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MIT Institute Archives & Special Collections. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. News Office (AC0069)

From the News Service FOR IM-1EDIATE RELEASE Mass. Institute of Technology Cambridge 39, Massachusetts

A collection of some of the world's rarest stringed instru-

ments, valued at close to a million dollars, is now on exhibit at

the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It includes three-

dozen very old Stradivari, Amati and other violins. For the first time within recollection, four matched quartets

of fine instruments have been assembled in one place. These in-

clude Amati violins, viola and cello dating from 1619 to 1680;

Stradivaris dating from 1701 to 1723; Guarneri, from 1676 to 1734,

and Gofrillers dating from 1700 to 1723. The exhibition, which will remain in the New Gallery of the

Hayden Memorial Library through March 10, was brought together es-

pecially for M.I.T. Most of the instruments are from the col-

lections of Emil Herrmann and 2embert Wurlitzer, two of the world's

most famous dealers in rare instruments, who have supplied violins

to some of the greatest virtuosi. One Boston instrument is included, a 1676 Guarneri viola be-

longing to Mrs. Olga Pertzoff. The oldest instrument is an ornate

violin made by Andrea Amati in Cremona in about 1565 for King

Charles IX of France. It was used in the French court until the

Revolution and disappeared for about a century. It was purchased

ten years ago by its present owner, Arved Kurtz, director of the

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Use copy created from Institute Archives record copy. © Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT Institute Archives & Special Collections. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. News Office (AC0069)

Jusical Instruments M.I.T. 2.

New York College of Music.

Mr. Herrmann, at 69, is a violin authority of legendary stature, who knows the world's great violins as intimately as any mother knows her children. "The New Yorker" devoted a two-part

article to him four years ago, describing his activities on his

estate, "Fiddledale," at Easton, Conn., where he keeps as many as

200 instruments--mostly violins--in a bomb-proof vault. The son

of a German violin naker and dealer, he began "learning" violins

when he was 8 years old. Heifetz, Menuhin and other distinguished violinists have obtained their instruments from him. Mr. Lurlitzer is a grandson of Rudolph Jurlitzer and crew up

in the family musical instrument business. He now has his own firm in New York, dealing only in old instruments.

A familiar story to both Mr. Herrmann and Mr. Wurlitzer is the

excited report, "I found an old violin in the attic and it has a

Stradivari label in it, so it must be worth 50,000." People write

letters to them from all over the country about discoveries of this

kind. Such finds have been made, they say, but they are very rare.

Usually the instruments are cheap, factory-made violins containing

spurious labels. "At one time, Gernany was -roducing 80,000 violins a year

labeled Stradivari.," Mr. TIurlitzer said. "The labels were reoro-

ductions of the real thing and I don't think there was any in-

tention to defraud the buyers. The iail order catalogue used to

advertise Stradivari violins for '8.95 and lots of them were sold

in this country fifty years or more ago. People find them in the

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usical Instruments - M.I.T. 3.

attics and don't realize that the most-forged name in the world

is Stradivari. "There are only about 600 original Stradivari in the world

today and their history is known by experts. Some of them are

not very good instruments. Many have been ruined by crude repairs. The chances of really valuable, unknown violins turning up are very

remote."

The M.I.T. exhibition includes an elaborately decorated harpsichord, built by Franciscus Marchionis in 1666 and loaned

by Arthur Kohlenberg, Also in the collection are such instru-

ments as a quintone dating to 1698 and miniature violins made

for dancing masters to carry in their pockets. There is also a

collection of concert programs and other old prints.

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