Books › Old violins and violin lore, 1900 › scan 120
Scan 120
Old violins and violin lore, 1900
8 lines. Read by computer on 28 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1VIOLINS IN FRANCE
3All went well with the treasures, and in 1875, when he died, the Messie fell to the joint share of his only two children, Jeanne and Claire. Jeanne (Madame Alard) bought out Claire's interest for five hundred pounds, the violin at that time being valued at one thousand. In 1890 Messrs. Hill bought it for Mr. R. Crawford for the unprecedented figure of two thousand pounds, the largest sum ever given by a dealer for a single instrument. Mr. Charles Reade valued it at six hundred, but that was several years ago, when a first-class Strad could be obtained for about three hundred and twenty pounds. Prices have run up since then, and (like "Charley's Aunt"1 as we write) are "still running!"
5Down to the end of his life Vuillaume was a great dealer, and he hurried over to London when quite an old man to attend the sale of Mr. Gillot's fiddles. He mistook the date, and arrived a day after the sale. He came into Mr. Hill's shop in Wardour Street, and gave vent to his disappointment. Mr. Hill, whom he always visited when in London, had bought several instruments, and had a second deal with Vuillaume then and there, much to the Frenchman's gratification. It is interesting to catch this glimpse of the two greatest dealers and artificers of the age face to face for one moment, and in such friendly and characteristic relations.
71 A popular comedy (1898).
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