Scan 444
The violin: its famous makers and their imitators, 1875
2 lines. Read by computer on 1 October 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1Violin, and an excellent player. One evening he was playing at a musical party. After he had finished he placed his "Strad" in its case as usual, which he closed, without locking it. The next day he was amusing himself with a parrot, which bit him on the lip; the wound appeared very unimportant, but exposure to the cold brought on malignant abscess, and he sank and died. In due course his representatives arrived at St. Petersburg, and took charge of his property, which was brought to England. Some twelve months afterwards a relative who took much interest in valuable Violins, was visiting the family of the deceased gentleman, and asked to be allowed to see the Stradiuarius, 1709. The case was sent for and duly opened. When the Violin was handed to the visitor he remarked there must be some mistake, and suggested that the wrong case had been brought, the instrument he held having no resemblance whatever to the Stradiuarius, and not being worth a sovereign. Enquiries were set on foot, and it was satisfactorily proved that the case had never been opened since it had been brought to England; neither had it left the custody of the late owner's nearest relative, who had kept it secured in a chest. The next day after the occurrence of the event related above, I was communicated with, and asked if I could recognise the Stradiuarius in question. It is unnecessary to record my answer. I might with an equivalent amount of reason have been asked if I should know my own child. The
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