Scan 291
The violin: its famous makers and their imitators, 1875
4 lines. Read by computer on 1 October 2026. Printed page 23. See the scan on archive.org.
1who used the instruments of Stradiuarius were Boccherini, Viotti, Rode, Kreutzer, Habeneck, Mazas, Lafont, and Bailliot.
3About the year 1820 the fame of Joseph Guarnerius as a great maker was published beyond Italy, chiefly through the instrumentality of Paganini. That wondrous player came to possess a splendid specimen of Guarnerius del Jesù, dated 1743, now sleeping in the museum at Genoa, which Paganini used in his tour through France and England. He became the owner of this world-famed Violin in the following curious manner. A French merchant (M. Livron) lent him the instrument to play upon at a concert at Leghorn. When the concert had concluded, Paganini brought it back to its owner, when when M. Livron exclaimed, "Never will I profane strings which your fingers have touched; that instrument is yours." A more fitting present or higher compliment could not have been offered. The names of Amati and Stradiuarius became familiar to the musical world gradually, but Guarnerius, in the hands of a Paganini, came forth at a bound. This illustrious Violin was often credited with the charm which belonged to the performer; the magical effects and sublime strains that he drew forth from it must, it was thought, rest in the Violin. Every would-be violinist whose means permitted him to indulge in the luxury, endeavoured to secure an instrument by the great Guarnerius. The demand thus raised brought forth those gems of the Violin maker's art
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