Books › The violin: its famous makers and their imitators. : With several wood engravings from photographs of the works of Stradiuarius, Guarnerius, Amati, and others, 1880 › scan 229
Scan 229
The violin: its famous makers and their imitators. : With several wood engravings from photographs of the works of Stradiuarius, Guarnerius, Amati, and others, 1880
2 lines. Read by computer on 29 August 2026. Printed page 211. See the scan on archive.org.
1often credited with the charm which belonged to the performer; the magical effects and sublime strains that he drew forth from it must, it was thought, rest in the Violin. Every would-be violinist, whose means permitted him to indulge in the luxury, endeavoured to secure an instrument by the great Guarnerius. The demand thus raised brought forth those gems of the Violin maker's art now in the possession of wealthy amateurs and a few professors. When the various works of the gifted Guarnerius were brought to light, much surprise was felt that such treasures should have been known only to a handful of obscure players, chiefly in the churches of Italy. The Violin used by Paganini belongs to the last period of the great maker, and, consequently, is one of those bold and massive instruments of his grandest conception, but lacks the beautiful finish of the middle period. The connoisseurs of those days had associated Joseph Guarnerius with the Violin of the type of Paganini's only; their surprise was great when it was discovered that there were three distinct styles in the works of Guarnerius, one evidencing an artistic grandeur, together with a high finish, but little inferior to those of Antonius Stradiuarius. The marked difference between these epochs of Guarnerius, manufacture has led to a great amount of misconception. Thirty years since, the world possessed little information on the subject, and the connoisseur of those times could not believe it possible that these varied styles emanated from one mind. The opportunities given to the connoisseur of later days of comparing these various instruments of the several epochs of Guarnerius have set at rest all doubts concerning them. They no
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