J. A. Otto, who later became one of the best German makers. When Otto started his own business at Weimar, Artmann and Bindernagel, both carpenters, left Weimar and became apprenticed to Ernst. He followed the Stradivari model, and the tone of his instruments is said almost to have equalled that of the Cremona instruments. In 1804 he published in the Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung (Leipzig) a very interesting article on the construction of violins.
    5. Esler. See "Elsler."
  3. Old violins (1905)

    ERNST, Franz Anton, b. Dec. 3, 1745, Georgenthal, Bohemia; player and maker; Stradivari pattern, and some say approached Stradivari tone.

    scan page 272, line 34See the scan

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    scan page 272, line 34

    1. EMILIANI, Francesco de. Rome about 1715-20; fine workman; yellow varnish.
    2. ENGLEDER, Andreas, Munich, 1854; an original designer.
    3. ENGLEDER, Ludwig. Bamberg, 1854; German pattern; fair tone.
    4. ERNST, Franz Anton, b. Dec. 3, 1745, Georgenthal, Bohemia; player and maker; Stradivari pattern, and some say approached Stradivari tone.
    5. EULRY-CLÉMENT. Mirecourt, 1800.
Show all 5 printings
  1. An encyclopedia of the violin (1925)

    ERNST, FRANZ ANTON, Gotha, b. 1745, d. 1805.

    scan page 43, line 41; scan page 45, line 77See the scans: 43, 45source record

    As printed on this page: “ERNST, FRANZ ANTON, Gotha, b. 1745, d. 1805.”

    p. 21source record

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    scan page 43, line 41

    1. EGLINGTON, ——, London, 1800 to 1802.
    2. ELSLER (ELSTER), JOHANN JOSEPH, Mainz, 1717 to 1750.
    3. EMILIANI, FRANCESCO DE, Rome, 1704 to 1736.
    4. ERNST, FRANZ ANTON, Gotha, b. 1745, d. 1805.
    5. EVANS, RICHARD, London, 1742.
    6. EVE, JACQUES CHARLES, Paris, 1758 to 1788.
    7. FABRIS (FABBRIS), LUIGI, Venice, d. after 1873.
  2. An encyclopedia of the violin (n.d.)

    ERNST, FRANZ ANTON, Gotha, b. 1745, d. 1805.

    scan page 47, line 39See the scan

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    scan page 47, line 39

    1. EGLINGTON, ——, London, 1800 to 1802.
    2. ELSLER (ELSTER), JOHANN JOSEPH, Mainz, 1717 to 1750.
    3. EMILIANI, FRANCESCO DE, Rome, 1704 to 1736.
    4. ERNST, FRANZ ANTON, Gotha, b. 1745, d. 1805.
    5. EVANS, RICHARD, London, 1742.
    6. EVE, JACQUES CHARLES, Paris, 1758 to 1788.
    7. FABRIS (FABBRIS), LUIGI, Venice, d. after 1873.

Named in 5 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 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.

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Details and sources

Record note

Printed in An encyclopedia of the violin (1925); An encyclopedia of the violin (1925), and nowhere else on this site: that is the entire basis of this maker’s record. No claim beyond the printed naming is invented here — not established is the accurate word for it, and we want to hear from you if that can change.

What the books say

Places and dates of work
ERNST, FRANZ ANTON, Gotha, b. 1745, d. 1805. reported1
Places and dates of work
ERNST, FRANZ ANTON, Gotha, b. 1745, d. 1805. reported1
Born (date and place)
Born 1745. As printed in the cited source: “ERNST, FRANZ ANTON, Gotha, b. 1745” reported1
Died (date and place)
Died 1805. As printed in the cited source: “ERNST, FRANZ ANTON, Gotha, b. 1745, d. 1805” reported1
Places and dates of work
As printed on this page: “Ernst, Franz Anton; b. Dec. 3, 1745, at Georgenthal, in Bohemia; d. Jan. 16, 1805, Gotha. Was a celebrated violinist, but also the maker of some very excellent instruments. His first work was done in Pragu…” reported1
Places and dates of work
Ernst, Franz Anton; b. Dec. 3, 1715, at Georgenthal, in Bohemia; d. Jan. 16, 1805, Gotha. Was a celebrated violinist, but also the maker of … reported1
Places and dates of work
Ernst, Franz Anton; b. Dec. 3, 1745, at Georgenthal, in Bohemia; d. Jan. 16, 1805, Gotha. Was a celebrated violinist, but also the maker of … reported1
Died (date and place)
Died 1805. As printed in the cited source: “Ernst, Franz Anton; b. Dec. 3, 1715, at Georgenthal, in Bohemia; d. Jan. 16, 1805” reported1
Born (date and place)
Born 1745. As printed in the cited source: “Ernst, Franz Anton; b. Dec. 3, 1745” reported1
Places and dates of work
As printed on this page: “ERNST, FRANZ ANTON, Gotha, b. 1745, d. 1805.” reported1
Died (date and place)
Died 1805. As printed in the cited source: “Ernst, Franz Anton; b. Dec. 3, 1745, at Georgenthal, in Bohemia; d. Jan. 16, 1805” reported1
Places and dates of work
ERNST, FRANZ ANTON, Gotha, b. 1745, d. 1805. reported1
Born (date and place)
Born 1745. As printed in the cited source: “ERNST, FRANZ ANTON, Gotha, b. 1745” reported1
Died (date and place)
Died 1805. As printed in the cited source: “ERNST, FRANZ ANTON, Gotha, b. 1745, d. 1805” reported1
Places and dates of work
ERNST, Franz Anton, b. Dec. 3, 1745, Georgenthal, Bohemia; player and maker; Stradivari pattern, and some say approached Stradivari tone. reported1
Born (date and place)
Born 1745. As printed in the cited source: “ERNST, Franz Anton, b. Dec. 3, 1745” reported1

How the pages were read

16 of the 16 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. 3 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”, “A DICTIONARY OF VIOLIN MAKERS.”, “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 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 4 linessource record

    scan page 43, line 41 p. 21

  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 47, line 39

  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 3 linessource record

    p. 26 scan page 34, line 20

  4. 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 36, line 20

  5. 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 36, line 20

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

    scan page 45, line 77

  7. Haweis, H. R. (Hugh Reginald), 1839-1901, Old violins (Edinburgh, Grant, 1905). archive.org, oldviolins00hawe. https://archive.org/details/oldviolins00hawe.machine textcited for 2 linessource record

    scan page 272, line 34