model
was fast gaining ground. The circulation of the works of Cremona among
the players of France and England led to a comparison of the various
forms, and it was found that the elevated model was inferior in every
way when tested by the works of the great Italian makers. Hitherto no
distinction had been drawn as regards value among the productions of
the several members of the Amati family. Andrea had been looked upon
as equivalent to Girolamo, Antonio, or Niccolo; but attention now
began to be directed towards the works of the brothers, and to those
of Niccolo in particular, as the flat model gained in the appreciation
of the Fiddling world. Grand Amatis became the coveted Fiddles; they
were put up frequently at twice the value of the smaller patterns--a
position they still maintain. The taste for the flat form having thus
been developed, the works of Antonio Stradivari came to the front,
slowly but surely; their beauties now became known outside the circle
in which they had hitherto been moving: a circle made up chiefly of
royal orchestras (where they were used at wide intervals), convent
choirs, and private holders, who possessed them without being in the
least aware of their merits. They were now eagerly sought by soloists
in all parts of Europe, who spread their fame far and wide. Their
exquisite form and finish captivating the _dilettanti_, the demand
increased to an extent far beyond that commanded by the works of the
Amati at the height of their popularity.

There were a few Stradivari instruments in England when Amati was the
favourite maker, and their value at that period may be estimated, if
it be true that Cervetto, the father of the famous Violoncellist, was
unable to dispose of a Stradivari Violoncello for five pounds--a
circumstance which shows how blind our forefathers were to the merits
of the greatest maker the world has had. Among the artists of the
early part of the present century who used the instruments of
Stradivari were Boccherini, Viotti, Rode, Kreutzer, Habeneck, Mazas,
Lafont, and Baillot.

About the year 1820 the fame of Giuseppe Guarneri as a great maker was
published beyond Italy, chiefly through the instrumentality of
Paganini. That wonderful player came to possess a splendid specimen of
Guarneri del Gesu, dated 1743, now sleeping in the Museum at Genoa,
which Paganini used in his tour through France and England. He became
the owner of this world-famed Violin in the following curious