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Scan 88
Old Violins And Their Makers, 1883
2 lines. Read by computer on 30 September 2026. Printed page 74. See the scan on archive.org.
1This last trait is curiously corroborated, I think, in another way. Of his large family by his two wives, two little boys, the first in each set, died in mere infancy, one in six days and the other in eight months. In each case the child immediately following, born in the same month as his predecessor, is named after his deceased brother. Although a period of thirty years separates the two cases, the lost infants being of different mothers, Stradivari perpetuates the memory of his little dead ones by giving their names to those who followed. It is an indication to my mind of a permanent strain of tenderness in his character which some of the qualities of his work fully bear out. Readers who may be disposed to think that I have here sought too much of the poetry of human life in dry names and dates will strive hard, I hope, to get a sight of a fine Stradivari before they credit me with a spurious enthusiasm which I would be among the first to condemn. The late Herr Ernst had a very fine Stradivari; I saw it about seven or eight years ago. It was a beautiful specimen, and in excellent preservation. If I recall it rightly, it had a reddish, golden brown varnish, and I have a recollection of the tone being somewhat difficult to bring out, which was most probably entirely the fault of the player who tried it. I remember also suggesting to its then owner that, as all great performers ought to have great instruments, he should offer it for sale to Madame Neruda, which he shortly afterwards informed me he had done, and I believe it is still in the possession of that distinguished artist. Herr Joachim also has a grand instrument by this master. Indeed, I think our country is richer in Stradivaris than any other in Europe, although, so far as
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