Dear Ryan Thomson,

You have no idea how thrilled I am with your reprint/ publication!

I am a violist/ violinist (day job as a jeweler/ goldsmith) who has a small collection of

violins and violas (and one 200 year old church bass)  One quite endearing violin, I have had

for about 20 years, is an OLD Germanic high arched (72mm high!) Stainer pattern. It had a

fake label, a half-tone cut out of a book, so I never had any real hope of finding out its true

maker.  It was suffering from a loose bassbar and failing century old repairs, so I decided it

was time to open her up. 

Amongst the dust and lint inside, were 3 small fragments of paper, stuck loosely to some

excess glue where the upper right bout meets the back.  As I picked the first away I

noticed printing on the underside.  You see where this is going...  Well long story short,

the three fragments of parchment, (not paper) fortunately were contiguous, and from the

middle of the label. 

There were only 6 characters remaining, but with luck I thought It might be enough.  It

read (top line):  ...l /La..  (lower line):  ...Reg...  I knew that I was looking for a Germanic

maker whose last name ended in l, and was early enough to be a 'lutemaker' as well.  I was

downright giddy when I got to plate 20 of the book, lower right corner... and there it was!

Johann Hadl / Lauten=und Geigen=

macher in Regensburg / 1712

Beyond just the letters, the script, deeply pressed/ block printed, was a match as well,

and the descriptions of this maker's work fit perfectly with the instrument.  Imagine the

odds of the last bits of an old tattered label falling off and coming to rest on glue,  perhaps

when a small section of seam was repaired, and sitting there long enough to stick!  Talk

about a game of 'wheel of fortune'... puns intended.  I feel confident in saying this old

Bavarian beauty can now be attributed to her true maker with near certainty.  As an artist

myself, it means so much to make this kind of connection.  It's a tribute Johann deserves!

I just wanted to let you know what your reprinting of this book made possible, and thank

you!

Sincerely,

T. J.