With regard to the tone of the instrument, some comments written in 1864 by the well-known authority, F. J. Fetis, are worthy of repetition. He writes of the Salabue Stradivari: “This genuine memorial of ancient manufacture—this instrument which has not resounded under the bow for nearly a century and a half—gives striking refutation to the idea that a free and pure tone cannot be produced from a violin until after it has been long in use; for here, in this new instrument, we find in combination all the qualities of power, mellowness, roundness, delicacy, freedom, with a noble and penetrating tone. In a word, this violin is a type of external beauty and of sonorous perfection.” Nevertheless it is our opinion after a careful trial that the instrument would be greatly improved in tone by further use. These descriptions of one of the finest instruments in existence, from the hands of devoted and disinterested lovers of the Cremona handiwork, leave hardly anything to be added except the exact measurements of the violin, which are as follows:— [Illustration: Height of sides:—At the top, 1³⁄₁₆ inches; at the bottom, 1¼ inches.] The label affixed to Le Messie is presented below in fac-simile. +-------------------------------------+ | Antonius Stradivarius Cremonensis | | Faciebat Anno 1716 | +-------------------------------------+ ----- Footnote 1: This account coincides almost word for word with a notice of the instrument by F. J. Fetis quoted in part on p. 30 of this work. Footnote 2: The article on Stradivari in Grove’s Dictionary of Music assigns eighty-eight as the maker’s age at his death, but the evidence of Count Salabue, quoted at p. 12, confirmed by further evidence lately obtained from authentic instruments of this maker, point to the conclusion that he lived certainly to 1737, when he had entered his ninety-fourth year. This conclusion refers his birth to the year 1644, which would accord more naturally with the events of his life than the later date suggested in Grove. This question will be treated more fully in a future publication. Footnote 3: The information here given concerning Tarisio has been obtained by Signor Sacchi, chiefly from the late Enrico Ceruti, the last descendant of an old family of violin makers in Cremona. Footnote 4: There is a curious mistake in M. Vidal’s valuable recent work “La Lutherie,” in which the transcript of the label accompanying the illustration of “le Messie” bears the date 1715. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Transcriber's Notes All spelling and hyphenation has been retained from the original text. Pg. 12: Note 1: This transcription of the handwritten Italian is as close to the original as could be determined, but complete accuracy isn't guaranteed.