Finger Stretcher for the Aspiring Pianist

This grisly device, featured in Maurice Collins’ terrific book Eccentric Contraptions, was created around the turn of the 20th century to help stretch the finger span of small-handed pianists. According to one source, Robert Schumann permanently wrecked his right hand and ended his career using an early version of one of these contraptions. (Other sources blame a botched surgical procedure aimed at slicing the tendon between the third and fourth fingers, and yet others say it was syphilis medication that did him in.)
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