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Scan 306
An Encyclopedia of the Violin, 1925
16 lines. Read by computer on 28 September 2026. Printed page 278. See the scan on archive.org.
1trace as far as possible some of the interesting instruments which have found their way into the possession of Americans, many of which have at one time or another been in one or the other of the European collections mentioned above. I shall pass over collections of the ordinary kind, of which there are many, and confine the space at my disposal to a consideration of collections of Stradivarii, Guarnerii, Amati and other of the more famous Italian makers, which may be cited as representative specimens.
3Good instruments were appreciated and purchased by the very few in pre-revolutionary days. Recently the writer had in his hands a fine 7/8 size Nicola Amati cello which was brought to Boston about 1760, and there is good evidence that few excellent old English and French violins were brought over in the early days of the last century.
5There were many German and French commercial violins—copies of Stradivarius, Guarnerius and Amati—imported during those years, and not a few of these to-day masquerade as genuine works of art. In Louisiana and that part of the South, one meets with occasional Vuillaume, Chanot, Silvestre and Gand violins which were imported by wealthy planters, and others returning from France.
7It was not until 1868, however, that a violin of the first class was purchased by an American, John P. Waters of Brooklyn. This was the "King" Joseph Guarnerius, 1737, and was secured through George Hart of London from the Plowden collection. Mr. Waters was an ardent lover and keen judge of Italian violins and owned several others besides the Joseph, among them being a few Nicola Amati and a Stradivarius, 1725.
9In May of 1876 he sold the "King" to Mr. R. D. Hawley of Hartford, Connecticut, who then began the formation of the first collection of fine violins ever made in the United States. Mr. Hawley's collection attracted wide attention and aroused general interest in violins of the better kind, and as a direct result, others emulated his example and many choice Cremonas began to find their way to America.
11At his death, Mr. Hawley owned twelve violins; in addition to these he had owned as many more which he disposed of during his lifetime. The collection was sold by his executors to Ralph Granger of San Diego, California, and was purchased by the author of this article, on behalf of a large Western music house in 1901.
13Mr. Albert H. Pitkin of Hartford also formed a modest collection of good violins, one of which was a Nicola Amati imported from London in 1872 by a Mr. Johnston of Chicago. This, as far as I know, was the first notable Cremona owned in that city.
15Another collection of first importance was made by the late Dwight J. Partello of Washington, D. C. He was an enthusiast of enthusiasts. First as consul, then as special agent of the Treasury Department, he lived in
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