Books › The violin and the art of its construction : a treatise on the Stradivarius violin, 1895 › scan 20
Scan 20
The violin and the art of its construction : a treatise on the Stradivarius violin, 1895
6 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 14. See the scan on archive.org.
1lower edge of the back. No doubt, this violin, made in 1710, was an experiment, the average measurement being considered to be from 58 to 62 m/m. Now and again, Stradivarius made the arch lower, whether intentionally or from want of wood, I am not in a position to say. In this case he makes the ribs correspondingly higher, so that the above-mentioned measurement may still be 60 m/m. Stradivarius has also occasionally made the arch of the back less than 15 m/m., and by way of compensation, in this case, has increased the arch of the belly. I am of opinion, however, that these deviations are to be ascribed more to experiment than to accident. He never trusted to chance in his work, but in the most careful way reflected upon it and took into consideration all circumstances in connection with it. The arch given as an example in Fig. 6, is taken from a Stradivarius violin of the year 1713, and as the belly and back are both of equal height, viz.: 15 m/m., the entire height amounts to 60 m/m.
3VII. THE PURFLING.
5The purfling is always placed 4 m/m. from the edge and is 1 1/2 m/m. wide. It consists of three parts, the two outermost of which are prepared from maple and stained black, while the middle part is made of the same kind of wood, but unstained. It is of the utmost importance that the purfling should only be inserted to the depth of one-third of the thickness of the edges, otherwise the edge will very easily break off. In the work of Stradivarius, one finds continually on the back, both above and below, a peg of maple-wood, by means of which he fastened the back to the block, and the half of this peg is inserted in the purfling. In violins having a divided back, one finds another purfling on
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