Baxter’s Database of Violin and Bow Makers – Version 5.0

A computerized listing of 21,539 entries

Easy to use – Now runs on VISTA !

Added Bonus: Hundreds of Pictures and thousands of Labels.

What is a “Database”? It’s a computerized reference. Unlike a book, which has pages and an index, a database allows you to organize the data any way you need to see it. And, more importantly, a database allows you to search for anything you need, instantly, without having to turn hundreds of pages.

Can you imagine opening an Encyclopedia of Violinmakers, which is of course organized alphabetically by lastname,…and then pushing a button that changed it into a listing sorted by City? Then you pushed another button, and resorted all the entries by Firstname ?!

Or, let’s you need to know how many makers in Germany had “Wolfgang” as one of their first names. Using a book, you’d start at the beginning, slowly scan each page, making a note of each “Wolfgang”. Then you’d go to the next book, until you’d found all the Wolfgangs. Are you done yet? I’m done.

Lastname	Firstname
Bunnagel	Wolfgang
Durrschmidt	Wolfgang Otto
Faber	Wolfgang
Fischer	Wolfgang
Franke	Wolfgang
Klotz (Kloz)	Wolfgang Ferdinand
Mertin	Wolfgang
Vogel	Wolf (Wolfgang)
Wolf	Wolfgang (2)
Wolf	Wolfgang (1)
Zunterer	Wolfgang

This is not all the “Wolfgangs”, only the ones who worked in Germany.

Many violins have labels that not for specific makers, but are a ‘brand’ or a ‘tradename’.

There are 221 known tradenames listed in the database.

When you look at an old label, the city name may not be the same as it is spelled today…

Did you know that Bologna (Italian city) was also known as Bonaniae, Vologna, and Bonon ?

How many ‘Important’ makers were there? ‘Important’ is relative. I have found that most of the makers of note have had instruments come up for auction at some time. The database has auction values for over 3,000 makers. Almost 2,000 more have a value of some kind or another assigned to them over the years.

How many different violinmaker references were used in compiling the database? 33. They are all listed by clicking on the “Reference Books” button.

Here’s another advantage of a database: It can contain data from more than a single source.

I’ve been collecting books on Violinmakers for years. Every time I needed some information I’d have to decide which book to start with. One has German makers. One has many different countries. One has auction values, but no other information. One has pictures, another has labels. One has good information, but incomplete dates. One has better dates, but less information. What I needed was all the good data, all collected into one easy to use, computerized database.

It’s taken me many years to collect all this data, but it’s ready for you to use…NOW. To order, go to the bottom of the page, and click on PAYPAL button.

How many makers from the United States are listed in the database? 3961.

I’ve had many notes from users asking why some makers have so little information. I don’t know. I include all the information that’s available. It’s better to only have a name and a place, and maybe a date, than to have nothing at all.

How many countries are included in the database? 91 (from Algeria to Yugoslavia)

How many makers are listed for each country?

Germany	4021
USA	3961
Italy	2973
France	2415
England	1913
Bohemia	887
Austria	494
Sweden	488
Poland	373
Scotland	362
Australia	308
Belgium	288
Czechoslovakia	209
Hungary	203
Holland	201
(?)	194
Switzerland	157
Canada	112
Russia	107
Finland	95
Tyrolia	91
Ireland	88
Spain	85
Denmark	80
Moravia	76
Norway	67
Silesia	60
Wales	59
Yugoslavia	42
Serbia	38
New Zealand	35
Prussia	29
Portugal	28
Argentina	27
Brazil	26
Japan	24

(There are more countries, but you get the idea.)

Start with: “Click Here to Browse All Makers” Here’s a very small portion of the listing that will appear. (There are 21,537 makers in the complete list.)

Now, suppose you were interested in Philip Achner, and you want to know what details are available for him. Click on the “+” before his name…

Granted, the information for Philip Achner is limited, but we now know that he worked from 1770 to 1799 in Mittenwald. His brothers Joseph and Michael were makers. We can see an example of his label, and get an idea of his current auction value.

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Now let’s do an easy Advanced Search. Let’s find out something about Stradivarius! You’ll want to use the Advanced Search function. Click on the button labeled Click Here for Advanced Search Screen

Here, we can limit the returned results to only those entries that we might be interested in. To search for Stradivarius, I’ve entered *strad*. This tells the database to show me all entries that have the letters “strad” anywhere in the Lastname field. When you click on “SEARCH!”, here’s the result:

We’re probably not looking for a Stradella, so we click the + for Antonio:

Antonio Stradivari – student of Nicolo Amati, Cremona, Italy – 1644-1737! As you can see, there are also pictures and labels available. The labels may not need enlarging, but you can double-click on the picture to see enlarged details.

Visit the Violinmakers Database Q&A website by clicking Here

Email me by clicking

Here

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The Database is available for immediate download!

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Click on the PAYPAL button to the right to make payment and begin your download.

Ordering Information:

Baxter's Violinmakers Database is available for only
$99.00