Books › Famous violinists and fine violins : historical notes, anecdotes, and reminiscences, 1896 › scan 147
Scan 147
Famous violinists and fine violins : historical notes, anecdotes, and reminiscences, 1896
12 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 127. See the scan on archive.org.
1"It is truly wonderful!"
3"Yes; but what is more wonderful still has been revealed to me within the last fortnight by the old writing I discovered inside my violin. This writing has been there, Heaven only knows how long, and is very small and faint. After endeavouring in vain to make it out, with the aid of spectacles and a magnifying glass, I determined to have the instrument opened, for I found that the four lines of inscription had been placed in such a manner that it was quite impossible to read them without taking the violin to pieces in this manner."
5"Would not that be a great risk, George?"
7"I knew it was a risky thing to do; it is certainly an operation that requires the greatest care, lest the table of the instrument should get cracked as it is being raised, and the violin irretrievably injured. But my curiosity was so great, I could not resist the temptation. So I took it down to William Techler, who is a careful workman and a good German scholar. I waited with him for hours whilst he did it; and when the table was entirely removed we made out the writing, and he translated it for me. Oh, what a revelation it was!"
9"Indeed!"
11"There were four lines in a small, clear hand, lines which at first looked like the verse of a poem, written with extreme neatness, and in minute German characters."
The computer misreads some letters and numbers. Where a name matters to you, read the scan.