# The Lost Stradivarius — Chapters explained

> Chapter companions for The Lost Stradivarius by John Meade Falkner.

- [Epigraph](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_lost_stradivarius_se/chapters/epigraph.md): 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
- [The Lost Stradivarius](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_lost_stradivarius_se/chapters/the-lost-stradivarius.md): 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 s
- [Letter from Miss Sophia Maltravers to Her Nephew, Sir Edward Maltravers, Then a Student at Christ Church, Oxford](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_lost_stradivarius_se/chapters/letter-from-miss-sophia-maltravers-to-her-nephew-sir-edward-maltravers-then-a-student-at-christ-church-oxford.md): 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
- [Miss Sophia Maltravers’ Story](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_lost_stradivarius_se/chapters/miss-sophia-maltravers-story.md): 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.
- [I](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_lost_stradivarius_se/chapters/i.md): 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 sitt
- [II](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_lost_stradivarius_se/chapters/ii.md): John Maltravers and Mr. Gaskell continue their nightly musical sessions, during which the wicker chair produces mysterious noises whenever the gagliarda from the 'Areopagita' suite is played. They attribute the phenomeno
- [Chapter III](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_lost_stradivarius_se/chapters/iii.md): John Maltravers, while playing the Areopagita suite at dawn, experiences a terrifying supernatural vision: a figure in a wicker chair that has been creaking nightly. The apparition, dressed in century-old clothing, vanis
- [IV](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_lost_stradivarius_se/chapters/iv.md): John Maltravers, still shaken from his supernatural encounter, summons his friend Mr. Gaskell to discuss the apparition. Gaskell theorizes that the music of the gagliarda has a fatal connection to the spirit, possibly li
- [V](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_lost_stradivarius_se/chapters/v.md): John Maltravers spends the summer vacation at Worth Maltravers, confiding in his sister Sophia about his love for Constance Temple and the apparition he saw. The chapter describes their idyllic summer, John's continued p
- [Chapter VI](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_lost_stradivarius_se/chapters/vi.md): In the autumn term, John Maltravers and Mr. Gaskell resume their musical studies, noting that the wicker chair no longer creaks during the gagliarda. They begin to doubt their earlier supernatural experiences. John disco
- [VII](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_lost_stradivarius_se/chapters/vii.md): John Maltravers discovers a hidden violin in a secret cupboard, which he suspects to be a genuine Stradivarius. He cleans it, compares it to his Pressenda, and finds the label 'Antonius Stradiuarius Cremonensis faciebat,
- [Chapter VIII](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_lost_stradivarius_se/chapters/viii.md): John returns to Worth Maltravers for Christmas, but his brother notices a change in his manner—he seems distracted and secretive. They are invited to Royston for Christmas, where John's attachment to Constance Temple gro
- [IX](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_lost_stradivarius_se/chapters/ix.md): John Maltravers recovers from his illness at Royston, becomes engaged to Constance Temple, and returns to Oxford for his final term. He keeps the Stradivarius violin a secret, playing it alone, and on the last night of t
- [The Summer and the Wedding](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_lost_stradivarius_se/chapters/x.md): The summer is spent with Mrs. Temple and Constance, with John playing the Stradivarius violin and showing signs of emotional distance. John and Constance marry on September 1st and honeymoon in Italy. Upon their return, 
- [Chapter XI](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_lost_stradivarius_se/chapters/xi.md): Sophia witnesses John's nocturnal violin playing in the gallery, where he obsessively repeats the gagliarda while staring at Adrian Temple's portrait. Later, John attempts to play with Constance but brusquely stops, humi
- [XII](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_lost_stradivarius_se/chapters/xii.md): Sophia Maltravers receives a desperate plea from her brother John, who is gravely ill in Italy. She travels to Naples, witnessing his deteriorated state. The chapter also covers John's abrupt departure from Royston, Cons
- [XIII](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_lost_stradivarius_se/chapters/xiii.md): Sophia Maltravers spends nearly a week at the Villa de Angelis with her brother John, who is gravely ill. He avoids discussing his wife's death and his past conduct, instead reminiscing about their childhood. Sophia disc
- [XIV](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_lost_stradivarius_se/chapters/xiv.md): John Maltravers takes his sister to a dilapidated building in Naples, revealing the skeletal remains of Adrian Temple and connecting the location to a vision described by Mr. Gaskell, identifying it as the hall of the Do
- [XV](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_lost_stradivarius_se/chapters/xv.md): John and his brother return to England, with John's health declining. They stop in London for medical advice from Dr. Frobisher, who diagnoses advanced lung and heart disease. They proceed to Worth Maltravers, where on C
- [Mr. Gaskell’s Note](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_lost_stradivarius_se/chapters/mr-gaskell-s-note.md): Mr. Gaskell provides his own account of Sir John Maltravers's decline, attributing it to the influence of a mysterious diary and a Stradivarius violin. He describes how Maltravers became obsessed with the past, abandoned

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