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Scan 151
Old Violins And Their Makers, 1883
6 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 137. See the scan on archive.org.
1summarily suppressed by Louis XVI., on the advice of his minister, Turgot, the 22nd of February, 1776. Parliament refused to register this edict, and the king had recourse to a "bed of justice," held at Versailles on the 12th of March following, where, with all the solemnities customary at these sovereign assizes, the edict was formally read and proclaimed. Among these suppressed corporations was that of the Musical Instrument Makers, which, at this date, first appears divided into four branches—viz., 1st, lute and violin makers; 2nd, wind instrument makers; 3rd, organ builders; and 4th, harpsichord makers.
3The healthy liberty granted to the manufacturers of Paris by the abolition of their exclusive privileges was not, however, of long duration. Other counsels prevailed, and Turgot retired from the ministry on the 12th of May of the same year, two months after his ideas had triumphed at the "bed of justice." In the month of August following, a number of the guilds were re-established on a more liberal basis, and, among them, that of the Lute and Violin Makers. When the American War of Independence supervened, the violin makers of Paris appeared in a patriotic dress, having contributed, along with other two corporations, seemingly affiliated to them, 20,000 of the 1,500,000 livres offered by the guilds to the king for the construction of a war vessel, after the loss of the fine fleet under Admiral de Grasse on the 12th April, 1782.
5In spite of the number and apparent prosperity of the members of this industry, comparatively few specimens of their work have come down to the present day. Indeed, it is curious to note how scarce are all early
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