Scan 511
The violin: its famous makers and their imitators, 1909
18 lines. Read by computer on 27 September 2026. Printed page 433. See the scan on archive.org.
1praise. It has been ascribed to Garrick, from its appearing at first with the signature G.; but I heard Mr. Garrick declare that it was written by Dr. Johnson."
3The epitaph of Phillips is in the porch of Wolverhampton Church. The prose part of it is curious:—
5 Near this place lies
6 Charles Claudius Phillips,
7 Whose absolute contempt of riches,
8 and inimitable performances upon the Violin,
9 made him the admiration of all that knew him.
10 He was born in Wales,
11 made the tour of Europe,
12 and, after the experience of both kinds of fortune,
13 Died in 1732.
15DR. JOHNSON'S KNOWLEDGE OF MUSIC.
17He said he knew "a drum from a trumpet, and a bagpipe from a guitar, which was about the extent of his knowledge of music." He further tells us that "if he had learnt music he should have been afraid he should have done nothing else but play. It was a method of employing the mind, without the labour of thinking at all, and with some applause from a man's self." These remarks are better appraised and understood when we bear in mind Dr. Johnson's own estimate of his musical knowledge together with his having derived pleasure from
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