Scan 138
The violin: its famous makers and their imitators, 1875
4 lines. Read by computer on 28 September 2026. Printed page 88. See the scan on archive.org.
1soon displayed that rare originality which separated him from his brethren for ever.
3We will now inquire into the character of Guarnerius del Jesù's model. In forming this, he seems to have turned to Gaspard di Salo as the maker whose path he wished to traverse, and if each point be critically considered, an impression is left that, after well weighing the merits and demerits of Gaspard, he resolved to commence where Gaspard ceased, and to carry out the plan left incomplete by the great Brescian maker. To commence with that all-important element, the sound-hole, it will be seen that Guarnerius del Jesù retained its pointed form. Next comes the outline of the body, where, again, there is much affinity to the type of Gaspard di Salo, particularly in the middle bouts. Lastly, the quality of wood selected for the bellies is in both makers similar. In continuing the path trodden by Gaspard; Guarnerius proved himself an artist possessed of no little discernment. His chief desire was evidently to make instruments capable of producing a quality of tone hitherto unknown, and that he succeeded is universally acknowledged. Workmanship, as evidenced by the instruments of his first and last epoch, was with him a purely secondary consideration. In the second epoch, his work shows him to have been not unmindful of it. That he brought much judgment to bear upon his work, the vast number of instruments that he has left, and the great variety of their construction, is sufficient to prove. The extent of
The computer misreads some letters and numbers. Where a name matters to you, read the scan.