Books › Notice of Anthony Stradivari, the celebrated violin-maker, known by the name of Stradivarius:, 1864 › scan 43
Scan 43
Notice of Anthony Stradivari, the celebrated violin-maker, known by the name of Stradivarius:, 1864
6 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 21. See the scan on archive.org.
1right, the left foot has a length of about 7 centimètres [2.756 in.]. This foot passes through the left sound-hole into the body of the instrument, and rests on [the inside of] the back; and the right foot, whose length is about 2 centimètres [.787 in.], rests on the belly, near the right sound-hole. In consequence of this disposition, the left foot performs the functions of the sound-post in a violin, and at once puts into vibration the belly, the back, and the mass of air contained within the instrument. This placing of the bridge, which is very badly shown in the figure given by Daines Barrington, has entirely disappeared in the wretched copy of Bottée de Toulmont, and in the reproduction of it made by M. Coussemaker. In both, the oblique direction of the bridge has disappeared, as well as the inequality in the length of the feet, and the introduction of the left foot into the sound-hole: nor can we even discover in them any indication of the back of the instrument; so that it appears as if the belly were simply fitted to the sides, and that the crouth has no back at all. The drawing given by Edward Jones (p. 89) is very accurate; it makes the position of the left foot of the bridge perfectly intelligible, and the description which he gives of it dispels all doubt. (See Fig. 2, next page.*)
3"The bridge is not placed at right angles with the sides of the Crwth, but in an oblique direction; and, which is farther to be remarked, one of the feet of the
5* The figure of the crouth on the next page differs from the drawing in Jones's book, both in the shape of the bridge and in that of the tail-piece, at the end where the strings are fastened. It is a reduced copy of that given in the Archæologia, vol. iii.—Tr.
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