Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 10.djvu/107

 g> s.x. AUG. 2,

NOTES AND QUERIES.

99

' Harold,' which, I think, might fitly be added to the Tib bibliography :

" 'Ye are still in your leading-strings, Norman,' replied the Saxon, waxing good-humoured in his contempt. ' We have an old saying and a wise one All came from Adam except Tib the ploughman ; but when Tib grows rich all men call him " dear brother." ' " Chap. vi. Book vi.

JOHN T. PAGE. West Haddon, Northamptonshire.

NOTES ON BOOKS, &c.

Antonio Stradivari : his Life and Work, 1644-11 '37.

By W. Henry Hill, Arthur F. Hill, F.S.A., and

Alfred E. Hill. (Hill & Sons.) As the man who perfected the violin, Antonio Stradivari deserves and has found biographers. These belong to recent years. Until the last century was well advanced the idea that a craftsman could merit such attention as has been bestowed upon Stradivari had not entered the minds of men, and the honours of a full biography were reserved for the monarch, the statesman, the warrior, the writer, and the artist. Recognition of the merits of Stradivari was, moreover, slow in growth. In England, and in France also, it was not. until late in the eighteenth century that the violins of Stradivari triumphed in general estima- tion over those of his master Nicolo Amati and other members of the same family, and of Jacob Stainer, the great German violin-maker. In the penultimate decade of the last century Signer Mandelli, of Cremona, collected materials for a life of Antonio Stradivari in special honour of his native city. These materials were placed in the hands of Messrs. Hill, who are experts as well as enthusiasts, and whose researches have extended over a further ten years. The result is seen in the handsome, well- written, and brilliantly illustrated volume before us. The main facts of the life of Antonio Stradivari are as well known as they are likely to be, and com- paratively little has been added in this respect to the information which has been for a score years accessible to the public. Zealously conducted researches have been made into the origin and pedigree of Stradivari, but have been attended with no very conspicuous success. So far back as the twelfth and thirteenth centuries the name, variously spelt, was borne by more or less dis- tinguished citizens of Cremona. Between these, however, and the subject of the biography no con- nexion is to be traced, and the genealogical table which has been compiled for the volume begins with Alessandro Stradivari, born 15 January, 1602, the father of Antonio. On the other hand, direct descendants of the great Cremona violin-maker still exist, the birth 01 one being chronicled under the date 1883, and a second having died last year. The name, we are told by Mr. E. J. Payne, is a plural form of stradivare, a Lombard variety of stratiere (stratiaritis), a doiianier or toll- collector. A different origin seems favoured by Signer Mandelli. No record of the birth of Antonio has been traced in Cremona, which his parents are supposed to have quitted on account of the ravages of the plague. Upon his two marriages there is little temptation to dwell. Stradivari s provision

of a tomb for himself and his children was unavail- ing. On his death, on 19 December, 1737, at the reputed age of ninety-five' (Messrs. Hill make it a year or two less), Antonio was buried in the tomb which he had bought in a small chapel, named after the yirgin of the Rosary, in the church of St. Domenico. This edifice already contained the remains of his second wife, and subsequently re- ceived those of various descendants. In 1869 this church, having fallen into decay and reached a stage that was judged dangerous, was pulled down, anal its site was converted into a public garden. During the process of demolition little attention seems to have been paid to the human remains, and the bones of Antonio Stradivari and certain of his family appear to have been shuffled into an obscure grave. When the basilica was destroyed, however, the stone which marked the resting-place of the Stradivari was respected. It is still, with its motto, " Di Antoni Stradivari e suoi eredi Anno 1729," to be seen in Cremona, in the vaults of the Palazzo dei Tribunali. Of the stone, of what remains, or remained, of the church of St. Domenico, and of the residence occupied by Antonio and his progeny illustrations are given. It is with the technical details, supplied in abundance, that the musical reader will bVmost concerned. Rightly to pronounce on these requires the skill and know- ledge of an expert. The opinion generally held, that the best work of Stradivari was done in 1710 and shortly afterwards, seems shared by Messrs. Hill. Singular value attaches to the illustrations, which form an important contribution to the his- tory of musical instruments. In an introductory note by Lady Huggins, who has taken an earnest and friendly interest in the work, it is said that " the strange beauty ofriolins, which has,delighted so many, has never oeen so well represented." This is strictly true. We know of no designs of a similar class approaching in beauty the coloured repre- sentations of the violins and violas in the possession of Mr. Oldham and other amateurs and col- lectors. The illustrations in the text are also excellent in all respects. From Lady Huggins we also learn that the present volume is the last of a trilogy, the first of which in order of appearance, issued, in 1892, consisted of the life of Giovanni Paolo Maggini (more frequently spelt Magini). The second will deal with Gasparo da (or di) Salo, and the third is the present work. Di Salo is held to represent the beginning, Magini the early development, and Stradivari the perfecting of violins, the space occupied by the three pro- cesses covering roughly a century and a half. The augmented prices realized by Stradivari violins act, we are told, unfavourably on amateurs, and there are now only three known possessors of a quartet of Stradivari's instruments. These are Mr. C. Oldham, F.R.C.S. (of Brighton), Mr. R. E. Brandt, and Baron Knoop. The book is dedicated to Mr. William Ebsworth Hill, the father of the writers, of whom an excellent likeness is given. The elder Mr. Hill was what is known as "a character," and was an admirable judge of violins. In this respect he must yield, however, to Mr. Alfred Hill, whose knowledge is unsurpassed. No work equally handsome and authoritative has been written on the fascinating subject. Writers such as Engel, Fleming, Sibere, and others have dealt with violins and their makers. The subject is now treated with a thoroughness previously unpre- cedented. We are obliged reluctantly to take our