Also Straduarius. [a. L. Stradivarius, Straduarius, latinized forms of the name of Antonio Stradivari, a noted Italian maker of stringed instruments in the 17th c.] A violin or other stringed instrument made by Stradivari or his pupils. Also attrib.
1833. Fardely, trans. Otto’s Treat. Violin, 33. One of his [Amati’s] Violins, in good condition, is almost preferable to a Stradivarius.
1843. Morning Post, 15 Feb., 5/5. There is another new comer in Paris much sought after in all the salons; he is a violin-player—a pupil of Paganini. To him Sivari, that prince of violin-players, gave, besides his best Stradivarius, some of his best secrets.
1865. Dickens, Mut. Fr., III. xiii. He had a Straduarius violin to dispose of.
1874. Boddam-Whetham, Western Wand., 135. One of the orchestra lost a Straduarius violin worth 1,400 dollars.
1887. Conan Doyle, Study in Scarlet (1892), 38. My companion prattled away about … the difference between a Stradivarius and an Amati.
