Brian W. Harvey – författare

The contribution of the British Isles to the history of the violin family has been consistently under-estimated. For over 200 years England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland have produced many fine makers and an abundance of quality instruments and bows, now sought after around the world. In addition London has for over 100 years been an important centre for restoring, dealing in, collecting, and exhibiting the finest products of Stradivari, Guarneri, and other Italian masters - an important source of inspiration.Professor Harvey explains in detail the history of violin-making in Britain, from one of the earliest extant English instruments made of iron by John Bunyan in about 1647, to the extensive British craft industry of today, including within his book a comprehensive directory of violin-and-bow-makers of the British Isles, with auction prices. The book includes numerous high-quality colour and monochrome illustrations, including samples of the work of the major craftsmen involved. Throughout most of this history the scene has been dominated by the Hill family, which for over 250 years has produced instruments and bows of the highest quality, and their influence is fully assessed. The book is also a social and economic history of stringed instruments, showing how in England in particular the violin was slow to win acceptance by association with gypsies and the devil, and how the cello became the instrument favoured by royalty and the aristocracy. The demand for instruments at any particular time is gauged against musical activity in the country.The book is the first in any language to deal with the vast and fascinating subject in this way and in such depth. As such, it will be welcomed by makers, dealers internationally, auction houses, collectors, teachers, players, and students of stringed instruments.

Instruments of the violin family are well known to be exceptionally valuable if they are the work of an Italian master such as Stradivari or Guarneri. Unfortunately, in common with many other antique articles of value, the forger, the defrauder, and the thief operate in the world of the violin in a very conspicuous way. With varying degrees of skill, labels are altered, certificates of origin are spuriously created, instruments are even made from new but disguised to look old and to reproduced the features of an old master. Buyers, dealers, and even auction houses can easily make distressing and very expensive mistakes. Many people who own instruments, or who are interested in buying them, want to know more about the dangers, the pitfalls, and the case histories of previous disasters. The law itself is widely misunderstood and its wide ambit not appreciated. Those who contravene the law risk actions for civil damages as well as criminal prosecution, primarily by the ever more vigilant Trading Standards Department of local authorities. It is the intention of this book to detect the background to this fraudulent activity and to explain how the law applies to it. Much of what is said applies to the antique world generally, but there are specific and pressing problems relating to to string instruments which have not been analysed in detail before and with which this book is particularly concerned. This new edition includes an account of American law as it relates to to violin commerce, including a discussion of violin theft, fraud, and contract issues, product disparagement, and slander, auction issues, tax issues, secret commissions, ethics, and intellectual property theft.