It's You : Spin-off Stories

Edward Cotton

"Ready to do this?" Brett asked, his finger on the record button of the camera.

Eddy looked at the notes they had made for the video and nodded, "Yeah, ready."

"Remember Eddy, when it gets too overwhelming, we will stop. If you don't want to push through with posting it, even when all the editing is complete, just say so. This is your life we are about to put out there, you have a say in what happens." Brett said, a firmness in his voice that reminded Eddy of Bennett.

Eddy nodded, "Yes, I understand. I want to do this. For Olaf. And also, for Edward."

Brett nodded knowingly. He understood Eddy better than anyone, "Alright. Here we go." He said as he hit the record button.

They both wait until he is seated before they start talking.

"Hello and welcome to a very special video." Eddy started, "You may have seen Olaf's video where he shows one of the violins on his eighteenth century collection, the custom-made one. Or you may have seen his other video where he shows his entire collection of the work of a certain luthier." Eddy cleared his throat, "Or if you haven't seen any of them, do check them out. We did have a collab video where he shares that collection with us, you may have seen that one."

"If you haven't, what are you doing? Go and watch it and then return to this video." Brett joked, "Anyway, so Eddy and I thought it would be an interesting video idea for us to share with you all what we know about this eighteenth century luthier named Edward Cotton."

Eddy cleared his throat, "Yes, because he is such an inspiration for our good friend Olaf. And because we did that collab, we figured why not dive deeper and share what we find out about this luthier. And so, this video was drawn up."

Brett claps his hands together, "Alright, here we go. Basics first, some information you may have already heard from Olaf..." he cleared his throat, "Edward Cotton was a luthier from the eighteenth century. It is heavily speculated that he may have been a student of Barak Norman, who for your information was one of the earliest Brit string instrument makers. The reason why it is believed that Edward was Norman's student is because there is a similarity in their style of making violins."

"One of those similarities is how they carve their scrolls and how they create the f holes. Their carving is unique to them only, and it is key to identifying their works. Another similarity is their choice of marking their work. While Barak had created his own seal, Edward would paint his signature onto the wood, so you should see it if you looked through the f hole of his violins."

Eddy nodded, "Just like Olaf said in his videos, part of the reason why Edward Cotton's works are such inspirational pieces is because of how they managed to stay in such pristine conditions for hundreds of year. There is speculation that Edward had a secret method of preserving the wood, but no one can figure out exactly what he did. The quality of the wood is key to the quality of the instrument, and that is why Edward Cotton's violins are considered to be of high quality."

"There is also much praise for Edward Cotton's innovative craftsmanship. He often experimented with carving techniques without compromising the quality of his work. In fact, the violins he experimented on arguably turned out better than his regular ones. Many out there are searching for the violins that Edward designed but did not make himself. They wish to compare the quality, so they can prove that Edward's personal touch was the very heart and soul of his work."

Brett cleared his throat, "Another thing that Olaf shared in his videos is the possibility of Edward Cotton having a male lover by the name of Bennett. There are no records to prove this, but that is no reason to dismiss the possibility. Edward Cotton would carve his initials into the scrolls of his violins, so all his works have "EC" carved intricately on the scroll. And then his later works have the initials "EC" as well as the initials "BY" carved into the scrolls. The same can be said about the frogs of his bows. At first he would only carve "EC", but then his later works also had "BY" carved into them."