Scan 441
The violin, its famous makers and their imitators, 1887
20 lines. Read by computer on 28 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1had reached eighteen thousand francs, a casualty, which might have led to unpleasant results, lent additional zest to the proceedings. There was a great pressure among the crowd to obtain a sight of the Stradivari. Two or three of the more adventurous spirits clambered on to a table to gain a clear prospect of the precious Fiddle, causing the legs of the table to give way and the enthusiasts to be precipitated to the ground. A cry of terror—less for the fallen than for the Fiddle—arose from the throng; but soon the voice of the auctioneer was heard proclaiming, in reassuring accents, "Do not be alarmed, gentlemen; the Stradivari is safe!"
3AN INDEFATIGABLE VIOLINIST.
5"Puppo, the Violinist, being in Paris in 1793, was summoned before the Committee of Public Safety on suspicion, when the following interrogatories were put to him: 'Your name?' 'Puppo.' 'What were you doing during the time of the tyrant?' 'I played the Violin.' 'What do you do now?' 'I play the Violin.' 'And what will you do for the nation?' 'I will play the Violin.'"
7A WISH.
9"Busts, cameos, gems—such things as these
10Which others often show for pride,
11I value for their power to please
12And selfish churls deride;
13One Stradivari, I confess,
14Two meerschaums, I would fain possess."
15—Extract from Oliver Wendell Holmes' Lines on Contentment.
17LIVING STRADIVARIS.
19A passionate lover of Fiddles, being in Milan, made the acquaintance of an Italian who, like himself, was a lover of
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