Books › Violins, old & new, 1887 › scan 23
Scan 23
Violins, old & new, 1887
4 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 19. See the scan on archive.org.
1productions, without any guide but the models of the great makers who preceded him, and without any encouragement beyond that certainty of ultimate success which the genuine artist always feels, has succeeded in making violins which, so far as we are able to judge, will in every respect bear comparison with the Cremonese instruments. The specimen we have (which Mr. Day has kindly sent to us for trial) is as fine-toned a violin as we ever heard. And when the matter is carefully and thoughtfully considered in all its bearings, without partisanship or antiquarian crookedness, we may well ask—Why not? Perhaps some of the laudatores temporis acti will answer.
3Another English maker, whose success almost equals that of Mr. Day (and who differs from him in the fact that his success as an amateur has led him to adopt violin-making as a profession) is Mr. Walter H. Mayson, of Manchester. We have also had an opportunity of inspecting closely the work turned out by Mr. Mayson. He does not profess to make "copies," though the instruments of his which we have seen are made on the lines of the latest "Strad." form. Those we saw have not yet been made a year. The back of one of these instruments is the most brilliant piece of wood we ever saw in a violin; and while the workmanship is in all respects perfect—varnish, purfling, neck, scroll, etc., all being charming in their delicacy of finish—the tone is pure, and remarkably free from "newness."
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