"Ah, what these hands have done."

After the specious MH article appeared, its seeds of misinformation found fertile soil in the popular press in Scandinavia, Germany, England, and ultimately, the United States. Innumerable publications printed stories about Bottesini based on the information found in the MH article, many of them distorting or disregarding even those tenuous "facts." One article even confused Bottesini with Dragonetti and made the preposterous claim that Umberto was his teacher!

Of course, it would have been appropriate for Bottesini to say this; his hands did more than any others in history. Merely penning his Complete Method was itself an epic achievement.

• "These hands -- ah, what these hands might have done."
• "Please bring me my Contrabass -- let me touch it one last time."
• "What an artist the world is losing in me."
• "Now I will relieve them of their trembling. That the death of a feeble old man should be a comfort to so many."
• "Thank you. The concert ends: There will be no encore."
• "At last I shall know where to place my fingers."