Books › British violin-makers classical and modern; being a biographical and critical dictionary of British makers of the violin from the foundation of the classical school to the end of the nineteenth century, 1904 › scan 179
Scan 179
British violin-makers classical and modern; being a biographical and critical dictionary of British makers of the violin from the foundation of the classical school to the end of the nineteenth century, 1904
14 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
A town on its own line is one of the directory's headings. That is where the town on a maker's page comes from.
1Hardie's name. One is recorded by Mr. Honeyman in his sketches in the People's Friend. It is this: several of Hardie's cheaper instruments—"pot-boilers" in fact—were purchased some years ago by a certain individual and labelled "Panormo" and "Fendt," and then sold in auction rooms.
3The other is still more flattering to Hardie. A certain maker (personally known to the author), of mediocre attainments, possessed a fine Hardie fiddle (Maggini model) and made a number of copies of it. He varnished them with a poor oil varnish in glaring yellow, fitted them up, inserted a forged Hardie ticket, and got rid of them at the pawnbrokers. Some of these were sold afterwards for considerable sums. I know the locale of three of these counterfeit "Hardies" at the present moment. It has often amused me to watch their rôle in the little masquerade they carry on. One changed hands recently for £12. These "Hardie-Maggini" forgeries are, it should be noted, single purfled. Aliquando bonus dormitat Homerus.
5Hardie's wood is excellent, and his tone is large, rich, and telling. He succeeds well in producing the Maggini tone, and, no doubt, when his violins have been well used, the tone will have the copious "tears" of the Brescian maestro. His prices range from £3 to £20.
7He has exhibited on several occasions. At the Edinburgh International Exhibition in 1886 he gained a bronze medal; at the Glasgow Exhibition in 1886-87 an honourable mention; and at the International Exhibition, Edinburgh, in 1890, a gold medal. An Exhibition prize violin is shown in the illustration. Facsimile label:—
9MADE BY
10James Hardie & Sons,
11VIOLIN MAKERS,
12Edinburgh.
131898.
The computer misreads some letters and numbers. Where a name matters to you, read the scan.