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Scan 125
The Hawley Collection of violins, 1904
7 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1Chapter VIII
3Giuseppe (Joseph) Guarneri, Son of Andrea, 1660-1735
4The Hawley Joseph fil Andrea
6The name Guarneri, Mr. Hart says, "is probably known to every possessor of a violin throughout the world." This is indeed no exaggeration. The magic name, in truth, is a household word in all countries where the violin is played. The credit for achieving such fame belongs, of course, chiefly to the great Joseph, known as "del Gesù," although other members of the family were also instrumental in building up the fame of the name. The family in previous years had been prominent in the affairs of Cremona, and, according to one authority, was of noble stock. Andrea Guarneri was the first member of the family, as far as is known, who devoted himself to the making of musical instruments. The tax returns of Nicola Amati for 1641, according to Fetis, show him to be that maker's pupil, also certifying that at that time he was fifteen years of age. So his birth occurred in the year 1626. It would be interesting to know more than we do about the years Andrea spent in Amati's shop. Evidently he resided in the home of the master and therefore must have been very close to him. He is generally spoken of as having worked side by side with Stradivari, and such is the opinion expressed by Mr. Hart in his book; but if the above record of the tax returns for 1641 is correct, he was at the time fifteen years old, which makes it very improbable, for Stradivari was not born until three years later, 1644. This period of Andrea's work extends from 1650 until about 1698. Judged by the quality of his work, he does not take rank with later members of his family. He was not by nature endowed with as keen artistic perception as some of his greater contemporaries, and therefore the influence of Nicola Amati, who was doing some of his finest work at the time Andrea was employed in his shop, fell, in a measure, on barren ground. But because he had not the nicety of touch and expression possessed by the great masters, it is going too far to condemn him in the manner of some critics. The fatal fault of one writer blindly following in the track of another is shown in this instance, and to it we must ascribe the lack of discrimination upon the part of the authorities in summing up the work of Andrea. It is not given to all to shine in the same degree, and while the interest in Andrea is largely centered in the fact that he was the founder of a family of great violin-makers, it should not cause his work to be condemned because it is not so good as that of some of the later members of his family. Yet this has been done by some English writers,—a very great mistake indeed, especially noticeable when they extol the virtues of their own favorite makers whom the world at large ranks in the fourth or fifth class. His varnish, although equal to certain works of Amati, generally has not the softness of texture nor the richness of color of that of his sons or nephew, nor is his
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