| Show I IUKE VIOLINS rnic ES FOB snumvAuius ijcsrnr JIENTS ADVAXCtoCl The mention of a Stradivarius fiddle has always imsistiliie fascination fas-cination for musicians profcwional amateur 1rofcscloual collectors bare fcourwl llu roiie for them and jiroliauly the whereabouts of every I ritraJivarius extant is Known to the drains A consIderable proportion > of them Is to be found In Ktiglaud 1 Antonio Stradivarius who was born in 1041 and digS in 1757 worked quietly on for over slityyearsof his life Taking it as a moderate intimate inti-mate that lie turned out ono violin a week in those days men worked more leisurely than they do In this ac cof stress and worry weshoud have total of over 30uO of thcsu instruments in-struments from his hands Of thite how many rca in esl = t eucu today Opinions diflVr Jlr Naehez recently put the number at eighty Mr Hill the well known cu nolMur believes that there are no fewer titan 1000 of these violins still left The rise in their value has in recent times been enormous Twinty thirty years agoaritrad In good condition might have been acquired in the open market at prices ranging from J 300 to 300 Now the cae U altered An Instrument Instru-ment of the makers better period in a fair state of preservation could not bo had probably for 1000 whereas fur the hurst specimens extant extraordinary ex-traordinary prices are demanded The largest sum actually laid for a atrad is I we believe 1400 The next highest Is l2tX which was laid for the violin chosen from the collection of M Labitte of Paris for the jubilee i presentation list year to Dr Joachim by his KtiglUhai mlrer By this gift Dr Joachim liecame tIe lioppy jossiisor of three StraJivariusfidillca Whoso tilted to own them as the gieattt violin player of the age Mr 8irasate I KKuec9 it Is understood two Instruments In-struments by the tame maker both i or great value while tevcral other i of our leltJlu vlollubts are almost equally blissctl There Is now In the market an othermagnlflceut Stradivarlus in a most perfect state of preservation It may at present lie HOII at Mr Hills In New IJond Street Of 1U authenticity there appears to 00 no doubt It was bought in 1791 in Italy for 25 by an Irish gentleman gentle-man who took it homo and then seems to have forgotten alwut it At any rate it was lost sight of till 1S4 when molt of three instruments instru-ments have their romance It narrowly nar-rowly escaped destruction in a fire It was discovered among the chit tel rescued from the burning house and subsequently met with nil the honors it deserved To Its long period of obscurity its admirable tnte of preservation It Is without a flaw of any kind Is of course due The sight of It now as It ni > o s lieneatli Its glass case illuminated nUht by tho electric light must stir the heart of the connoisseur But It can only pass lulu tho 1 > osscssion of a man of ample am-ple mean or cu enthusiast of the lIt order who would decant no Mcrltice too great ta become its owner The prlcu asked for it li 4300 The sum apcars enormou it Is true but even Iarer prices have bc < n heard of The Jaiciilir Jubilee Jubi-lee Committee wire It is said asfctil X2VXI for a rftrad which they were deslrctis of presenting to the master and increulble as It may IK Its understood that a lending art 1st has an iustrumtnt by the simugreat maker which he values with the eirtialilyperha cf an owner atid I enthikLtst at 4000 1oor ok 1 I StRidirarius was happy to btt Jj I each for his llddlcs and by his fyi lowmakers trot looked upon as wealthy It I < sild that a number of his inslrunienUn ere sent In hN day to Kn land for disi sal but were nturned 1 unsold so much as Jj not belli obtainable for a viullu clloSt Jtmici tiaztUc |
