A Biographical Dictionary of Fiddlers di A. Mason Clarke
Biographical Dictionary of Fiddlers. 1.09
nobleman once offered for it a sum equivalent to four hundred dollars; but would not sell it even if one thousand dollars were offered for it, although, he admits, he was at this period, greatly in need of funds to pay off certain gambling debts. About this time came the turning point in Paganini's life so far as gambling was concerned. He was invited to a friend's house where gambling was not only tolerated but encouraged. " All my capital," he says, "consisted of thirty francs, as I had disposed of my jewels, watch, rings, &c. ; I nevertheless resolved on risking this last resource, and, if fortune proved fickle, to sell my violin and proceed to St. Petersburg without instrument or baggage, with a view to adjusting my affairs. My thirty francs were soon reduced to three, and I already fancied myself on the road to Russia, when luck took a sudden turn, and I won one hundred and sixty francs. This saved my violin and completely set me up. From that day forward I gradually gave up gaming, becoming more and more convinced that a gambler is an object of contempt to all well-regulated minds."
From 1801 to 1803 Paganini lived in comparative retirement, dividing his attention between composition and the guitar, on which instrument he also exhibited great proficiency.
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