The Lost Stradivarius · Chapters
Chapters explained
Chapter companions for The Lost Stradivarius by John Meade Falkner.
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Chapter 1
Epigraph
The epigraph, drawn from Ecclesiasticus 22:6, sets a somber tone, suggesting that a story told at the wrong time is as discordant as music played during mourning. It foreshadows themes of untimely events and the haunting power of the past.
Chapter 2
The Lost Stradivarius
John Maltravers, a young man of good family and moderate fortune, matriculates at Magdalen Hall, Oxford, where he forms a close friendship with William Gaskell. After purchasing an old wicker chair, John begins to hear strange noises emanating from it, which are triggered by playing a particular piece of music, the Gagliarda. He soon sees the apparition of a man in the chair, a vision that Gaskell confirms is a supernatural presence. During a summer vacation at Worth, John discovers a hidden Stradivarius violin, which he sends to London for appraisal. The discovery is followed by a series of events, including a Christmas at Royston where John falls ill, his marriage to Constance Temple, and a honeymoon. After returning to England, John abandons his family and isolates himself in Italy, where Constance dies, leaving a legacy of family secrets and the haunting power of the past.
Chapter 3
Letter from Miss Sophia Maltravers to Her Nephew, Sir Edward Maltravers, Then a Student at Christ Church, Oxford
Sophia Maltravers writes to her nephew, Sir Edward Maltravers, on his coming of age, fulfilling her late brother's dying request to communicate certain events from his final years. She has compiled the narrative from her own vivid recollections and notes taken at the time of his death, expressing the pain of writing but the importance of sharing the truth directly rather than through distorted accounts from others.
Chapter 4
Miss Sophia Maltravers’ Story
Sophia Maltravers recounts her family's history, including her brother John's obsession with a violin and his subsequent marriage to Constance Temple, which leads to tragedy and John's abandonment of his family.
Chapter 5
I
John Maltravers, a young musician at Magdalen Hall, discovers an old manuscript of suites by Graziani. While playing the 'gagliarda' movement alone, he hears mysterious creaking from a wicker chair, as if someone is sitting and then rising. The next evening, he plays the same suite with his friend Mr. Gaskell, who also notices the strange sounds. Both are unsettled, but they attribute it to acoustic vibrations, though Gaskell admits an eerie feeling that something has been listening.
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