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

Books › The varnishes of the Italian violin-makers of the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and their influence on tone;, 1904 › scan 46

Scan 46

The varnishes of the Italian violin-makers of the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and their influence on tone;, 1904

6 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.

1"varnish on such instruments is of a rich golden hue, 'highly transparent; it is lightly laid on.'" This simile is absolutely correct; the conditions in the two cases assimilate very closely.
3In the case of the sunset, the effects are produced by refraction and polarization, caused by the passage of the solar rays, at a particular angle, through the refracting medium of the atmosphere; when cloud or precipitated moisture lies in the path of the polarized rays, double refraction and dichroic effects ensue (in the shadows of clouds and waves complementary colour may be often observed). The highly refracting varnish of the violin represents its atmosphere; the grain of the maple wood, which reflects the incident rays from constantly varying planes, replaces the clouds. A violin is selected of the golden hue which Mr. Hart specifies; the back is held in such a position that the incident rays of light and a line drawn from the observer's eye to the centre of the back are at an approximate right angle with the curved surfaces of the varnish; this position represents mid-day; the colour of the back is yellow interspersed with clouds of neutral colour. The angle which the longer axis of the back forms with the eye and the direction of the light is gradually made more obtuse; sunset approaches, warm tones slowly shew themselves in the clouds until, finally, the back of the violin appears to be composed of strata of red, red-brown, and yellow.
5How any educated person can confuse effects such as these with monochrome colour (even with two monochromes drawn one over the other) passes comprehension.

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