Scan 191
The violin: its famous makers and their imitators, 1875
2 lines. Read by computer on 28 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1method eminently successful when applied to wood of a certain texture and character would ensure as eminent a failure if applied indiscriminately in all cases. To obtain wood sufficient for two bellies that should be alike in every particular is impossible, though cuttings should be made from the self-same piece; and we find that the more the material varies in its nature, so much the greater the variations—a rule which helps the view advanced considerably. In another place I have stated that scarcity of sycamore in the days of these old makers is impossible to understand, but scarcity of a particular kind of sycamore is easy to comprehend. I may even carry this view further. Does it seem possible that such a consummate artist as Stradiuarius, whose conception of the beautiful as regards the blending of lines was so masterly, would have been content to expend his loving care over wood which he knew must necessarily mar the effect of his labours, when he could have obtained handsome material and made all complete? He might have had a cart-load of handsome wood in appearance, but handsome wood combined with acoustical properties he deemed needful, was another matter. With what extraordinary care he permitted himself to use the lovely wood he did possess! There are several instances where he has used during one year four or five distinct cuttings of wood, more particularly as regards the sycamore. These several cuttings include often the handsomest and the plainest. A
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