o be met
with in instruments of the English school. Dodd was encouraged in the
art of varnish-making by persons of taste, who readily admitted the
superior qualities of his composition, and paid him a handsome price
for his instruments. He was thus enabled to gratify his taste in his
productions by sparing no means to improve them. He ultimately
attained such a reputation for his instruments as to command no less a
sum than 40 or 50 pounds for a Violoncello. Commanding such prices, it
is evident that he spared no expense, or, what was to him a matter of
still greater importance, no time. He was most particular in receiving
the instruments in that incomplete stage known in the trade as "in the
white," _i.e._, without varnish. He would then carefully varnish them
with his own hands, guarding most warily the treasured secret of the
composition of his varnish. That he never departed from this practice
may be inferred from the fact that the varnish made by the workmen in
his employ, apart from the establishment, for their own instruments,
is of an entirely different stamp, and evidently shows that they were
not in their master's secrets.

The instruments bearing the Dodd label are not valued to the extent of
their deserts, and there can be but little doubt that in the course of
time they will be valued according to their true merits. They were
made by men of exceptional talent, who were neither restricted in
price nor material. Under such favourable conditions the results could
not fail to be good.

DODD, Thomas, London. Son of Thomas Dodd, musical instrument dealer,
of St. Martin's Lane. The father, although not a maker of Violins,
possessed excellent judgment, both as regards work and makers, which
enabled his son to profit considerably during his early years whilst
working with Fendt and Lott.

DORANT, William, London, 1814.

DUKE, Richard, worked from 1750-80.

Richd. Duke,
Londoni fecit 17--

Richard Duke, Maker,
Holborn, London. Ann. 17--

The name of this maker has long been a household word with English
Violinists both amateur and professional. Who has not got a friend who
is the fortunate owner of a veritable "Duke"? The fame of His Majesty
Antonio Stradivari himself is not greater than that of Richard Duke in
the eyes of many a Fiddle fancier. From his earliest fiddling days the
name of Duke became familiar to him; he has heard more of him than of
Stradivari, whom he somehow confuses with