Scan 12
The violin, its famous makers and their imitators, 1887
10 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1DEDICATION.
3therefore, that they are intended to represent the character of each artist's works, and not to form a catalogue of remarkable instruments, to engrave all of which would be wholly foreign to the purpose of my undertaking.
5I feel sure that the Frontispiece will be regarded as an important addition to the volume. In obtaining permission to photograph Paganini's famous Violin, I met with no slight obstacles, but my efforts were at length happily successful. M. Vieuxtemps¹ states that the last time the instrument was removed from the glass case in which it has rested so many years, was upon the occasion of a concert given in aid of the charities of Genoa, when Signor Sivori was permitted to play upon the treasured Violin. Up to that time there was a ribbon around the instrument, which was secured at the back with the Corporation seal—a very ill-advised mode, it must be confessed, of attaching the insignia of authority. To permit Signor Sivori to use the Violin, the seal and ribbon necessarily had to be removed, and in the performance of this delicate operation the seal carried away with it the lustrous varnish of Giuseppe Guarneri. The mark where the wax adhered is distinctly seen in the engraving of the back of the Violin given herewith. The Corporate seal is now very properly attached to the scroll, from which it hangs by a ribbon.
7Before closing my remarks on the illustrations, I must mention that I am much indebted to the able assistance I have received from Mr. Petherick, who has superintended that portion of the work. A lover of the Old Masters, he
9¹ This was penned in 1875, since when the musical world has lost one of its brightest stars in the person of M. Vieuxtemps, who died June 6, 1881. I believe the instrument has not been used since the occasion named in the text.
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