The early mandolin - James Tyler, Paul Sparks - Google Books

https://books.google.de/books?id=hc0IAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA64&dq=%22Giovanni+Hoffmann%22#v=onepage

The name "mandolin" was used to refer to two quite different instruments: the gut-stringed mandolino, played with the fingers, and the later metal-stringed Neapolita mandoline, which was played with a plectrum. This is the first book devoted exclusively to…