Before Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen, there was C. F. Martin.
11/10/2003
Regarded as one of the finest acoustic guitars available, the Martin is in big demand by musicians around the globe. Philip Gura, a professor of American history and culture at the University of North Carolina, offers a fascinating look at Christian Frederick Martin, the brilliant craftsman and business entrepreneur who founded the Martin Guitar Company in 1833. Gura gained access to a treasure trove of company records from 1833 to 1875 that had never been available before, and he records Martin's transformation from a German émigré repairing guitars in New York to his emergence as head of a premier guitar manufacturing company that is still going strong today. Along the way, Gura details the development of the early American music trade as well as the overall growth of the American economy. Lavishly illustrated, C. F. Martin and His Guitars will appeal to guitar fans and readers interested in 19th-century American business history.