Since 1998 I have been working on the high-resolution representation of high-quality string instruments in book format. Even though there are now a number of pictures online, I think it's a different experience to be able to look at the instruments in book format. The 1:1 illustrations in particular provide a more detailed insight into the violin makers' respective work.
The first illustrated book was published in 1998 in three languages with the title “Jean Baptiste Vuillaume” on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of this famous violin maker of the “Grande Nation”. It was a great success as there were only a few large-format illustrated books on the subject of violins to date and it was number 1 especially on Vuillaume. About the dedications by Bernard Millant (Paris) Serge Boyer (Paris) and last but not least Christoph Landon (NY) I was very happy back then. This book was created by my publisher in collaboration with Stefan Peter Greiner and Florian Leonhard and, apart from a few copies, it is now sold out. Many collectors kindly gave us the instruments to photograph and only a few photos were not taken by Jan Röhrmann. A little anecdote: In the year 2000 I visited Canada/Nova Scotia/Halifax with my two eldest sons and while visiting the local violin maker, son Jonas (then 12) tapped me and pointed to the volume “Vuillaume” on the top of the book shelf was to be seen. Even though we produce our publications today with more sophisticated technology, I am still proud of this first work, which I come across everywhere and which people still like to take out today to compare a few Vuillaume violins. To my knowledge, no other illustrated book on Jean Baptiste Vuillaume has been published to date.
