Books › Old violins, 1905 › scan 201
Scan 201
Old violins, 1905
18 lines. Read by computer on 27 September 2026. Printed page 181. See the scan on archive.org.
1fiddles in and out of cases, tenors, 'cellos, violins in pieces and violins whole. Half a dozen Strads there; a Gasparo (afterwards Mr Bennett's), a Ruggieri (Mr T. R. Bradson's); about a hundred Italian fiddles, by different makers.
3Here, too, was found the "Messie" or "Messiah."
5These trophies created little enthusiasm at the time, but to the joy of the relatives, two nephews, who had been hunted up with difficulty by the municipal authorities, a sealed packet was found containing valuable securities and a considerable amount of gold.
7The rest is matter of common history.
9The instant his friend and patron Vuillaume heard of the magician's death he hurried to Milan, and visited the nephews at their farmhouse.
11"Where are the fiddles?"
13"At Milan; but we have six here."
15On the spot Vuillaume opened the cases. The first contained a splendid Strad, the second a Joseph del Gesù, the third a Carlo Bergonzi, the fourth and fifth two Guadagninis, and the last the famous Messiah, preserved by Count Cozio de Salabue, intact until 1824, when it was bought by Tarisio.
17Vuillaume came to terms with the nephews for these six, and then lost not a moment in visiting the famous attic at Milan, where he found 246 more, which he bought at once for £3166, leaving the astonished heirs no doubt laughing in their sleeves, under the impression that the gobe-mouche of a Frenchman had been nicely hi-diddle-diddled by the wily Italians.
The computer misreads some letters and numbers. Where a name matters to you, read the scan.