ILLUSTRATIONS

Frontispiece

To face page 21

THE HOUSE OF THE GUARNERI FAMILY

IN CREMONA

By kind permission of Messrs W. E.

HILL & SONS

THE SEAL OF ROGER WADE

By kind permission of Mr EDWARD
HERON ALLEN

1. THE FIDDLE'S ANCESTORS - ITS ORIGIN,

AS DESCRIBED IN MYTH, TRADITION,

AND FANCY-THE REBEC, CRWTH, AND

VIELLE.

II. VIOLS AND EARLY VIOLINS

PAGE

I

7

35

III. ITALIAN MAKERS-VIOLINS FROM GASPARO

DA SALO TO ANTONIUS STRADIVARIUS

53

IV. A FEW OTHER ITALIAN FIDDLE-MAKERS

OF NOTE

99

V. GERMAN MAKERS-JACOBUS STAINER-

SOME FRENCH AND ENGLISH MAKERS 121

VI. THE MANNER OF PRESERVING AND PLAY-

ING THE VIOLIN

APPENDIX-PAGANINI

165

. 183

CHATS ON VIOLINS

INTRODUCTION

MANY people are inclined, I believe, to accept the violin as an instrument apart from others, and rather resent the idea of its reaching perfection through imitation. I do not wish for a moment to shake the faith of those who hold this, or any other opinion (and I think the history of the violin is vague enough to admit any number), I simply intend to strive to follow in the steps of the great George Washington by telling as few lies as I can.

To begin with, there is little doubt that the violin has reached its present perfection through imitation, or I may say heredity. Nothing seems to have been discovered which tends to point to the

A