The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Lost Stradivarius, by John Meade Falkner

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Title: The Lost Stradivarius

Author: John Meade Falkner

Release Date: November 21, 2004 [eBook #14107]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)

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THE LOST STRADIVARIUS

by

J. MEADE FALKNER

1895

Penguin Books
Harmondsworth Middlesex, England
245 Fifth Avenue, New York, U.S.A.

THE AUTHOR

John Meade Falkner was a remarkable character, as he was not only a
scholar and a writer, but a captain of industry as well. Born in 1858,
the son of a clergyman in Wiltshire, he was educated at Marlborough and
Hertford College, Oxford. On leaving the university, he became tutor to
the sons of Sir Andrew Noble, then vice-chairman of the
Armstrong-Whitworth Company; and his ability so much impressed his
employer that in 1885 he was offered a post in the firm. Without
connections or influence in industrial circles, and solely by his
intellect, he rose to be a director in 1901, and finally, in 1915,
chairman of this enormous business. He was actually chairman during the
important years 1915-1920, and remained a director until 1926.

His intellectual energy was so great that throughout his life he found
time for scholarship as well as business. He travelled for his firm in
Europe and South America; and in the intervals of negotiating with
foreign governments studied manuscripts wherever he found a library. His
researches in the Vatican Library were of special importance, and in
connection with them he received a gold medal from the Pope; he was also
decorated by the Italian, Turkish and Japanese governments.

His scholastic interests included archaeology, folklore, palaeography,
mediaeval history, architecture and church music; and he was a collector
of missals. Towards the end of his life he was made an Honorary Fellow
of Hertford College, Oxford, Honorary Reader in Palaeography to Durham
University, and Honorary Librarian to the Chapter Library of Durham
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