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Scan 226
the history of the violin, 1864
4 lines. Read by computer on 28 September 2026. Printed page 204. See the scan on archive.org.
1ship and sweetness of tone. Nicolas was celebrated for his basses, for which he used oil varnish, and the sounding-boards had a very inconsiderable swelling. The upper vibrating plate was thickest in the centre near the bridge, and diminished about one-third to the S S holes, and then gradually diminished towards the sides, where the thickness did not exceed half of that in the centre. The lower vibrating plate also diminished from the centre to the sides in the same proportion, but was generally rather thicker than the upper plate. The first and second strings were brilliant and pure in tone, the third round and mellow, with power, but the fourth frequently dry and feeble, arising from the instrument being too narrow and short in proportion to the thickness. It may in general be considered as a distinction that the instruments of the Amati family have a pure and sweet tone, but not much power; those of the Stradiuarius, a rich and powerful tone; those of the Guarnerius family, still more volume of tone; and those of the Steiner, a sharp piercing tone, particularly on the first string.
3The next of the Amati family were Antonius and Hieronymus (or Jerome), both sons of Andreas, of whom Antonius, the elder, was born about 1565. They made at first together from 1589, but afterwards separated. Antonius was superior to his brother, and made after his father's pattern; his instruments were sweet, but the fourth string defective. The upper plate was rather thick in the centre, gradually diminishing towards the sides. The small violins of Antonius have not been surpassed for sweetness and mellowness, but the sound is deficient in intensity, and he endeavoured to counterbalance the smallness of his model and the lowness of the ribs by the height and extension of the arches. He is said to have worked up to 1627, and to have died
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