Scan 86
The Violin Gallery: Comprising: Section I. South Kensington Special …, 1890
3 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1A close observer will notice that the lower circle of the left f hole approaches nearer to the edge than the right hand one. As the views are taken on a scale of about 6-14 to the inch, the difference amounts to 1-7 of an inch. This peculiarity of Guarnerius is not confined to this instrument, it is probably quite common, as I have seen the same thing in the beautiful specimen owned by Mr. Huiskamp, of Keokuk, Iowa. Perhaps it may not be out of place here to give some account of the meteor who flashed the light in which this fiddle shines, in one sense, brighter than all others, and will continue so to shine as long as time and elements shall continue its preservation, To quote Mr. H. R. Haweis' beautiful remarks—"Who is this man who rises up suddenly in the world of music, and whose fame passes with the brightness and rapidity of a meteor through the civilized world; who, at the moment when Baillot, Spohr, Rode, and Lafont seemed to have explored the heights and depths of the violin, opened up new vistas full of strange, unparalleled mysteries, and gave us glimpses into hell, purgatory, and paradise beyond the dreams even of Dante; whose gaunt and supernatural figure startled and fascinated the crowds that thronged about him, a solitary man among men, but so unlike them that he seemed to belong to another race, and to discourse in the weird music of another world; who bowed to none, yet was idolized by all; whose engagements were negotiated by kings and ministers, who could spurn the prayers of princes and grand dutchesses, and yet receive honor at their hands, and was alternately decorated by the pope, and anathematized by the clergy? Who was this exceptional being reigning supreme for forty years without a rival over the conflicting schools of Italy, Germany and France, at whose approach the greatest masters confessed themselves vanquished; who, although he set the fashions, fired whole populations, invented a new school, yet, in his own peculiar greatness, had no masters, no equals, and has left no followers? This man, who has stamped so indelible an impression of himself upon the musical world, while his name will survive as the synonym of wonder and mystery to the remote ages—this Hercules of the violin was Nicolo Paganini."
2His marvelous execution secured for him without price two magnificent Cremonas. Parcini the painter brought him a concerto of extraordinary difficulty to read at sight, and at the same time placing in his hands a fine Stradiuarius, said "This instrument shall be yours if you play that concerto at first sight in a masterly manner." If that is the case replied Paganini, "you may bid adieu to it," and playing it off at once he retained the violin. Some years later (in 1820) at Leghorn, being in great straits he was obliged to part for a time at least, with his Stradiuarius, when M. Livron, a merchant and distinguished amateur lent him this most perfect specimen of Guarnerius Del Jesu to play upon at a concert. After the concert, on Paganini's returning the violin. M. Livron having
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