Books › Old Violins And Their Makers, 1883 › scan 67
Scan 67
Old Violins And Their Makers, 1883
4 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 53. See the scan on archive.org.
1ment might be found in the municipal or other official archives of Cremona. On the other hand, the splendidly-finished works which del Jesu turned out for many years directly contradict the notion that he was constitutionally an idle, negligent, and dissipated man, and it is a great misfortune that his fair fame should have been clouded by a story which is based upon no more reliable foundation than rumour. Had it not been for the great inferiority of the prison fiddles, this rumour might possibly never have gained such extended currency. It is not by any means beyond the bounds of belief that the talk originated through jealousy. Besides, the inferiority of these latest instruments is not in any sense really corroborative testimony, for it is said that Stradivari himself fell away in his later days, and that his hand seemed to lose its cunning to such a degree that some of his instruments are hardly to be recognised as coming from such a master.
3One of the finest and most renowned instruments by Joseph del Jesu is that which Paganini called his "canon," and which he bequeathed to Genoa, where it lies silent and useless so far as regards its wonderful natural powers; but, if I am not mistaken, it speaks in a voice of thunder against those who, I trust, may prove to have been the calumniators of the man who made it. This great violin is itself the most significant commentary on the story of Guarnerius' imprisonment, his idle and dissipated habits, &c., and the falling off in the quality of his work. It appears to have escaped the notice of all writers, so far as I am aware; and if, in bringing it before those interested in these matters, I shall help in the slightest degree to remove the
The computer misreads some letters and numbers. Where a name matters to you, read the scan.