Books › Old Violins And Their Makers, 1883 › scan 47
Scan 47
Old Violins And Their Makers, 1883
2 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 33. See the scan on archive.org.
1cated by some of the less scrupulous. The first of the three has been neatly printed with a pen, and runs as follows: "Antonius & Hieronym. Fr. Amati Cremonen. Andræ fil. F. 1687," the last two figures of the date being added in written characters. The second has been either stencilled or printed from a block and runs: "Antonius & Hieronimus Fr. Amati Cremonen. Andræ F. 1698," the two last figures in this one being likewise written. The third is wholly and roughly printed with a quill or metal pen, and the ink immediately blotted up. It runs: "Hieronimus Amati Cremonensis Fecit Anno Salutis, 1697." From the careless form of the letters, the circumstance that the second "i" in Hieronimus is left undotted, and more especially from the fact that the ink of the whole ticket has been immediately blotted, leaving the spaces pale between the hard outlines of the letters, it may be fairly conjectured that this last ticket was written in a hurry, and probably for the purpose of placing it in an instrument already complete. Hurry of this kind was not a characteristic of these brothers Amati, as is evident from the beautiful finish of their work, neither was it a characteristic of Hieronymus when alone. If I am correct in my conjecture, it points to the probable fact that the fabricator of this ticket was aware that those of the brothers were being used or imitated at this period for placing in violins made after their pattern, and that the exigence of some sudden demand for a Hieronymus Amati left him without sufficient time or cunning to allow the ink to dry naturally. It is quite out of the question to believe that the brothers worked together for more than a hundred years, and I, therefore, lean to the opinion that
The computer misreads some letters and numbers. Where a name matters to you, read the scan.