Posted on January 6, 2010March 11, 2024 by Dale Phillips Review: The Manuscript on Violinmaking by Giovanni Antonio Review: The Manuscript on Violinmaking by Giovanni Antonio Marchi Reviewed by Don Overstreet Originally published in American Lutherie #11, 1987 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume One, 2000 The Manuscript on Violinmaking Giovanni Antonio Marchi Arnaldo Forni Editore Bolgna 1786. 1986 Those of us who make instruments, particularly violins, are always hoping that ancient road maps will surface which will guide us along the mysterious paths that lead to the skill to build consistently good sounding and beautiful instruments. Over the centuries there has developed a considerable body of practical and historical information as well as enough “learned lore” to keep even the most hard-boiled luthier confused throughout his or her entire career. There will never be a substitute for excellent training, and all those who have made a serious study of instrument making have a firm foundation. Yet we cling to the belief that there are secrets, known only to a privileged few. Thus it was that in the winter of 1986 there was published in Bologna, Italy (for the first time), a translation of a two-century old manuscript on violin making by an Italian violin maker named Giovanni Marchi. Not a familiar name, but there he was in 1786 making instruments, repairing “old” ones, and actually having the wherewithal to commit his thoughts on the subject to paper. Could this work conceal information about 18th-century Italian violinmaking that had been lost? Become A Member to Continue Reading This Article This article is part of our premium web content offered to Guild members. To view this and other web articles, join the Guild of American Luthiers. Members also receive 4 annual issues of American Lutherie and get discounts on products. For details, visit the membership page. If you are already a member, login for access or contact us to setup your account.
Posted on January 5, 2010March 11, 2024 by Dale Phillips Review: The Guitar in America, Victorian Era to Jazz Age by Jeffrey J. Noonan Review: The Guitar in America, Victorian Era to Jazz Age by Jeffrey J. Noonan Reviewed by Don Overstreet Originally published in American Lutherie #96, 2008 The Guitar in America, Victorian Era to Jazz Age Jeffrey J. Noonan ISBN (hardcover): 139781934110188 University Press of Mississippi, 2008, $50 In the year 2008, say “BMG” and some will think of the mail-order catalog of recordings. In the year 1908, say “BMG” and many in the musical community in America would immediately think of the Banjo, Mandolin, and Guitar movement. Jeffrey Noonan’s recent publication, (an expansion of a doctoral dissertation and echoing its academic origin), gives us a clear portrait of the life and times of a true social phenomenon that began in the last half of the 19th century and continued into the 1920s, when changing times and tastes caused it to fade away. We can be thankful to Mr. Noonan for adding this book to the list of efforts published in recent years by writers such as Philip Gura and James Bollman, whose studies of the banjo and the life and times of C.F. Martin, Sr. have become standard references, not only for their overviews of the instruments themselves but also for illuminating the social environment in which the music became so popular. The important figures of the era are identified and given biographies while we learn about the amazing process of the creation and marketing of the instruments. Become A Member to Continue Reading This Article This article is part of our premium web content offered to Guild members. To view this and other web articles, join the Guild of American Luthiers. Members also receive 4 annual issues of American Lutherie and get discounts on products. For details, visit the membership page. If you are already a member, login for access or contact us to setup your account.
