Scan 231
The violin: its famous makers and their imitators, 1909
10 lines. Read by computer on 27 September 2026. Printed page 177. See the scan on archive.org.
1and devotion of his liege subjects: to-day he is as little likely to be dethroned as Shakespeare.
3Although many interesting particulars concerning Antonio Stradivari have been obtained from time to time, there is wanting that which alone can fully satisfy his admirers, viz., connected records of the chief events of his life. Every endeavour has been made to supply, in some way, this deficiency, by consulting documents relating to the city of Cremona during the 17th and 18th centuries. The results of these inquiries are of much value, and the reader will be made acquainted with them in the following pages.
5With a patience worthy of reward, the late librarian at Cremona, Professor Peter Fécit, searched for the will of Stradivari, but as no proper register appears to have been kept until long after the famous maker died, his efforts were unsuccessful. Although the contents of the will might throw but a faint light upon the doings of the testator, there might be found particulars that would link together much of the information we already possess.
7The date of birth of Antonio Stradivari was made known to M. Fétis in 1856,1 upon evidence contained in an inventory of instruments which belonged to Count Cozio di Salabue. The inventory was made upon the occasion of the instruments
91 "Antoine Stradivari, luthier célèbre," par F. I. Fétis. Paris, 1856.
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