Book: Investigations of Classic Violin Family Instruments: Thickness Graduations and other Critical Parameters
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Orders will ship by October 31
This 364-page hardback book depicts color-contour graduation maps of 315 instruments (252 violins, 32 violas, 22 cellos, one bass, six fractional instruments, and two viols) made between 1559 and 2008 by 108 makers from 11 countries. More than 48,000 graduation measurements are shown. Also presented are details on dimensions, plate structure, symmetry, evenness, rib thickness, arching height and character, ff-hole spacings, repairs, and instrument weights.
Measurements are summarized statistically and data are displayed in dozens of graphs and charts. This huge database will help answer hundreds of questions about great instruments and provide a reliable basis for violin, viola, and cello making.
The National Music Museum is among the major museum collections represented in the book, alongside the Smithsonian Institution, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Library of Congress, Chi Mei Museum, Musée de la Musique, and Royal Academy of Music.
The following NMM instruments are included in the book:
NMM01287 Violin by Chanot & Lété, Paris, 1819. Chanot model. Arne B. Larson Collection, 1979.
NMM 03354 Tenor viola by Andrea Guarneri, Cremona, 1664. Witten-Rawlins Collection, 1984.
NMM 03355. Violin by Marco Antonio Cerin, Venice, 1792. Witten-Rawlins Collection, 1984.
NMM 03356. Violin by Nicolo Amati, Cremona, 1628. Witten-Rawlins Collection, 1984.
NMM 03357. Violin by Antonio Gragnani, Livorno, 1788. Witten-Rawlins Collection, 1984.
NMM 03358. Violin, possibly Austrian, ca. 1640-1750. Witten-Rawlins Collection, 1984.
NMM 03359. Child's violin by Lorenzo Storioni, Cremona, 1793. Witten-Rawlins Collection, 1984.
NMM 03361. Violino piccolo by Girolamo Amati, Cremona, 1613. Witten-Rawlins Collection, 1984.
NMM 03362. Violin by Pietro Giacomo Rogeri, Brescia, 1715. Witten-Rawlins Collection, 1984.
NMM 03363. Violin, Brescian school, ca. 1630. Witten-Rawlins Collection, 1984.
NMM 03364. Violin by Girolamo Amati, Cremona, 1609. Witten-Rawlins Collection, 1984.
NMM 03365. Violin by Giovanni Paolo Maggini, Brescia, ca. 1609-1630. Witten-Rawlins Collection, 1984.
NMM 03366. Violin by Andrea Amati, Cremona, ca. 1559. Witten-Rawlins Collection, 1984.
NMM 03367. Viola by Peregrino Micheli, Brescia, ca. 1560-1580. Witten-Rawlins Collection, 1984.
NMM 03368. Viola by Gasparo da Salò, Brescia,ca. 1563-1609. Witten-Rawlins Collection, 1984.
NMM 03369. Viola by Pietro Giovanni Mantegazza, Milan, 1793. Witten-Rawlins Collection, 1984.
NMM 03370. Viola by Andrea Amati, Cremona, ca. 1559. Witten-Rawlins Collection, 1984.
NMM 03371. Tenor viola by Jacob Stainer, Absam bei Innsbruck, Austria, ca. 1665. Witten-Rawlins Collection, 1984.
NMM 03374. Child's Violoncello by Ferdinando Gagliano, Naples, 1793. Witten-Rawlins Collection, 1984.
NMM 03414. Violin, Italy, ca. 1660, attributed to Martino Othi, Bologna, with top by Antonio Stradivari, Cremona, ca. 1723. Witten-Rawlins Collection, 1984.
NMM 03416. Violin, Netherlands, ca. 1780. Witten-Rawlins Collection, 1984.
NMM 03423. Violin by Girolamo Amati, Cremona, 1604. Witten-Rawlins Collection, 1984.
NMM 03428. Viola by Leonhard Maussiel, Nürnberg, Germany, ca. 1731. Witten-Rawlins Collection, 1984.
NMM 03598. Violin, "The Harrison," by Antonio Stradivari, Cremona, 1693. Rawlins Fund, 1984.
NMM 04548. Violin by Jacob Stainer, Absam bei Innsbruck, Tyrol, Austria, 1668. Board of Trustees, 1989, in memory of Arne B. & Jeanne F. Larson.
NMM 04899. Violin labelled Tomaso Carcassi, Florence, Italy, 1759. Gift of J. Laiten Weed Estate, 1990.
NMM 04900. Violin by Giovanni Battista Ceruti, Cremona, ca. 1810. Gift of J. Laiten Weed Estate, 1990.
NMM 05204. Violin by Johann Gottfired Hamm, Markneukirchen, Saxony, Germany, 1796. Purchase funds gift of Stella Anker, Vermillion, South Dakota, 1991.
NMM 05260. Violin by Andrea Amati, Cremona, 1574. Rawlins Fund, 1991.
NMM 06046. Viola by Nicola Bergonzi, Cremona, 1781. Gift of Cora Witten, Vero Beach, Florida, 1997, in memory of Laurence C. Witten (1926-1995).
NMM 06052. Violin by Johann Georg Meisel, Klingenthal, Saxony, Germany, 1785. Gift of Kurt Lothar and Patricia A. Meisel, Owatonna, Minnesota, 1997.
NMM 06097. Violin by Matthäus Ignatz Brandstätter, Vienna, 1824. Rawlins Fund, 1997.
NMM 09964. Violin attributed to George Kloz II, Mittenwald, ca. 1780-90. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Lothar Meisel, Owatonna, Minnesota, 2000, in memory of Kurt O. Miesel (1903-1995), Co-Founder of Meisel Violins, Inc.
Binding: Hardcover
Author: Jeffrey S. Loen
Pages: 364
Published: September 2026
