Scan 128
Joseph Guarnerius, his work and his master [Andreas Gisalberti], 1906
10 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 80. See the scan on archive.org.
1printed as the 1716 one of Parma, we may infer that it was not Gisalberti's intention to permanently reside at Bozzolo, or that he was at all certain about the length of his stay there. The question of cost of block, and printing of many tickets from it, would as naturally be a matter for consideration with him as with any maker of the present time.
3On this ticket we have a most important piece of evidence in support of the conjecture put forward in an earlier chapter that Andreas Gisalberti, as referred to on the tickets of his pupil Joseph Guarnerius, was in all probability working for some time at Cremona, and well known there among the devotees of the art of violin playing. That there are tickets still extant having some reference to the place I have felt sure, even in spite of the destructive agencies which have for so long been at work, accompanied by good or evil intention; the good intention going hand in hand with ignorance, the evil with avarice.
5Here is a ticket, however, which is the strongest evidence possible—that of Gisalberti's own assetion before his patrons of Bozzolo—that he was known as that of Cremona, or, as we may take it, had been working and was best known there. The violins of Gisalberti made at Bozzolo, judging by two that have come before me (another has been described as having precisely similar characteristics), form a distinct sub-type, and might be termed his Bozzolo period.
7The cause of there being to a limited extent a distinctness of character marked over the instruments made at that place, may be fairly put down to the operation of the law of supply and demand.
9An artist, musician, actor, or writer, does not concentrate his energies upon producing that which he is certain will never be wanted: he believes in his power of being able to supply that which is really required, and for which he sees there is, or soon will be, a brisk demand. He often sees too, that a little change from his usual manner will prove satisfactory to his patrons, and there-
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