Scan 65
The violin & its story : or the history & construction of the violin, 1905
6 lines. Read by computer on 29 September 2026. Printed page 49. See the scan on archive.org.
11683, and his father, John Baptist, was the brother of Andreas Guarnerius, as is shown by his usual label, "Joseph Guarnerius, Andreæ nepos" ("Joseph Guarnerius, grandson of Andreas"). John Baptist Guarnerius would appear to have followed some other business, as no instruments bearing his name are known, while his great son acquired his art not from any member of the Guarnerius family, but under Stradivarius.
3The famous Joseph Guarnerius worked at Cremona from 1725 to 1745. His first violins are distinguished by characteristic tokens of originality, though the form somewhat varies. It is a few years later that we first find violins of his which show great care in construction, as well as wonderfully fine wood, and a varnish which rivals that of Stradivarius. The instruments of this period are of small pattern, only slightly arched, and of splendid appearance, the internal details being of good fir or deal. These violins show a few blemishes; for example, there is too much wood left in the centre of the arching, which prevents the free and energetic vibration of the belly. Compared with the style prevalent when they were made, the Joseph Guarnerius violins of this period must have failed in strength of tone and carrying power. In spite of their variations in pattern, these fiddles reflect in their appearance the greatness of their maker, conformable to those which beyond all question belong to the third period of his artistic activity, although in their external aspect they manifest the genial variety and freedom of genius. To this epoch belong a few of Joseph's instruments of the larger pattern, which for their beauty of form, the most carefully chosen wood, the assured relation of the parts one to another, and the brilliance, elasticity, and fire of the varnish, are worthy to rank with the noblest productions of Stradivarius.
5Immediately after this celebrated period of the artist's career, Guarnerius's instruments, almost suddenly, began to fail to show those characteristic features which had distinguished his prior productions, and we merely find in them that certain peculiar greatness which to the
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