There are three essential points of difference between Guarneri and Stradivari. The first is the outline of the work, which, as the mere tyro must at once observe, is totally different in their respective instruments. The second is the sound-hole, in which, again, the two do not approach one another; that of Guarneri is long, and a modified form of that of Gasparo da Salo. The third is the scroll, in which Guarneri is as distinct from Stradivari as it is possible to be. It may be asked, then, if not from Stradivari, from whom did Guarneri receive instruction?[10] To disagree with what is popularly accepted, and yet to withhold one's own counter-theory, may perhaps tend to weaken one's case. There can be but one method to be pursued if, in the absence of any historical data, we set about the investigation of the question, viz., that of analogy. Starting upon this ground, the first step to be taken is to endeavour to discover the maker whose work and style bear some degree of similarity to those of Giuseppe del Gesu. If we carefully review the works of the Cremonese makers, it will be found that Giuseppe Guarneri, son of Andrea, and a relative of Guarneri del Gesu, is the only maker in whose productions we can find the strong similarity needed. Analogy, therefore, would point to him as the instructor of his kinsman. Giuseppe Guarneri, son of Andrea, was del Gesu's senior by many years, and it is far more reasonable to conclude that it was in his workshop that del Gesu was first instructed, than that he was the pupil of a maker whose work he never copied, and whose style has nothing in common with his own. Enough has been said on this question to enable the reader to judge for himself, and this may the more readily be conceded when it is also admitted that, after all, it is of little importance to determine where the early training of this kingly maker was passed, as he so soon displayed that rare originality which separated him from his brethren for ever. [Footnote 10: The _evidence_--if indeed it is to be characterised as such--upon which it has been recently asserted that del Gesu was a pupil of Andreas Gisalberti is so trivial and altogether unconvincing that it seems unsuitable for discussion or analysis in a serious work of reference.--EDITORS.] [Illustration: _Plate VIII_. GIUSEPPE GUARNERI. Date 1742. (LATE H. B. HEATH, ESQ.) ANTONIO STRADIVARI. Date 1711. (LATE R. D. HAWLEY, ESQ.) ANTONIO STRADIVARI. Date 1703. (J. S. COOKE, ESQ.)]