Antonio Stradivari :
The Complete Works
The most comprehensive collection ever made on the work of the master luthier.
All known Strads
Spanning 6 volumes and 2000 pages, the publication gathers all known Stradivari instruments. All violins, violas and celli but also guitars, lutes, a viola da gamba, a bow and a harp offer an interesting insight into the life of the most famous Cremonese violin workshop.
Dendrochronology
Dendrochronological analysis offers valuable insights for expertise. For the first time, it has been systematically applied to all instruments with high-resolution images. This relatively new scientific tool dates the wood on the instrument's front.
Unprecedented Scale
It took 9 years of meticulous research to gather and organise a phenomenal amount of data. Detailed provenances with dimensions, labels and certificate information for some 845 instruments. Most of them accompanied by stunning photography.
Practical Design
Beautifully printed and bound in Italy, the volumes measure 300 x 360mm and offer an optimal reading experience. The elegant Parisian-grey slipcases, each housing two volumes, come equipped with ribbons for seamless handling.
Who is this for?
Classical Music Lovers who wish to deepen their appreciation beyond performance to understand the historical context, craftsmanship techniques, and cultural journey of each instrument.
Museums & Collectors making serious acquisitions. Get the provenance research, authentication details, and dendrochronological dating that validates million-dollar decisions.
Rare Book Connoisseurs seeking museum-quality craftsmanship. Only 110 premium copies exist—each destined to appreciate as collectable art objects.
Visionaries & Leaders who surround themselves with symbols of human excellence. Stradivari's story embodies what individual genius can achieve.
Our Institutional Partners
The publication benefitted from unprecedented support from major institutions worldwide...
... and also from collectors, dealers and colleagues who generously shared their records for this project.
A Word from the Authors
Simon Morris and Steven Smith
The creation of this publication has been as rewarding as it has been challenging. The scale of Antonio Stradivari’s achievement over his long and productive lifetime is staggering: over eight hundred instruments are recorded and the great majority of these are extant.
We see this publication both as our contribution to safeguarding the legacy of Antonio Stradivari and as a valuable service that we can provide to current and future custodians of these instruments. And to lead this once-in-a-lifetime undertaking we invited John Dilworth and Duane Rosengard, two remarkable scholars whose expertise in fine-stringed instruments and the Cremonese tradition spans some forty years across both sides of the Atlantic.
Clearly, the scale of work surpasses the capacity and resources of one dealer, so we are grateful to peers and institutions for their generosity in sharing information and expertise. We hope that you will enjoy this publication as a reference book, a testament to one remarkable man’s lifetime of work, and an inspiration to all craftsmen and craftswomen, as well as a work of beauty in its own right.
(Left) Simon Morris, the former co-Managing Director of J&A Beare. (Right) Steven Smith, owner and Managing Director of J&A Beare.
Explore the Stradivari project through our short videos
Inside the book
845 curated provenances
Violins
736 Violins
7 Small violins
1 Violin front
2 Violin cases
Guitars
6 Guitars
1 Guitar Neck
Violas
14 Violas
1 Viola d’amore
1 Viola d’amore head
1 Viola front
Other
1 Bow
1 Harp 1
Lute Front
2 Mandolins
1 Pochette
Celli
69 Cellos
Indexes
Volume 6 contains two indexes that help navigate the different dates and names under which instruments have been documented throughout historical literature.
A luthier who defined violin craftsmanship for all generations to come.
Antonio Stradivari (1644-1737) was a perfectionist and an innovator. From adolescence through his 93rd year, he constantly experimented with the shape, varnish and materials of the violin, seeking the perfect tone that could project a universe of sound to the farthest reaches of the largest concert hall. His prolific output includes some of the most beautiful stringed instruments ever made, whose craftsmanship has yet to be equalled even with modern skills and technology.
Today, his keen spirit and passion live on in his work and continue to inspire generation after generation of players and violin-makers.
