Rare Italian Violins, Violas & Violoncellos
from
The Emil Hermann Collection, Part I + II
Preface
With a sense of responsibility for preserving this collection, we present the first volume of ’Rare Italian Violins, Violas & Violoncellos from The Emil Hermann Collection’ representing some of the Italian luthier’s genius from the 18th century to the beginning of the 20th century.
The luthiers from 18th century Italy were devoted to making beautiful instruments, initially for musicians in Italy and their neighbouring countries, today they are appreciated by people of every culture and country worldwide.
Though expertise in the knowledge of authenticity has gained tremendous insight in the years since these photographs and attributions were made (1940’s), we know that the vast majority of the attributions are correct. The quality and beauty of each instrument, the scarseness of some makers’ work warrants their inclusion in these volumes.
Andy Lim, Cologne & Gregory Singer, New York City
Publishers Note
The photograps had to be scanned from negatives (up to 5 × 7 inch) and retouched painstakingly as many were from negatives and prints in ruinous states of preservation, (detached emulsions, faded, yellowed or darkend areas on prints). This work included differentiating scratches, marks or flaws in the wood as the condition was not always apparent on the photographs and deciphring the handwriting on the envelopes. Emil Hermann when first in the United States still annotated everything in German, after some years English. We thank M. Lietz from Cologne for his patience and skills.
There should be more concern for the permanence of photographs, whether intended as art or document, because history is dependent on the survival of physical objects. Archival processing is an important topical issue among silver-gelatine workers who invest great care and effort in ensuring the maximum lifetime for their prints. Silver is intrinsically more susceptible to chemical attack by pollutants and residual chemicals than some of the imaging substances used in alternative processes. We feel an obligation to ensure that the image will not deteriorate perceptibly within several decades at least, and preferably centuries. It is our intention to print this photographic archive to enable accessability to the larger public. With this first printed contibution we hope to encourage further publications of the many historical photographs of beautiful instruments in private and public collections.
The Publishers
The Library Edition:
The „DeLuxe Edition“, 100 copies, in Aubergine silk fabric:
Congratulations!
not bad for the first publication on musical instruments!
by the way: the first black and white publication since the Goodkind Iconography of Stradivari of 1974!