I do not give information about bows or instruments described to me over the telephone or via e-mail.   Your best source of information about your instrument or bow is through a competent violin dealer or connoisseur.   Perhaps there is a violin shop in your area that you can call upon.   Expect to pay for their expertise.  Visit the site published by the Smithsonian Institution  for General Information on Obtaining Authentication and Appraisal of Violins. 

If you live in the United States or Canada and don't have a violin shop in your immediate area I can recommend that you visit the American Federation of Violin and Bow Makers Web site. There you will find a listing of qualified violin and bow dealers nearest you.  You may also visit the On-Line Resource Guide at the STRINGS magazine website or the Strad Directory at THE STRAD magazine website to find additional resources in your area.  Again, expect to pay for any services that concern price and identification.

Other websites that may be of help to you are:

• More information about the Stradivari violin that's been in your family for generations.  Courtesy of the American Federation of Violin and Bow Makers
• More information about that Strad in the attic you have. Courtesy of Johnson Strings.
• Labels and Attribution of instruments.  Courtesy of Andrew Hooker Violins, in Somerset, UK.
• Stradivari Labels, Fakes or Clues.  Courtesy of Harry Ash, Violin Dealer in Lancashire, UK

The following links are Courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution:

• Information about Stradivari
• Violin Makers of the Amati Family
• Violin Makers of the Guarneri Family
• Violin Makers of the Stainer Family : 
• And Information about: Bergonzi, da Salo, Duiffopruggar, Gagliano, Glass, Hopf, Klotz, Maggini, Ruggieri, Vuillaume

If you wish to find brief information about a particular maker on your own, a good public or university library may possibly have one of a number of publications listing violin makers throughout history.  It is not uncommon for THE STRAD or STRINGS magazines to publish prices for instruments and bows sold at auction.

You should be aware that published reference sources may not tell you much about your own instrument or bow.  It is not uncommon for labels or bow stamps to be inaccurate or misleading.  The presence of a label with a famous name has no bearing what-so-ever on whether or not your instrument is genuine.

Bibliography

Bachmann, Alberto. An Encyclopedia of the Violin. 1925. Reprint. New York: Da Capo Press, 1975.

Boyden, David D. The History of Violin Playing, from Its Origins to 1761 and Its Relationship to the Violin and Violin Music. 1965. Reprint. London and New York: Oxford University Press, 1990.

Fairfield, John H and William Salchow. Known Violin Makers: With an Added Guide to Contemporary Prices by Jacques Francais. Reprint. Cape Coral, FL: Virtuoso, 1983.

Hamma, Fridolin. German Violin Makers: A Critical Dictionary of German Violin Makers, with a Series of Plates Illustrating Characteristic and Fine Examples of Their Work. Translated by Walter Stewart. London: Williams Reeves, 1961.

Hamma, Walter. Meister italienischer Geigenbaukunst. New York: Baerenreiter Music Publishers, 1964. Text in German, English and French.

Harvey, Brian W. and Carla J. Shapreau.  Violin Fraud : Deception, Forgery, Theft, and Lawsuits in England and America.  2nd edition. Oxford : Clarendon Press ; New York : Oxford University Press, 1997

Henley, William. Universal Dictionary of Violin and Bow Makers. 5 vols. + supplement. Brighton, Sussex, England: Amati Publishing, 1956-60.

Hill, William Henry, Arthur Frederick Hill, and Alfred Ebsworth Hill. The Violin-Makers of the Guarneri Family (1626-1762): Their Life and Work. 1931. Reprint. Dover Publications, 1989.

Hill, William Henry, Arthur Frederick Hill, and Alfred Ebsworth Hill. Antonio Stradivari: His Life and Work, 1644-1737. rev. ed. New York: Dover Publications, 1963.

Jalovec, Karel. Enzyklopädie des Geigenbaues Translated into German by Charlotte and Ferdinand Kirschner. Prague: Artia, 1965.

Lütgendorff, Willibald Leo, Freiherr von. Die Geigen und Lautenmacher vom Mittelalter bis zur Gegenwart, nach den besten Quellen bearbeitet. Frankfurt am Main: Frankfurter Verlags-Anstalt, 1922.

Poidras, Henri. Critical and Documentary Dictionary of Violin Makers Old and Modern. 2 vols. Translated by Arnold Sewell. Rouen: Imprimerie de la Vicomte, 1928-30.

Roda, Joseph. Bows for Musical Instruments of the Violin Family. Chicago: William Lewis and Son, 1959.

Vannes, René, and Claude Lebet. Dictionnaire universel des luthiers. 5th ed. Brussels: Les Amis de la musique, 1981.

Vidal, Antoine. Les instruments à archet: les feseurs, les joueurs d'instrument, leur histoire dur le continent européen, suivi d'un catalogue général de la musique de chambre. 3 vols. Reprint. London: Holland Press, 1961.

Wenberg, Thomas James. The Violin Makers Of The United States. Mt. Hood Publishing Co. 1987

Woodcock, Cyril. Dictionary of Contemporary Violin and Bow Makers. Continues William Henley's Universal Dictionary of Violin and Bow Makers. Brighton, Sussex, England: Amati Publishing, 1965

Good luck to you in finding more about your bow or instrument!

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