Scan 283
The violin: its famous makers and their imitators, 1875
4 lines. Read by computer on 1 October 2026. Printed page 15. See the scan on archive.org.
1The fancy for the Violin as a curiosity has been a matter of slow growth, and has reached its present proportions solely from the intrinsic merits of its object. The Violin has not come suddenly to occupy the attention of the curious, like many things that might be named which have served to satisfy a taste for the collection of what is rare or whimsical, and to which an artificial value has been imparted. In the days when the old Brescian and Cremonese makers flourished, the only consideration was the tone-producing quality of their instruments; the Violin had not then taken its place among curiosities. The instruments possessing the desired qualities were sought out until their scarcity made them legitimate food for the curious. Beauties, hitherto passed over, began to be appreciated, the various artistic points throughout the work of each valued maker were noted, and in due time Violins had their connoisseurs as well as their players.
3Besides Italy, England, France, and Germany have each had their great men in the Fiddle world, whose instruments have ever been classed as objects of vertu. Mace, in his "Musick's Monument," published in 1676, gives, perhaps, the earliest instance of curiosity prices in England. "Your best provision (and most compleat) will be a good chest of Viols; six in number, viz., two basses, two tenors, and two trebles, all truly and proportionately suited; of such there are no better in the world than those of Aldred, Jay, Smith; (yet the highest in esteem are)
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