Books › The Violin: A concise exposition of the general principles of construction.., 1871 › scan 167
Scan 167
The Violin: A concise exposition of the general principles of construction.., 1871
6 lines. Read by computer on 28 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1varnish. It is now generally admitted by the best authorities upon the subject that amber in nowise entered into its composition, or, if so, in an exceedingly small proportion, as from several copies of analysis in my possession of samples of varnish, taken from genuine old Cremonas, there was not a trace of amber to be found.
3There is every probability for supposing that this ancient varnish was an oil one, or at least that the first coatings of varnish applied to the instrument were such, for Lupot, in his excellent work, confirms this, wherein he states that the substratum of the varnish should be "bonne huile fine;" and another fact of significant importance is that, in the letter of Stradivarius to a clergyman, a fac-simile of which is contained in the learned work of Fetis, he states, "Compatira la tardanza del violino, perché è stato la causa per la vernice per le gran crepate che il sole non le faccia aprire." "Pardon the delay of the violin, occasioned from the varnishing of the large cracks, that the sun may not reopen them"—a delay which had been caused from the varnishing (drying). It is evident this had been an oil varnish, as no apology would have been required if spirit-varnish had been used, on account of the shortness of time taken by it to dry. Monsieur Grivel states that alcohol removes the Cremona varnish—so it does, but this is no proof that the Cremona varnish was a spirit one.
5If we make a varnish composed of any resin which is soluble in oil or alcohol, such as common rosin, Venice turpentine, Canada balsam, &c., with a certain
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