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Scan 70
Old Violins And Their Makers, 1883
2 lines. Read by computer on 30 September 2026. Printed page 56. See the scan on archive.org.
1When the latter, on examining it, told Paganini that it would have to be opened, as the injury was an internal one, the great Genoese artist insisted on the operation being performed in his own house, and in his own presence. Next day the French maker called with his various appliances, and the violin was delivered to him by Paganini, who began to tremble, and retired to the extremity of the room, where he sat down, and seizing one of his own long legs with both hands, pressed his knee against his chin and sat watching the operator in great nervous excitement. The performance began with Vuillaume taking up one of his tools and applying it to the sides of the instrument. A very delicate operation is required to remove the belly of a violin. It is accomplished by a series of pressures, which produce a corresponding series of most heartrending cracks. This kind of violin tone was so different to anything that his beloved Joseph had ever yielded that, on the first crack sounding, Paganini started on his chair as if he had been stabbed. The work went on, the great violinist appeared to suffer the most acute agony, and, when at last the instrument was opened, it was found absolutely necessary to let it remain with Vuillaume for some time. As soon as the latter got the fiddle home, he set about making an exact copy, and in the meantime returned Paganini's own violin properly repaired. Shortly after, he called on the Genoese and inquired for the celebrated Joseph. Paganini said it was "all right," and made him a very handsome present, worth from fifteen to eighteen thousand francs. Vuillaume, either before this present or after it—for it is not distinctly stated—called and showed to Paganini his copy. The master was amazed, and remained for a
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