The Violin

The Violin, by George Hart

The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Violin, by George Hart This
eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no
restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it
under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this
eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
Title: The Violin Its Famous Makers and Their Imitators
Author: George Hart
Release Date: July 1, 2007 [EBook #21982]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE
VIOLIN ***

Produced by Ron Swanson

[Frontispiece: PAGANINI'S GIUSEPPE GUARNERI. Date 1743. (IN
THE MUNICIPAL PALACE, GENOA.)]

THE VIOLIN ITS FAMOUS MAKERS AND THEIR IMITATORS

BY GEORGE HART
WITH NUMEROUS WOOD ENGRAVINGS FROM PHOTOGRAPHS
OF THE WORKS OF STRADIVARI, GUARNERI, AMATI, AND
OTHERS, AND ADDITIONS AND EMENDATIONS BY THE
AUTHOR'S SON AND TOWRY PIPER

"To perfect that wonder of travel--the locomotive--has perhaps not
required the expenditure of more mental strength and application, than
to perfect that wonder of music--the Violin." W. E. GLADSTONE.

LONDON DULAU AND CO., LIMITED, 37, SOHO SQUARE, W.
SCHOTT AND CO., 159, REGENT STREET. 1909
[All rights reserved.]

PREFACE TO THE ENLARGED AND REVISED EDITION
The favourable reception accorded to the previous editions of this work
has not only added greatly to the pleasure attending the preparation of a
new and revised edition, but has encouraged me to spare no effort
within my power to render the volume as interesting and complete as
possible. In making these endeavours, the bulk of the book has been
necessarily increased by additional information, spread over all the
sections of the work, but chiefly on those which treat of the Early
History of the leading instrument, and the Italian branches of the
subject.
It is in connection with the Italian divisions of the book that the reader
will discover, I venture to hope, information which he will regard as
interesting in its character, besides being of some historical value. The
greater part of this new matter has been obtained from original MSS.
belonging to the trustees of the Civic Museum at Cremona, which
Institution is located in the palace bequeathed to the citizens, together

with its contents, by the Marchese Ponzoni. In the year 1872, Dr. F.
Robolotti, the learned historiographer of the town, and a distinguished
physician, and the Marchese Senatore Araldi Erizzo, presented to the
Institution referred to an important collection of rare books and
documents illustrative of the history of the City of Cremona. Among
these are two sets of MSS., numbered respectively 729 and 431, the
contents of which shed much light on the Italian sections of our subject,
and constitute the source of the principal portion of the additional
information contained in the following pages. The first-named MS. is
the work of Don Desiderio Arisi, a monk of the order of St. Jerome,
who in the quiet of his cell in the Convent of St. Sigismondo set
himself the task of writing brief notices of Cremonese worthies. The
MS. is dated 1720, and includes a most interesting account of the
patronage enjoyed by Antonio Stradivari, together with several items of
information of more or less worth, relative to the famous Violin-maker.
In passing, it may be mentioned that Don Desiderio Arisi was intimate
with Stradivari, and gained his knowledge of the facts he recorded from
the artist himself. The second-named MSS., from which extracts have
been made, are dated 1823. These contain references to the principal
makers of Cremona, combined with critical remarks on their works
from the pen of Vincenzo Lancetti, a Cremonese poet and biographer.
The information contained in these MSS. was chiefly received from
Count Cozio di Salabue in the course of correspondence between him
and Lancetti.
Nearly the whole of the extracts to which the reader's attention has been
directed were given to me as far back as the year 1875, when the
original edition of this work was in the press. Finding it impossible to
make adequate use of them, in consequence of the volume being partly
printed, I decided to insert a few items at the end of the notice of
Antonio Stradivari, and to hold over the remainder in order to distribute
the information among the notices of the several makers in a future
edition.
I am indebted for the knowledge of the existence of the Arisi and
Lancetti MSS., and for their contents, to my friend Signor Federico
Sacchi,[1] who during his researches among the Robolotti collection

had free access to all the original documents, and whose family has
long lived near the house occupied by Stradivari. With these
advantages, it is almost needless to remark that my friend possessed
ample means of aiding me in my endeavours to learn much