Biblioteca de la Guitarra y Cuerda Pulsada

A highly  ornamented  guitar,  built  by  Pons  in  1812,  once  belonging  to  Empress  Marie-Louise,  and  then  given to  Mauro  Giuliani,  has  recently  come  to  light  in  a  London  bank.  Prior  to  its  discovery,  no  guitar  having  adirect connection with Giuliani was known to exist. This article describes the instrument and discusses the sequence of events that led to its coming into the possession of Christopher de Monte, a young English gentleman who was apparently the dedicatee of Giuliani’s Concerto, Op. 36. Giuliani gave him the guitar in 1815, but de Monte died prematurely in 1816, while returning to England. His guitar and belongings were put in a storeroom at the bank of Coutts & Co. Today, some 180 years later, this discovery presents us with a veritable time capsule of musical knowledge...

This article appeared in “Soundboard” published by the Guitar Fundation of America

a guiuliani guitar kept in london