Books › The arts and crafts book of the worshipful Guild of violin-makers of Markneukirchen, from the year 1677 to the year 1772, 1894 › scan 51
Scan 51
The arts and crafts book of the worshipful Guild of violin-makers of Markneukirchen, from the year 1677 to the year 1772, 1894
8 lines. Read by computer on 29 August 2026. Printed page 43. See the scan on archive.org.
1out a livelihood by first one and then another branch of the art and craft of instrument-making.
3It would be a hopeless task to attempt to trace the gradual progress that was made in the selection and treatment of materials, in the excellence of production, and in the ornamentation and beauty of the finished instruments. Hyacinth Abele, a thorough savant in the history of the violin and its construction, laid down as early as the year 1864 the axiom that the important point of such an investigation would be to find out, if it were possible, how far each master kept to his own pattern, what deviations he allowed himself, and what improvements he projected and carried out.
5Indeed the intellect which could successively master the difficulties incident to the execution of this task (a task almost beyond the bounds of practicability) might indeed be called an enviable one. Anyhow the fact remains that, in the establishment of every proposed technical improvement, it was of immense importance that the travelling manufacturers and traders should strive to educate themselves still further by contact with musical artists by studying new models and by keen observation of every kind.
7Travelling for purposes of trade as well as of manufacture was indispensable at least in the second half of the 18th century. In all probability the practice of travelling then came in again, the practice from which the "journeymen" properly speaking took his title before attaining the rank of master-workman.
The computer misreads some letters and numbers. Where a name matters to you, read the scan.