Scan 41
A Review Of Ancient And Modern Violin Making, 1899
6 lines. Read by computer on 19 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1be many failures, and the system condemned in consequence. These failures will result from inexperience and lack of judgment, rather than from any fault of the system.
3As a last and final proof that success is not owing to a certain quality of wood I will give a recent test. I bought a violin (Hopf), for which I paid $2.50. I need not describe its worthlessness, as all who have seen the brand will know. It will suffice to say that it was dearly bought. Reasoning from the "good wood" standpoint, the poor quality of this violin was owing to poor wood. If this was so, it must be admitted that no skill could have averted a failure in the first place, or redeemed the violin by after work. But the fact is, I have reconstructed the violin, and it now ranks with the first instruments in this or other countries. I venture to say there is no honest minded man, however firmly he may believe in this theory, but will admit that the improvement was due to a thorough knowledge of how to work the wood and shape its proportions, though in this case, as in thousands of others, the wood had to father the ignorance of the maker.
5If all violin makers will strive for perfec-
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