Books › The Hawley Collection of violins, 1904 › scan 81
Scan 81
The Hawley Collection of violins, 1904
6 lines. Read by computer on 28 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1NICOLA AMATI. THE GODING AMATI
3forty-nine years old and she thirteen years younger. They had nine children. Only one, Hieronymus, namesake of his grandfather, followed Nicola as a maker of violins. Nicola Amati died April 12, 1684, in the eighty-eighth year of his age, and was buried in the Carmelite Church of Saint Imerio. Hieronymus executed some work which is well in keeping with the traditions of the house. The violins which bear his name vary, some being of such a character as to lead one to the opinion that perhaps he dealt largely in violins, and, having insufficient time to make them himself, put his labels in those made for him by others. Some of these, varying in quality, as they did in price, are not up to the Amati standard. Others are quite worthy of Amati's name and are excellent both in tone and workmanship. He died in 1740 at the age of ninety-one years. If tradition be true, an estrangement existed between him and his father, so that Antonio Stradivari was bequeathed the forms, molds, tools, wood, etc., in the shop of Amati at the time of Nicola's death. It may be that Hieronymus was an indifferent character, in whom his father took little pride; but this is mere conjecture.
5The Amati house remains to-day in practically the same state as when occupied by the family. It stands about three hundred feet from the Square of St. Domenico, that square around which were clustered the homes of so many eminent makers. There is no monument to the memory of Nicola Amati, but none is necessary while even one of his beloved violins sings on with transcendent charm.
The computer misreads some letters and numbers. Where a name matters to you, read the scan.