Scan 58
Antonio Stradivari, his life and work (1644-1737), 1909
6 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 34. See the scan on archive.org.
1fact that a wooden rule or straight-edge and a model of the "f" holes of the Amati form were found among the Stradivari relics purchased by Count Cozio from the great maker's descendants in 1775. The reasoning of Hart that this fact, if true, would account for Hieronymus not always working to the same forms as those which would be derived from his father's instruments is unconvincing. We repeat that the abilities of Hieronymus have been underrated. His capacities were quite equal to striking out modifications of form or outline if circumstances called for them.
3The earliest dated instruments of Stradivari seen by ourselves are of the years 1666, 1667, and 1669. Hart mentions a violin of the year 1666, and M. Silvestre, of Paris, tells us that his uncles, Pierre and Hippolyte Silvestre, of Lyons, also possessed one of that date. But Count Cozio says that Stradivari worked from 1656 to 1736; and, as we have already remarked, it is quite possible for him to have made instruments and inserted his own label as early as 1660, his sixteenth year—in fact, in a notebook in our possession, compiled in the early part of last century, we find mention of a violin of this early date; though we cannot vouch for the correctness of the statement, it being so very easy to misread old and obscured figures.
5Before proceeding to note the successive changes in Stradivari's work as we approach 1700, we will pause and review those instruments made by him during Amati's lifetime—i.e. prior to 1684—and seek to find the point where Stradivari's originality asserted itself. We cannot with justice say that he commenced where his master left off, nor do his earliest works foreshadow a man of such exceptional and versatile abilities as he proved himself to be. He did not, as we are often told, suddenly flash forth as a
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