Bow & Bridge

Seymour, A. H.

Bow makerViolin makerLincoln, Nebraska

As printed

  1. This claim names a source that has no page on this site yet, so it cannot be checked. It is shown rather than hidden.

    His dates, and everything outside Poidras. No birth or death year, no directory line, no census identification is on file; he is absent from the 1916 Violinist’s Guide and from Poidras vol. 1 (1928, checked against intact alphabetic neighbours). A Lincoln, Nebraska city-directory run and a census search for A. H. Seymour — initials Poidras expands to Abijah Hayes — are the obvious next documents; neither has been sought.

  2. Critical and Documentary Dictionary of Violin Makers Old and Modern (1930)

    Lincoln, Nebraska

    Poidras, vol. 2 (1930), p. 238, read from the Google Books page image on 12 August 2026: “Lincoln (Nebraska) 1308, O Street.” Self-supplied matter compiled by Poidras; the label facsimile (856) independently prints “Lincoln, Neb.” on an instrument of 1926. He has no entry in the 1916 Violinist’s Guide.source record

    1308 O Street, Lincoln (by 1930)

    Poidras, 2:238, read from the page image. One source, one date; no directory run has been sought to bracket the shop’s years.source record

    East Enterprise, Indiana; no year attested

    Poidras, 2:238: “Born at East Enterprise (Indiana).” A single secondary source carrying self-supplied matter, and it gives no year. Not corroborated by any record on disk.source record

    Self-taught by his own account — “attracted by violin making after reading good works on the subject.”

    Poidras, 2:238. The phrasing is the dictionary’s, from the maker’s own supply.source record

    Guarnerius I. H. S. model, followed “in their general outline.”

    Poidras, 2:238. No instrument by him has been examined to test it.source record

    Oil varnish, orange to dark brown, “applied in shades.”

    Poidras, 2:238. Self-supplied matter.source record

    Described as a “violin and bow maker who enjoys a great reputation in his own country”; no output figure attested.

    Poidras, 2:238. The bow-making designation rests on this entry alone — but it is the reason this record matters to a site named for the bow: almost no American bow makers of this period carry any published record.source record

    Printed label, set rotated on the plate: “No. — MADE Anno 192—” / “A. H. SEYMOUR” / “LINCOLN, NEB.”, with a small monogram device; serial and final year-digit completed by hand.

    Label facsimile 856 on the plate leaf facing p. 256, read from the Google Books page image on 12 August 2026 by two independent readings. A facsimile in a secondary reference, not a surviving instrument; the text entry at 2:238 cross-references “N° 856,” confirming the assignment. The seeded citation “plate 852” (Reindahl’s facsimile) was struck earlier as wrong; 856 is the recovered number.source record

    One instrument attested by number: No. 58, made 1926 (the example reproduced as facsimile 856).

    A serial run to at least 58 by 1926 is implied but not otherwise attested; no other numbered Seymour instrument is on file anywhere in the corpus.source record

Named in one book, printed 1930. Read by a person from the page images, not yet checked by a person against the page.

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Details and sources

Record note

A Lincoln, Nebraska violin and bow maker who stands, under his full name, in the standard interwar international reference. Poidras’s second volume (1930) carries a text entry for “Seymour (Abijah-Hayes)” at 1308 O Street: born at East Enterprise, Indiana, drawn to the craft “after reading good works on the subject,” following the Guarnerius I. H. S. model in general outline, with an oil varnish running orange to dark brown — and, on the plate leaf facing p. 256, his label, facsimile 856: “No. 58 — Made Anno 1926 — A. H. Seymour, Lincoln, Neb.,” serial and final year-digit filled in by hand beside a small monogram device. The entry closes by citing that facsimile number, so text and plate confirm each other.

He is not in the 1916 Violinist’s Guide, so no census entry stands behind this page; both Poidras volumes were checked and volume 1 (1928) does not carry him. Poidras compiled his American entries from what makers supplied about themselves, and everything above is that supply. No date of birth or death is attested anywhere on file.

A printed violin label in a bold slanted face, shown turned a quarter-turn clockwise from the plate, where it is printed on its side. Three lines read No. 58 MADE Anno 1926; then A. H. SEYMOUR; then LINCOLN, NEB. The serial 58 and the final digit of the year are heavier and less regular than the type around them, having been filled in by hand. At the right stands a small dense monogram device of interlaced letters. At the left edge the plate's facsimile number, 856, sits in its own small ruled box and remains on its side, because only the label has been turned. A coarse halftone dot screen from the 1930 printing lies over the whole image.
Seymour’s Lincoln label, its serial 58 and the last digit of 1926 filled in by hand — a label already four years old when Poidras reproduced it among a plate of 1928s. Detail (facsimile 856) of the plate leaf facing p. 256 in Henri Poidras, Critical and Documentary Dictionary of Violin Makers Old and Modern, vol. 2 (Rouen: Imprimerie de la Vicomté, 1930), read from the Google Books page image — full source record. The plate prints this label sideways; it is turned here to be read, and its facsimile number is left as it fell. Published 1930; its United States copyright has expired — public domain.

What the books say

Places and dates of work
Lincoln, Nebraska reported read from the page image
Workshop addresses
1308 O Street, Lincoln (by 1930) reported read from the page image
Born (date and place)
East Enterprise, Indiana; no year attested reported read from the page image
Training
Self-taught by his own account — “attracted by violin making after reading good works on the subject.” reported read from the page image
Models and patterns
Guarnerius I. H. S. model, followed “in their general outline.” reported read from the page image
Varnish
Oil varnish, orange to dark brown, “applied in shades.” reported read from the page image
Output (claimed and documented)
Described as a “violin and bow maker who enjoys a great reputation in his own country”; no output figure attested. reported read from the page image
Labels and brands
Printed label, set rotated on the plate: “No. — MADE Anno 192—” / “A. H. SEYMOUR” / “LINCOLN, NEB.”, with a small monogram device; serial and final year-digit completed by hand. reported read from the page image
Numbering practice
One instrument attested by number: No. 58, made 1926 (the example reproduced as facsimile 856). reported read from the page image
What is not known
His dates, and everything outside Poidras. No birth or death year, no directory line, no census identification is on file; he is absent from the 1916 Violinist’s Guide and from Poidras vol. 1 (1928, checked against intact alphabetic neighbours). A Lincoln, Nebraska city-directory run and a census search for A. H. Seymour — initials Poidras expands to Abijah Hayes — are the obvious next documents; neither has been sought. reported [no source recorded]

Instruments

No instruments recorded yet for this maker.

The books behind this record

This record draws on 1 source, read from the page image. 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. Poidras, Henri, Critical and Documentary Dictionary of Violin Makers Old and Modern (Rouen: Imprimerie de la Vicomté, 1930), 2:238. Google Books, pHQHAQAAMAAJ, pg PA238; also HathiTrust mdp.39015012793934. https://books.google.com/books?id=pHQHAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA238.Secondaryread from the pagecited for 7 linessource record

    Poidras, vol. 2 (1930), p. 238, read from the Google Books page image on 12 August 2026: “Lincoln (Nebraska) 1308, O Street.” Self-supplied matter compiled by Poidras; the label facsimile (856) independently prints “Lincoln, Neb.” on an instrument of 1926. He has no entry in the 1916 Violinist’s Guide. Poidras, 2:238, read from the page image. One source, one date; no directory run has been sought to bracket the shop’s years. Poidras, 2:238: “Born at East Enterprise (Indiana).” A single secondary source carrying self-supplied matter, and it gives no year. Not corroborated by any record on disk. Poidras, 2:238. The phrasing is the dictionary’s, from the maker’s own supply. Poidras, 2:238. No instrument by him has been examined to test it. Poidras, 2:238. Self-supplied matter. Poidras, 2:238. The bow-making designation rests on this entry alone — but it is the reason this record matters to a site named for the bow: almost no American bow makers of this period carry any published record.

  2. Poidras, Henri, Critical and Documentary Dictionary of Violin Makers Old and Modern (Rouen: Imprimerie de la Vicomté, 1930), 2:256. Google Books, pHQHAQAAMAAJ, pg PA256-IA31; also HathiTrust mdp.39015012793934, image seq. 413. https://books.google.com/books?id=pHQHAQAAMAAJ.Secondaryread from the pagecited for 2 linessource record

    Label facsimile 856 on the plate leaf facing p. 256, read from the Google Books page image on 12 August 2026 by two independent readings. A facsimile in a secondary reference, not a surviving instrument; the text entry at 2:238 cross-references “N° 856,” confirming the assignment. The seeded citation “plate 852” (Reindahl’s facsimile) was struck earlier as wrong; 856 is the recovered number. A serial run to at least 58 by 1926 is implied but not otherwise attested; no other numbered Seymour instrument is on file anywhere in the corpus.