Books › Famous violinists and fine violins : historical notes, anecdotes, and reminiscences, 1896 › scan 121
Scan 121
Famous violinists and fine violins : historical notes, anecdotes, and reminiscences, 1896
8 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 101. See the scan on archive.org.
1order for some nobleman. An uninjured instrument of Stradivarius will, at present, fetch in a public auction room from £200 to £800, or even £1000. This latter sum was realised in 1888.
3A few violins made by Giuseppe Antonio Guarneri, usually called "Joseph Guarnerius," have realised as much as £400 to £700 in public auction. Of course there is a good deal of fancy, prejudice, or "craze" in all this; for there are thousands of people that frequent the concert room who could not distinguish between the sound of a violin that cost £500 or £1000 and one that cost only £25, or even less, provided it was played by a genuine artiste.
5During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries there were a considerable number of clever makers of violins in the ancient city of Cremona, whose sons, nephews, and workmen spread to Milan, Mantua, Venice, Rome, and Naples. Some also went to Paris, Stuttgart, Nancy, and to the Tyrol, whence the great Cremona makers originally came; so that the talent of violin construction spread far and wide over Europe.
7Nevertheless, it is rather surprising how seldom an instrument made by any except those who have been termed the "great masters" ever gives perfect satisfaction either to the player or to the audience. The tone of a Stradivarius violin in good condition is round and full, deliciously sweet, yet powerful,
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