Books › Notice of Anthony Stradivari, 1864 › scan 73
Scan 73
Notice of Anthony Stradivari, 1864
6 lines. Read by computer on 24 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1Venetians, took care to select wood with the greatest number of waves in it, in order that it might break the sooner. It is from these parts of the wood intended for the rowers that the Italian makers chose what suited them for the manufacture of violins.
3The deal employed by the Cremona makers was selected from the southern side of the mountains of Italian Switzerland and the Tyrol. Stradivarius, of whom we speak, generally chose those parts of it in which the fibres were small, straight, slightly separated, and always placed perpendicularly to the plane of the violin.
5We have now related what were the results of the labours of the great makers of the school of Brescia, and of the Amati family. In the instruments of Gasparo di Salo and Magini we find a tone at once superb, majestic, and penetrating, but veiled and melancholy; in those of Nicholas, the most able of the Amati, a pure, sweet and silvery tone, but little intensity. Mellowness and beauty united to clearness, brilliance and vibratory power—this was the last problem to resolve. A man at length appeared, who, by progressive steps, ultimately discovered the secret of all these perfections combined. This man was Anthony Stradivarius, of whom we are about to speak. After relating all that it has been possible to collect concerning his person and family, we shall follow him in his labours, and shall set forth, beyond doubt and discussion (at least, we hope so), the principles which have resulted from his studies, and which have guided him in the finest productions of his talent.
The computer misreads some letters and numbers. Where a name matters to you, read the scan.