Scan 17
A catalogue of the Lyon & Healy collection of rare old violins, violas …, 1916
12 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1Italian nobleman, and the greatest patron of music of his time. It comes to us directly from a well known collection of a Paris house.
3The instrument is in a perfect state of preservation, without crack or blemish of any kind.
5The desirability of one fine specimen of any celebrated violin maker over another of the same make lies chiefly in its perfect condition, together with the quality and beauty of its wood, its model; which features are of vital importance in its tone. The violins of any great maker are not always of the same degree of merit; in fact, they vary to a marked degree. This difference exists because of various reasons, the chief of which are the choice of wood, which is not always the same; the different models which were used at various times, some of which are better than others; the varnish which is better in one epoch of a maker's life than in another. When one finds the combination of all these qualities and the instrument has been handed down in a perfect state of preservation, then one may be said to possess a specimen which is representative of the best work of that particular maker.
7It is and always has been the object of this house to deal in instruments of this class rather than inferior specimens. We pay special prices for exquisite specimens and this is the reason why violins of the same make differ so widely in price. The important thing is, however, that such specimens invariably possess a distinction in tone which is fully in keeping with their other remarkable characteristics.
9The materials used by Guadagnini in this instrument are of the very finest selection. In no other violin of his make have we ever seen more masterly workmanship. The tone, because of its extraordinary preservation is most remarkable in power and quality. It is a concert instrument of the finest type and we conscientiously recommend it to any artist desirous of possessing a violin of unusual type and having a tone which is found only in the instruments of not more than two of the great Italian masters and which today represent a far greater investment. (Plate IV.)
11Price: $8,000
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