Book excerpt: This book presents a unique view of the work of the great Italian violin-makers from the 17th to the 19th centuries, based on the collection of The Royal Academy of Music in London. The Academy, founded in 1822, is Britain's senior conservatory and one of the oldest institutions in the world for advanced musical training. Included here are masterpieces by Amati, Cappa, Celoniato, Ceruti, Dalla Costa, Deconet, Gagliano, Grancino, Guadagnini, Guarneri, Landolfi, Pressenda, Rota, Rugeri, Seraphin, Sorsana, Stradivari, Tecchler, and Testore. This revised edition has an updated descriptive text, features 15 extra entries, devotes at least two full-color spreads to each instrument, and is supplemented with a new dendrochronological study. Specially-commissioned photographs display each violin, viola, or cello with large, high-quality illustrations, revealing details of these instruments as never before. The Academy's collection of stringed instruments consists of around 100 violins and a similar combined number of violas and celli, the majority of which were received as gifts over the last century, beginning with the Rutson Bequest in 1906. These working instruments are maintained in fine playing condition and generally are in the hands of young musicians during their time as students or at the outset of their careers. The fine selection presented here underlines the collection's core of masterpiece Italian violins, and for the most part this book includes only those instruments in the purest state of conservation.