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

Books › Notice of Anthony Stradivari, the celebrated violin-maker, known by the name of Stradivarius:, 1864 › scan 31

Scan 31

Notice of Anthony Stradivari, the celebrated violin-maker, known by the name of Stradivarius:, 1864

9 lines. Read by computer on 28 September 2026, twice; the two readings disagreed in places. Printed page 9. See the scan on archive.org.

1does not appertain to music, properly speaking; it is confined to its primary use of sustaining the voice, by rubbing the string with the bow*.
3If we now turn to Europe, and there examine the oldest monuments, together with the earliest particulars collected on the subject of bow-instruments, we shall find in them the same traces of Indian origin. There is nothing in the West which has not come from the East. In many places of my writings I have stated this truth, and now again repeat it. Formerly, I thought it admitted of a single exception as regards the bow, whose origin I had observed in the goudok of the Russian peasantry†; but, at that time, I had only a very imperfect knowledge of India, in a musical point of view. Favorable circumstances, however, which, during the lapse of twenty years, have enabled me to fully investigate the ancient musical doctrines of this country, and which have brought into my possession a portion of its native instruments,—these circumstances, I say, have enlightened me; so that I can now reiterate, without any reservation, there is nothing in the West which has not come from the East. The goudok—with its three strings, its scroll, its finger-board placed on the neck, its regularly constructed sonorous chest, its sound-holes in the belly, its bridge duly proportioned to the length of the strings, its tail-piece similar to that of our violins—is a
5* Representations of this instrument may be seen in Lane's work before referred to.—Tr.
7(no line here) one of two readings
8† See my Résumé philosophique de l'histoire de la musique, at the commencement of the first volume of the Biographie universelle des Musiciens, p. cxxix, 1st edition.

The computer misreads some letters and numbers. Where a name matters to you, read the scan.