Stringed Instrument Collection
Musical Instruments at the Library of Congress
Instrument collecting at the Library of Congress began with the generosity of Mrs. Gertrude Clarke Whittall who donated five stringed instruments made by Antonio Stradivari to the Library of Congress in 1935. Since that time, the Library's Music Division has acquired five additional stringed instruments through generous donations. These additional violins were made by Stradivari, Nicolò Amati, Jean Baptiste Vuillaume, and Giuseppe Guarneri (two violins) in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.