Bow & Bridge Violin and bow makers, as the old books printed them

Books › A treatise on the structure and preservation of the violin and all other bow-instruments; together with an account of the most celebrated makers, and of the genuine characteristics of their instruments;, 1860 › scan 41

Scan 41

A treatise on the structure and preservation of the violin and all other bow-instruments; together with an account of the most celebrated makers, and of the genuine characteristics of their instruments;, 1860

8 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 19. See the scan on archive.org.

1three-quarters of an inch thick in the middle. A similar block is placed at the lower end, into which the button for the tail-piece is inserted.
3The belly, which has the same gentle rise as the back, is made of excellent pine-wood; and although the grain is not very fine, the fibres are perfectly equidistant, both in the middle and near the edges. The f-holes are beautifully shaped and stand rather near each other, so that the space between the upper little turns is only the breadth of the bridge; they are particularly narrow at the upper and lower turns, and by no means wide in the middle. The edges and purfling are like those of the back.
5The neck is made of the same beautifully-figured wood as the back and sides, and the cheeks of the peg-box are very strong and full. The scroll, which is admirably rounded, is very broad from the central point on one side to that on the other, and is indisputably the most beautiful form which has been adopted for violins: indeed, of all the Italian violins which have come under my notice, those of Jerome Amati are the handsomest in shape and the most carefully made. They are covered with amber varnish mixed with a light reddish-brown colour (kirschbraunen Lasurfarbe), which has greatly peeled off the majority of them. There are some which have a mahogany colour mixed with the varnish.
7These are the oldest Cremona violins, as they were made during the years 1614—1620, and are now therefore (in 1817) two hundred years old. From their firm and good construction, however, they may retain their excellence half a century longer.

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