adivari, they
not having secured the moulds, patterns, &c.]

The contents of the letters of Paolo and Antonio Stradivari junior,
which the Marquis Dalla Valle has placed at my disposal, serve to
explain the two different accounts above given. We find that the Count
had two distinct transactions, directly or indirectly, with the family
of Stradivari. In 1775 he purchased the ten instruments made by
Antonio which remained out of ninety-one (complete and partly
finished) left by the maker at the time of his death in 1737. The
payment in connection with this transaction was arranged by the banker
Carlo Carli, which gave rise to the inventory upon which M. Fetis
based his statement as to the age of Stradivari. In the month of May,
1776, negotiations were entered upon with Paolo Stradivari, relative
to the tools, which led to their being sold. During their progress
Paolo died, October, 1776, and the business was left for his son
Antonio to complete in December, 1776. The copies of the letters
written by Paolo and Antonio Stradivari are given in the fourth
edition of this work, and the chief part of the matter therein is
referred to in the Section, "The Violin and its Votaries."

The next period to be noticed relative to the work of Stradivari is
that dating from 1686 to 1694. We here observe a marked advance in
every particular. The form is flatter, the arching differently
treated. The sound-hole, which is a masterpiece of gracefulness,
reclines more. The curves of the middle bouts are more extended than
in this maker's later instruments. The corners are brought out, though
not prominently so. Here, too, we notice the change in the formation
of the scroll. He suddenly leaves the form that he had hitherto
imitated, and follows the dictates of his own fancy. The result is
bold and striking, and foreshadows much of the character belonging to
the bodies of the instruments of his latter period, and though it may
seem daring and presumptuous criticism, I have often been impressed
with the idea that these scrolls would have been more in harmony with
his later works than those to which they belong. The varnish on the
instruments belonging to the period under consideration is very
varied. Sometimes it is of a rich golden colour, deliciously soft and
transparent; in other instances he has used varnish of a deeper hue,
which might be described as light red, the quality of which is also
very beautiful. The purfling is a trifle wider, b