JAVS Fall 2008

collection was organized. Each section of the collection (with the exception of research, correspon dence, and media) was then trans ferred to acid-free archival boxes and folders.

America, and other international string societies); Music; Media; Research; and Correspondence (over 1,000 letters). The first completed section of the Maurice W. Riley Collection con tains the research for the instru ments mentioned at the begin ning of Volumes I and II of The History of the Viola . To collect the information, Riley sent out several hundred questionnaires to promi nent violists, violin dealers, and museums throughout the world. These questionnaires asked for specific measurements, maker details, owner history, photo graphs, etc. The collection con tains information on around eighty violas—measurements, appraisal certificates, owner histo ry, and quality photographs of several violas by Guarneri, Stradivari, da Salò, and many other luthiers who were pioneers in viola-making. Summary sheets found at the beginning of each file consolidate all the informa tion within the file onto one page and indicate where the instru ments are located in The History of the Viola . The 528 Biographical Files have their roots in the Appendices of Volumes I and II of The History of the Viola . To find these individu als, Riley perused dozens of pro fessional orchestra rosters and wrote to every management com pany in the United States and Europe, asking for the names and addresses of every violist he could find. In 1978 Riley created a biographical questionnaire that was sent to nearly five hundred

es, several books, photos and recordings, and a ton of research. Scattered throughout the materi als were family pictures, Christmas cards from old friends, love notes to his wife Leila, and even a few coloring books Riley shared with his grandchildren. The summer months were spent going through each box; docu menting and summarizing every item within the collection, result ing in twenty-seven large spread sheets. Great effort was taken to keep things as close to their “orig inal order” as possible. After over five hundred hours of sorting, summarizing, and labeling, the

THE MAURICE W. RILEY COLLECTION

The Maurice W. Riley Collection at PIVA is divided into several sec tions: Violas; Biographical Files (528 of them); International Viola Congresses; Drafts of The History of the Viola (Vols. I/II); Riley’s Lectures & Presentations; Administrative Materials (American Viola Society, Violin Society of

Informational sheet on a Guarneri viola.

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