Books › The Salabue Stradivari. A history and critical description of the famous violin, commonly called "le Messie." Containing many particulars obtained from authentic sources and now published for the first time, 1891 › scan 26
Scan 26
The Salabue Stradivari. A history and critical description of the famous violin, commonly called "le Messie." Containing many particulars obtained from authentic sources and now published for the first time, 1891
6 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1February 22, 1888, "Le Messie" came into the possession of his widow and two daughters, Madame Guesnet and Madame Croué—he, like Vuillaume, having left no directions as to the disposal of his instruments. On the death of Madame Alard, M. Croué, on behalf of his wife and her sister, sold the violin, on the 5th May, 1890, to us, on behalf of Mr. R. Crawford, an enthusiastic amateur, of Trinity, Edinburgh, for the sum of 50,000 francs (£2,000), which is the largest authenticated amount ever paid for a violin. It is interesting to compare these figures with Mr. Charles Reade's estimate of the value of the instrument in 1872 at £600 (see "Readiana").
3Having traced from authentic sources the unbroken record of this famous violin, let us examine the characteristic features of an instrument which has excited the unqualified admiration and ambition of the first makers and connoisseurs of Europe. The plates which accompany this memoir have been admirably executed by Mr. Shirley Slocombe, and reproduced by chromo-lithography under the direction of Mr. Alfred Slocombe; and they offer an accurate and beautiful representation of the instrument.
5The striking originality of Stradivari's work asserts itself in nearly all his productions, there being hardly an instrument of his which is not characterised by some features peculiar to itself. The Salabue violin has several unmistakable characteristics. The most original and distinctive is the height and pronounced sharpness of the wave-like ridge, bordering the surfaces of the back and belly close to the
The computer misreads some letters and numbers. Where a name matters to you, read the scan.