Scan 195
The violin: its famous makers and their imitators, 1875
4 lines. Read by computer on 28 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1velvety wood, and the varnish is just half worn off the back in a rough triangular form, that produces a certain beauty of light and shade which is in my opinion the ne plus ultra. These Violins are rare; I never had but two in my life."
3Passing to the last period of this great maker, we enter upon the consideration of a set of instruments very distinct from those of an earlier date, and which have given rise to a great divergence of opinion. Some have gone to the extent of denying the authenticity of these works as far as they relate to Stradiuarius; others, again, admit that portions of these instruments are from his hand, and finished by his sons or Carlo Bergonzi. There are, doubtless, many exceedingly crude looking instruments passing under his name bearing dates ranging from 1730 to 1737, in the making of which he has taken no part; but, on the other hand, to deny that there are any works of Stradiuarius having these dates is, to my mind, absurd. He must be an ill-informed judge of Violins who fails to recognise the hand of the master in several splendid specimens of this period. It must be borne in mind that Stradiuarius had reached a great age when he made these instruments in 1730, viz., 86 years. It would not be reasonable to expect to find the high finish belonging to the instruments made from 1700 to 1725, but even in these there is a finish distinct from either his sons or that of Bergonzi. But, beyond this, there is recognisable the splendid form, the masterly scroll, the perfect
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