Bow & Bridge

Betts, Edward

As printed

  1. An encyclopedia of the violin (1925)

    BETTS, EDWARD, London, b. Stamford (?), d. about 1815 or 1820.

    scan pages 37, 39 · line 5See the scans: 37, 39source 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 37, line 5

    2. BERTRAND, NICOLAS, Paris, 1687 to 1735.
    3. BESSARD, LOUIS, Paris, 1753.
    4. BETTS, EDWARD, London, b. Stamford (?), d. about 1815 or 1820.
    5. BETTS, JOHN EDWARD (OLD JOHN BETTS), London, b. 1755, d. 1823. Betts was born in Stamford, Lincolnshire, and was a scholar of Richard Duke. He was better known as a dealer and connoisseur than a violin maker. The instruments which bear his name were mostly made by his sons and nephews who were working for him. His successor in the business was his brother Arthur. One of his instruments is at present owned by T. W. Japhouse. Betts is also famous for having first purchased a Stradivarius for twenty shillings ($5) which was recently sold for $60,000.
    7. BIANCHI, NICOLO, Aix, Paris, Genoa, Nizza, b. Genoa, 1796, d. Nizza, 1881.

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

    Betts, Edward, London, b. Stamford (?), d. about 1815 or 1820.

    scan page 41, 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 41, line 5

    2. Bertrand, Nicolas, Paris, 1687 to 1735.
    3. Bessard, Louis, Paris, 1753.
    4. Betts, Edward, London, b. Stamford (?), d. about 1815 or 1820.
    5. Betts, John Edward (Old John Betts), London, b. 1755, d. 1823. Betts was born in Stamford, Lincolnshire, and was a scholar of Richard Duke. He was better known as a dealer and connoisseur than a violin maker. The instruments which bear his name were mostly made by his sons and nephews who were working for him. His successor in the business was his brother Arthur. One of his instruments is at present owned by T. W. Japhouse. Betts is also famous for having first purchased a Stradivarius for twenty shillings ($5) which was recently sold for $60,000.
    7. Bianchi, Nicolo, Aix, Paris, Genoa, Nizza, b. Genoa, 1796, d. Nizza, 1881.

Named in 2 books, all printed 1925. 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

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: An encyclopedia of the violin (1925); An encyclopedia of the violin (1925); An Encyclopedia of the Violin (1926). 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 is invented here, so not established is the honest word for it.

What the books say

Places and dates of work
BETTS, EDWARD, London, b. Stamford (?), d. about 1815 or 1820. reported1
Places and dates of work
Betts, Edward, London, b. Stamford (?), d. about 1815 or 1820. reported1
Places and dates of work
BETTS, EDWARD, London, b. Stamford (?), d. about 1815 or 1820. 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: “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 2 sources, both read from machine text. The count weighs how well each source was read, not just how many are cited. A stack of half-read sources does not outweigh one page read properly.

  1. 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 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 41, 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 39, line 5