Show OLD VIOLINS Carpe plon passion for collo ettas them 11 he 0 was W the pioneer tt it was about abou t the beginning of the present century that the craze tor for tho the plon of the works of the old italian ian masters set in and england and prance vied in the ardor of the struggle to obtain them sya says household words at that time many any of the famous cremonese instruments and those belonging to other tallan schools had pawed passed into neglect and oblivion numbers of them being scattered about among italian villages in the hands of ignorant people unconscious of their beauty and worth and incapable of adequately appreciating them it was louis tarasio who acted as pioneer in this matter malter born bom of humble parents wholly unconnected with the art ot of music he adopted the trade of carpen ter and in his leisure time learned to play a violin he posse possessed teed no particular musical talent but became interested in the construction of his bis instrument so that the playing of it became at length quite a secondary seconda nv matter with him A passion for the collecting of violins was aroused in him and giving up his former employment he traveled far and wide in search of lost kremonas Cr emonas wand err about from village to village throughout gnout italy in the guise of a peddler exchanging new fiddles forr for old be became possessed pt t treasures of the greatest value he then made his way to paris and sold them to the best known dealers in violins of that city his whole life afterward was spent in this Ca shioo an he amassed considerable wealth he ha came to love his violins however for their own sake apart from the they brought brough thim him and was often loata a ta part with them he was eccentric and solitary in his habits and at last died alone in wretched lodgings in milan surrounded by numerous and priceless specimens of the instruments instrument s a he had loved and lived for Th through rouga his enthusiasm and that ot of others who followed in his wake england and france during the present century have become possessed of some of the finest masterpieces of the old italian schools |