Bow & Bridge Violin and bow makers, as the old books printed them

Books › The Story of the Violin, 1914 › scan 163

Scan 163

The Story of the Violin, 1914

8 lines. Read by computer on 18 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.

1Story of the Violin
3own time. In those days this may have been considered by him, no less than his customers, a good price, and his industry should have secured for him a nice competency. Already at the beginning of the nineteenth century prices went up in leaps and bounds, and they have gone on increasing, and will, no doubt, continue to do so until, as now for old masterpieces in painting and sculpture, only millionaires will be able to bid for them; and at last they will find a resting-place, one by one, storm and weather-beaten Téméraires, in the haven of national museums and collections.
5I should like in this connection to vindicate the rich amateur and violin collector, who is commonly chidden because of his withholding such priceless treasures from the hands of the professional, who can put them to better—viz., their proper use. Save for such a temporary confinement, consider how few of these old instruments would have stood the continual, merciless strain and strife of professional life to which they are now subjected. I do not know whether it is a real fact, but it is affirmed that some of the best Stradivari violins have already been played out, worked to death, left a mere wreck of their former self as far as tone is concerned. I can almost believe it, for I know from experience that a violin, when played on for hours at a stretch, will get tired, and the voice husky like an overworked singer; only rest will restore the tone to its usual brightness and responsiveness. In the plush-lined, scented box, under lock and key at the rich collector's house, these old gems take their holidays. Let us be glad for the sake of future generations, and thankful to the rich man for his selfish propensity.
7The history of the master's best violins is naturally

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