Books › The violin and the art of its construction : a treatise on the Stradivarius violin, 1895 › scan 19
Scan 19
The violin and the art of its construction : a treatise on the Stradivarius violin, 1895
10 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 13. See the scan on archive.org.
1have given the preference to a divided back. I also consider it more advantageous, as, being joined, it offers greater resistance, and is not so easily pressed outwards on the sound-post side, as is the case with violins having the back cut in one piece. The edges of the mid-rib and corners should be 4 m/m. thick, whereas the upper and lower edges of the back (Fig. 1 ee ee), gradually decreasing from the corners, become 1 m/m. thinner.
3V. THE BELLY.
5The belly must be composed of two parts, and has to be joined together so exactly that the narrow year-rings are in the middle of the same; the outer ring which should not be more than 2 m/m. broad and very equally disposed, may run towards the edges. The edges must be of the same thickness as those of the back.
7VI. THE ARCHING.
9It does not seem to me probable that Stradivarius acted without mature deliberation in making the arch of the back and belly, taken together, of the same height as the ribs, viz.: 30 m/m.; of course, I am speaking now of the violins made during his prime. If the back and belly are placed one upon the other, the height will amount to 30 m/m., the entire external diameter, therefore, must be 60 m/m., since the ribs, as already stated, have a height of 30 m/m. I am certainly of the opinion, that Stradivarius substantiated these proportions by experiments. There are, however, exceptions; the greatest of the deviations from this rule which has come under my notice, consisted in the middle line measuring 70 m/m., reckoning from the upper edge of the belly to the
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