Scan 62
Voice and violin: sketches, anecdotes, and reminiscences by T.L. Phipson, 1898
12 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 44. See the scan on archive.org.
1V
3THE VIOLINIST OF THE BOULEVARDS
5SOME of my readers who have visited Paris in the days of the Emperor Napoleon III. may have noticed, on passing along the Boulevard des Capucines, a little woman about forty years of age, with two wooden legs and a violin, sitting in front of the confectioner's shop at the corner of the Rue de la Paix, selling prints and music.
7In 1848, when Prince Louis Napoleon was canvassing for his election as President of the Second Republic, she was a very pretty girl, and dressed rather coquettishly.
9At that period of her history she used to sit a little higher up on the Boulevard, in front of the wall of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and behind her, on this wall, were exposed for sale a certain number of cheap engravings, often subjects of rather questionable taste, and some songs, the airs of which she played with much expression on her violin.
11In those days "lady violinists" were very rare, so rare, indeed, that the mere fact of a girl playing
The computer misreads some letters and numbers. Where a name matters to you, read the scan.