Joseph Guarnerius del Gesu, Cremona 1736. Ex-Count Cessol by N/A - 1998

New York & London: Machold Rare Violins, 1998. Circa 1998. FINE hardcover in VERY GOOD display box. Pages fresh and fine - small crease to top corner if first leaf, otherwise internally pristine. Bound in brown leatherette hardcover, titles gilt-stamped on front and spine; fine, unworn condition. Binding and hinges firm and straight. Front of display box is printed in color, it is clean though lightly rubbed with several small scuffs. The book is undated, but likely from 1998 - the year the violin was purchased from Dietmar Machold by Dr. Herbert Axelrod, the controversial philanthropist. This volume traces the provenance of this instrument through photographs (color plates as well as archival black & white) and reproductions of twentieth-century correspondence and Certificates of Authenticity (including from William Hill & Sons in London). The instrument was included in Hill's "The Violin Makers of the Guarneri Family," cataloged as "the 1736 of Amy Neill, ex Signora Teja-Ferni." Subsequent events in the lives of Machold and Axelrod reveal a true-life thriller of greed and duplicity; the effects of their actions on this violin are not clearly documented. 9-1/4 x 12". 48 pages. First Edition. Hard Cover. Fine/Not Issued.