CORNELL 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME 
 OF THE SAGE ENDOWMENT 
 FUND GIVEN IN 1891 BY 
 
 HENRY WILLIAMS SAGE 
 
 [USIC 
 
Cornell University Library 
 ML B02.H56 1885 
 
 Violin-making :as it was and Is, bein 
 
 3 1924 022 320 216 
 
The original of tiiis book is in 
 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924022320216 
 
VIOLm-MAKmG: AS IT WAS ATO IS. 
 
"jForetootHs." 
 
 "(Jfor ktxie jt 5« a man tof attasitt 
 " 'Eat make a thjnjf pwfgtte tdtz feat agghte ; 
 
 " ^tti toait Bt ga rtbf, anie iszl orxtt stgite 
 " JfatttfS majii b« fnanli* thatte nexttx ram t0« Isghtt, 
 " "^kouih 2* mafetre 1)0* hgs bgUflfiwe ani msghti. 
 
 " SiagwKS thegm toi tak« jt a» I hvaxt tntenivi, 
 
 "^nS« to* iaxsbxt mit, gfjhattt i hane nfcitbji. 
 
FRONTISPIECE. 
 
 From a Photograph by Van der Weyde. Vincent Brooks, Woodburytype. 
 
VIOLIN-MAKING, 
 
 AS IT WAS AND IS: 
 
 BEING A 
 
 ON THE 
 
 SCIENCE Aro AUT OF VIOLm-MAKITO, 
 
 POK THE USE OP 
 
 VIOLIN MA.KERS AND PLAYERS, 
 
 Amateue asd Propessional. 
 
 ED. HEEON-^LLEN, 
 
 AviHOB OF "Thb Ahcestbt of the Violiu," "Thb Histoby of a GtBXAt ViOLiir Case," 
 "The Bouance of a Stbasivabi," etc., etc. 
 
 WITH UPWARDS OF 200 ILLUSTRATIONS BY THE AUTHOR. 
 
 Viva fui in sylvis, sum diird oeeisa securi, 
 Dum viici tacui, mortua dulee oano. 
 
 PRECEDED BY 
 
 9n €seas on tte 17101111 antr its position as a. iXtusical Snstcument 
 
 LONDON : 
 WARD, LOCK, & CO., LIMITED, 
 
 WARWICK HOUSE, SALISBURY SQUARE, E.C. 
 NEW YORK AND MELBOURNE. 
 
PrinUdby Hazcll, IVats,,,, &- Fi„^. Ld., Undon and AyU^h»ry, 
 
TO 
 His Royal Highness 
 
 aifrrt €tnm albert, 2Dufee of (t^inWvsh 
 
 ffiarl of ^ent, ani Saii 0f Sister, 
 
 S.®.. S-'3C-. SJ-. (SM.§: (i.c.,s.i., (S.(i!;.#:.<!i., 
 
 XIC, ETC., XIC, 
 
 Peince of the Bbothebhood of Amateuk Violinists, 
 
 this volume is, by 
 
 his boyal highness' most gracldus pekmission, 
 
 eespect fully 
 
 at 
 
 %^t author. 
 
Music ! Thou who in the eternal past. 
 Awful, divine, inexorable, grave, 
 Broodedst, as did the Spirit of the Lord, 
 Upon the water's face, we come to Thee. 
 
 Cheat Soul of Life ! Stern Judge ; Sweet Cbmforter; 
 
 Magnificent, severe, and heavenly high. 
 
 Yet tender as a mother to her hahe, 
 
 Though sh^ pluch kisses eagerly, and while 
 
 Jmpasdoned as a lover's rhapsody. 
 
 Still melting as the pleading of a child 
 
 We bless Thy holy name for evermore. 
 
 In such poor ways as we are masters of. 
 
 We sitig Thy praises : and this small sweet thing. 
 
 Devised in love, and fashioned cunningly 
 
 Of wood and strings, shall weave the harmonies 
 
 Thy Spirit sways ; until we know Thee nigh. 
 
 Who, now afar yet shining in some eyes, 
 
 Speakest eternal Life in changeless Love, 
 
 And whisperest of things unspeakable. 
 
 Percy Reeve. 
 
PEEFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. 
 
 As many of my Readers are doubtless already aware, much of 
 the substance of the Theoretical and Practical parts of the fol- 
 lowing treatise appeared originally in the pages of Amateur 
 Work Illustrated (vols, i., ii., iii., 1882-3-4). The work has 
 profited largely by this preliminary publication in serial form, 
 for, as chapter after chapter appeared, many valuable letters 
 were received from readers of the Magazine who were interested 
 in Violin-making, both professionally and en amateur, containing 
 information on doubtful points, hints and suggestions as to the 
 desiderata of fiddle-makers, and pointing out where my work 
 was to the casual reader unintelligible, or seemingly incorrect. 
 All such corrections and additions as were thus suggested have 
 now been added to the original text, greatly, of course, to its 
 advantage, for it is hardly necessary to point out that there must 
 always be much in a work which may seem clear as the noon- 
 day to the writer, but which may be incomprehensible to the 
 reader who cannot follow what was the Author's chain of 
 thought as he committed his sentences to paper. In the same 
 way, since the appearance of the first edition at the end of the 
 year 1884, I have received many valuable suggestions from 
 readers, suggestions by which I have gratefully profited, and 
 I seize this opportunity to record my indebtedness in this 
 respect to Mr. John Bishop (of Cheltenham), with whose 
 kindly and careful assistance I have been enabled to add many 
 touches where they have been seriously needed, and also to 
 elucidate many points which have appeared vague in the text. 
 
 Written originally for the pages of an exclusively practical 
 Magazine, the work in its serial form was of an exclusively 
 practical nature, but now that space is no longer an object of so 
 
VIU PREFACE. 
 
 much consideration as it is in a periodical, whose pages are 
 carefully allotted amongst its contributors, I have thought it oi 
 interest and advantage to the work to add an Introductory- 
 Essay, and the Historical chapters, to the somewhat bald dog- 
 mata which it was necessary to lay down in a string without 
 any comment upon them, when describing the actual steps to 
 be taken in the solution of the problem : — " Given, a log of 
 wood ; make, a fiddle." These chapters are the tabulated results 
 of many years of assiduous study of the history of Stringed 
 Instruments, and of constant research among more or less] 
 forgotten authors for passages which might assist me in forming : 
 an idea of the estimation in which "the king of instruments " 
 has been held throughout the centuries which have elapsed 
 since ihe introduction of bow instruments in their present 
 forms, and I have been most careful to give the fullest refer- 
 ences to every author I have consulted, so that my work may 
 have a bibliographical as well as an historical value. 
 
 Written originally for Amateurs, I trust that the data I have 
 given, with all the minuteness resulting from a long experience 
 of Violin-making, may prove of much practical value to those 
 whose metier it is to give life and song to the dull wood, which 
 is destined to become " that wonder of music, the violin."^ 
 
 Until recently most works which have been published on 
 ihe Violin, whether practical or otherwise, have been written 
 by Amateurs, who have had but little or no actual experience 
 of the practical processes of Violin-making, and, therefore, the 
 only books which have been of any great value to the luthier 
 have been those written under the direction of, if not dictated I 
 by, some practical fiddle-maker. Thus that scarce little work 
 " La Chelonomie," by the Abb^ Sibire,'' was, we know, practi- i 
 cally in its entirety the work of the celebrated maker Nicolas 
 Lupot ; again, the anonymous " Luthomonographie/'^ written 
 
 ' " To perfect that wonder of travel — the locomotive — ^has perhaps not 
 required the expenditure of more mental strength and application, than to 
 perfect that wonder of music — ^the violin." — W. -E Gladstone. 
 
 ^ " La Chelonomie, ou le Parfait Luthier," par M. I'Abb^ Sibire (Paris: Millet 
 1806), reprinted in J. Gallay's " Les Luthiers Italiens, aux xvii« et xviiio si^cles • 
 Nouvelle edition du Parfait Luthier de I'Abb^ Sibire " (Paris, 1869). 
 
 ' "LnthomonographieHistoriqueetRaisonnte," etc., par un Amateur (Frank, 
 fort s/M : Ch. Jugel, 1856). 
 
PEEFACE. U 
 
 by the Kussian prince Youssoupow (or Jousoupof), is so full 
 of strange mistakes as to be of but little value apart from 
 its bibliographical rarity ; and there is no doubt that Sandys 
 and Forster's "History of the Violin"^ owes its popularity 
 and value entirely to the fact that to the charming style and 
 cultivated research of Mr. Sandys, F.S.A., was added the practical 
 knowledge of the great Simon Andrew Forster. Thus it is that, 
 though many works are annually produced in various languages on 
 the subject of the Violin, until very recently there has existed 
 really no practical guide to the actual manufacture of Violins 
 in any language, save the somewhat meagre " Manuel Roret" 
 of MM. Maugin et Maigne.^ It was urged by this terrible 
 consideration that I determined to write the present work, so 
 that Amateurs need no longer say in despair, " I should like 
 to make a fiddle, but cannot find directions anywhere Jww to 
 set to work," so that violinists may at last really know some- 
 thing about how their instruments are made, and so that those 
 who would learn how fiddles are built can do so without going 
 through the tedious and expensive course of tuition which I, and 
 all other fiddle-makers, have had to endure. Thus, to the Theory 
 which has been my constant study ever since I first touched 
 a violin, I have brought the Practice which has been the 
 fascinating amusement of late years, and I think I am right 
 in saying that now for the first, time the History, Theory, and 
 Practice of Violin-making have been combined in a single 
 volume. 
 
 With a view to reducing to a minimum the historical part of 
 my work (so as to make it as much as possible a practice-book), 
 I have confined such part to my Introduction and a few preli- 
 minary chapters, so separated from the rest of the work that 
 those who are not interested in the instrument, beyond the actual 
 principles and practice of its construction, need not necessarily 
 read them to understand the rest of the treatise, but I can hardly 
 imagine that " there breathes the man with soul so dead " as 
 not to feel any curiosity in the evolution, and in the incidents 
 
 ' " The History of the Violin, and other Instruments played on with the Bow,' 
 etc., by William Sandys and Simon Andrew Forster (London : Smith, 1864). 
 
 2 Manuals Eoret, "Nouveau Manuel Complet du Luthier," etc., par MM. 
 J. C. Maugin et W. Maigne (Paris : Eoret, 1869). 
 
PEEFACE. 
 
 of existence, of the instrument which he watches growing beneath 
 his hands into the very incarnation of Music. Such theories 
 as I have quoted from other works, I have supported by the 
 authority from whence they came, so as not to make myself 
 responsible for the errors of others, which I have stigmatized as 
 such whilst presenting them to my readers j and such particulars 
 as have been by their nature or volume inadmissible as foot- 
 notes, I have set out as appendices. 
 
 Finally, I beg to lay a tribute of the warmest gratitude at the 
 feet of those members of the violin-trade who have at all times 
 placed their valuable time, experience, and treasures at my absolute 
 disposal, with a courteous generosity which I had neither a right 
 to expect nor the temerity to demand. Especially I desire to 
 thank Mons. Georges Chanot, whose pupil in the art of violin- 
 making it has been my privilege to be, for the pains with which 
 he has answered my minutest inquiries, and has put his stores 
 of knowledge, skill, and experience at my disposal ; and finally 
 Mr. William JEbsworth Hill, and his two sons, whose enormous 
 experience of the trade, and whose enthusiasm and energy in all 
 matters connected with the instrument, have made the friend- 
 ship they have uniformly extended to me of incalculable value 
 in the composition and revision of the following pages, and to 
 the many readers of this work who have applied to them for 
 information and instruction, that circumstances have prevented 
 me from supplying them with personally. 
 
 With this prefatory excursion, which I have deemed necessary 
 to prefix to the second edition of my work for the purpose of 
 explanation and introduction (if not of apology), I take leave 
 of my Gentle Readers, many of whom I know are already old 
 friends, to whose criticisms and suggestions anent my work 
 when it appeared in Amateur Work, and upon its first appear- 
 ance in volume form, I owe much of such commendation as may 
 reward my efforts to initiate them in the fascinating mysteries 
 of the Science and Art of Violin-making. 
 
 Ed. Hekon-Allen. 
 
 St. John's, Putney Hill, 
 
 London, S.W., Septemler, 1885. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 lASB 
 
 "FOEBWOBDS" ii 
 
 Title iii 
 
 Poem (Percy Reeve) vi 
 
 Preface . . . vii 
 
 Table op Contents . . . xi 
 
 List op Illtjsteations ...... ... xvii 
 
 " Echoes " (B. A.) xxu 
 
 Intbodtjction 1 
 
 " De Fidibus " (S. C. G.) ■ 28 
 
 Part I.— l^i0toi;icaU 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 \ / THE ANCESTBY op THE VIOLIN. 
 
 Diffionlties in the Way of Research — Destruction — Errors of Description 
 and Representation — Mention of Viols in the Bible — Bow Instruments 
 among the Ancient Creeks and Romans — The Ravanastron — The Omerti 
 — The Kemangeh a'gonz — The Bebab'esh Sha'er— The Goudok— The 
 Rebab — The Nofre — The Assyrian Trigonon — Pear-shaped Viols — The 
 Eebeo and the Viol — The Gigue and Kit — The Viol-makers and their 
 Instruments — EVench Claims to Invention — The Viol da Gamba — 
 Playford — The Barytone— Prsetorins — Chests of Viols . .'* 29 — 57 
 
 CHAPTER IL 
 
 THE WELSH CKWTH. 
 
 Ancient Hebrew Lyre — Modem African Lyre — Greek and Roman Lyres 
 — ^The Rotta— The Crwth Trithaut — The Chrotta, or Crwth proper— 
 Gruffydd ap Howel — Daines Barrington — Wynne Finch — Genealogies 
 of the VioHn and Crwth .58—68 
 
Xll CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 BIOGBAPHICAL. 
 
 lias 
 
 Early Makers — Gasparo da Salo — Gio Paolo Maggini — Andreas Amati — An- 
 tonius and Hieronymus Amati — Nicolaus Amati — Andreas Guamerius 
 — Jacobus Steiner — Francisco Euggieri — Antonius Stradiuarius — 
 Joseph Guamerius — Peter Guamerius — Laurentius Guadagnini — 
 Johannes Baptista Guadagnini — Domenicus Montagnana — Sanctua 
 Seraphino — Carlo Bergonzi — Franciscus and Omobono Stradiuarius — 
 Joseph Anthony Guamerius (del Jesii) — Tincenzo Panormo — Carolus 
 Ferdinandus Landolphi — Laurentius Storioni — Nicholas Lupot — Jean 
 Baptiste Vuillaume — Barak Norman — Benjamin Banks — Thomas Dodd 
 — William Forster — Eichard Duke — Peter Wamsley — John Lott — 
 William Ebsworth Hill — Georges Chanot — Jacobs (Amsterdam) — The 
 Mireoonrt Violin Trade 69 — 85 
 
 CHAPTEE IV. 
 
 THE BOW. 
 
 Progressive History of the Bow — The CoreUi Bow — The Crimaillire — Tourte 
 — The Modem Bow — Dimensions — Hairing and Eehairing — Eosin and 
 its Action — Folding Bow — Vuillaume's Bow — Withers — Other Patents 
 —The Great Bow-makers 86—103 
 
 CHAPTEE V. 
 
 '■■i THE VIOLIN, ITS VAGARIES AND ITS VAEIBGAT0B3. 
 
 Perfection of the Existing Form — Earthenware, Metal, Leather, Papier 
 M3.che and Eccentric Violins — Trumpet Violin — Pear-shaped Violin — 
 Hulskamp's Violin — Polychord Violins— Isoard's — Dubois— VuiUaume 
 — Hoensel — Hawkins — Sinclair — ^Wylde's Nagelgeige, or Nail-Violin — 
 Boxwood Violin — Howell's — Jacque's — Bell — Eobertson — Collins— 
 Howell — Mollenhauer — Guitar-shaped Fiddles — Galbusera — F. Chanot 
 — Savart's Trapezoid Violin — Patent Repairs . • • . 104 — 121 
 
 Part II.— 'EfteowtfcaU 
 
 CHAPTEE VI. 
 
 THE WOOD — THE MODEL. 
 
 The Violin— The Woods used— Chemically prepared Woods— The Qtialities 
 of the Woods— " Whole," "Half," and "Slab" Backs- The Model- 
 Method of Copying an Old Model— Method of Drawing a Mathematical 
 Outline 125—139 
 
CONTENTS. xiu 
 
 CHAPTER VII. ■ 
 THE BACK, BELLY, AKD SIDES, 
 
 The Thicknesses of the Back and Belly— Copyists— The Sides— Mass of Air'^"" 
 contamed in a Fiddle — Height of the Sides . . . , 140—14:6 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE INTEEIOB OF THE VIOLIN. 
 
 The Blocks — The Side Lioings — The Sound Post — Its Measurement — 
 Position in the Fiddle— Functions of the Spiinfl Pnat_PRt.i9;pgn'a 
 Sound Post — Hansel's — Davidson's — Thfi_Baa3-Bar — Its Measurements 
 —Position in the Fiddle — The Old Bars — ^Vagaries attempted with the 
 Bass Bar ... 147—154 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE EXTEBIOB OF THE VIOLIN. 
 
 The //Holes— Method of Tracing— Their Object— Position in the Belly— 
 Their Capacity — The Neck and Scroll— Its Functions — Its Setting on 
 the Fiddle — Its Measurements — Method of Tracing — The Chanot Scroll 
 — Old Necks— The Bridge — ^Ancient Bridges — The Design and Material 
 — Its Functions — Setting to the Instrument — Otto's Bridge Regulator — 
 Position on the Belly — Purfiing-^Its Composition — Fitting — The Pegs 
 — Their raison, d'Hre — Ornamentation — Ornamental Purfling — Inlay- 
 ing — Carved Heads — Painting — Branding — Inlaid Fittings . 155 — 167 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE VAENISH. 
 
 Charles Readeonthe Old Varnishes — Old Recipes — Alexis the Piedmontese, 
 1550— Fioravanti of Bologna, 1564— Anda, 1663— Zahn, 1685— C. Mor- 
 ley, 1692 — Bonanni of Rome, 1713 — Qualities required by Violin Varnish 
 -— Amber Varnishes — Spirit Varnishes — Application — Sizing — Tests for 
 Purity of Ingredients — Coloration of Varnish — Composition — Time for 
 making Varnishes — Recipes 168 — 186 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 FITTINGS ASD APPLIANCES. 
 
 The Pegs— Material— Fitting— Machine Heads— Patent Pegs— The Nut — 
 The Finger-Board—Cutfcing— Material— Spohr's Finger-Board— Other 
 Vagaries— The Tail-Piece— Material— Spohr's Tail-Piece— Vuillaume's 
 Sourdine PedaJe— Zebrowski's— The Tail- Pin— The Rest— Chin-Rests— 
 HiU'a-Chanot's— The Mute— Hill's— Rosin— <Its Preparation— Gauges 
 -Tuning Forks— String Boxes— Minor Accessoiies— Fiddle Oases 187--202 
 
IIV CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THE STRINGS. 
 •— - PAGB 
 
 Choice of Strings— Theory of Vibration— Eelations to One Another— 
 "True" and " Ealse-2- Strings.— True and Harmonic Octave and Fifth 
 Tests— Appearance of a Good String— Preservation of Strings— Dif- 
 ferent Sorts of Strings— Their Composition— Method of Preparation 
 and Manufacture— Covered Strings— Silk and Acribelle . 203—215 
 
 Past III— ^©ractical. 
 
 CHAPTEE XIII. 
 
 THE TOOLS. 
 
 Ordinary Tools — Special Tools — Toothed Plane — Scrapers — Knives — Mark- 
 ing Point — ^Bending Irons — Oval Planes — Spring Compasses— // Hole 
 Piercers — Gauging Callipers — Screws — Clips — Cramps — Compasses — 
 Purfling Tools 219—225 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 THE OUTSIDE--MOCLD. 
 
 Coiying the Outline — Making the Mould — Its Diameters — The Outline 
 Modelr— The Arching-Guides— The Cramping Blocks . . 226—229 
 
 CHAPTEB XV. 
 
 THE SIDES, OK BIBS, BLOCKS AND SIDE-LININQS. 
 
 Selection of Wood— The Sides— Bending the Sides— Fitting the Sides— The 
 Top and Bottom Blocks — The Corner Blocks — The Side-linings — 
 Bending the Side-linings — Fitting — Fixing the Linings — Levelling — 
 Finishing the Sides, Linings, and Blocks, Inside and Outside . 230 — 239 
 
 CHAPTER XVL 
 
 THE TABLES : BACK AND BELLY. 
 
 Joining the Tables — Planing the Flat Surface — Marking the Outline — 
 Cutting-out — First Gouging — Correcting the Outline — Second Gouging 
 — First Planing— The Sunk Edge— Second Planing— Scraping— Mark- 
 ing the Plane Surfaces for Gouging out Back and Belly . 240—246 
 
 CHAPTEE XVIL 
 
 THE BACK. 
 
 Gouging-out— Planing— Scraping— Bevelling the Edge— Fitting on the Ribs 
 — Siaing the Blocks — Peg-holes— Fixing the Ribs — Finishing— The 
 Label— Correcting the Bottom Join— The Tail-pin Hole 247—252 
 
CONTENTS. XV 
 
 OHAPTBB XVIII. 
 
 THE BELLY. 
 
 Marking the// Holes— Cutting out the// Holes— Gouging out the Belly— 
 Haning— Scraping and Finishing— Fitting the Bar- Fixing the Bar- 
 Ktting on the Sides— Fixing— Correcting— Finishing . . 253—261 
 
 CHAPTEE SIX. 
 
 PUBFLING AND FINISHING THE BODY. 
 
 Marking the Purfling— The Pegs— The Puifling— Fitting— Fixing— Hairing 
 the Edges and Comeis — Final Scraping— Sand-papering — The Best — 
 Fitting — Fixing — Finishing — Bounding the Edges— Finishing the Body 
 "in the white" 262—268 
 
 CHAPTEB XX. 
 
 THE NECK AND SCROLL. 
 
 The Wood — Preparation — Marking Outline — Cutting-out — Marking and 
 Shaping out the Neck and Scroll — Boughing out the Volute — ^Finishing 
 the Volute — Hollowing the Back of the Head — The Peg-hox— Finish- 
 ing the Head— The Neck— Fitting the Neck to the Body of the Fiddle 
 — Cutting out the Chamber — Shaping the Shouldar — ^Testing the Fit — 
 Fixing— The False Finger-board- The Button— The Shoulder— Finish- 
 ing the Neck and Shoulder — Final Operations . . . 269—381 
 
 CHAPTEE XXI. 
 
 THE euABNEBIUS MODEL, WITH WHOLE TABLES ON AN INSIDE 
 MOULD. 
 
 The Inside Mould and its Accessories — The Half -outline — The Bib-outline 
 —The Whole Back— The Whole Belly— The-Blooks-Fitting the Blocks 
 — Marking the Blocks — Shaping — Fitting the C's — Fixing — ^Finishing 
 the Blocks — Fitting the Upper and Lower Bouts — ^Fixing — Eegulating 
 the Depth — The Lower lonings — The Insides of the Blocks — ^The Back 
 — Gouging-ont and Proceedings to Completion — The Belly — Gonging- 
 ont — Marking // holes — Fixing Bar — Proceedings to Completion — 
 F iring Back to Bibs — Taking out Mould — The Upper Linings — ^Finish- 
 ing the Linings and Blocks — Fitting and Fixing the Belly — The Head 
 and Neck— Finishing the Fiddle in the " white " . . 282—293 
 
 CHAPTEE XXII. 
 
 VAKNISHING AND FITTING UP. 
 
 Staining — ^Varnishing — Polishing — ^Fitting the Finger-board — ^Fixing the 
 Nut — Finishing the Nut and Finger-board with the Neck — Fitting the 
 Pegs — Finishing the Pegs — Fitting and Fixing the Tail-pin — ^Fitting 
 the Tail-piece and Loop — Setting up the Sonnd-post — The Strings — 
 Cutting and Fitting the Bridge— Finis 1 . . . 294—306 
 
X.V1 
 
 CONTfiNTS. 
 
 - CHAPTEE XXIII. 
 
 KEPAIRS. 
 
 PAQB 
 
 Bemoving the Belly of the Fiddle— Cracks in the Back or Belly— Cracks ^ 
 in Wings of // Holes — Cracked Comers — Crack at the Joint, or TJn- 
 gluing of the Tables— Cracked Edges and Bits Split off the Outline— 
 Cftek from the Pressure of the Sound-post — Veneering New Wood into 
 a Fiddle— Loosening of the'"BeUy from the Heat of the Chin or Hand — 
 Split Block— Splicing the Head on to a Neck, and Fitting it on a 
 Fiddle — Varnishing Bepairs — Conclusion .... 306—320 
 
 appenaf«0. 
 
 A. Matkrials used in Varnishing the Violin . 
 
 B. The Peeseevation of the Instbtjmbnt . . . . 
 
 C. The Bibliography op the Violin 
 
 D. A CATALOOXrB op VIOLIN SCHOOLS ANB INSTRUCTION 
 
 Books 
 
 E. AN Historic Violin School 
 
 32S 
 32S 
 329 
 
 313 
 31» 
 
 "Poemi' 
 
 (ti) "®chDts" 
 
 Citi). " 5f Jfiiiitts " 
 
 (ib) "eJfibiU ani i" . 
 
 (6) %o a Chili) ^irtttjrss 
 
 ^. C. ©. 
 
 Jfr'bmck ffi. SKeatlierlai 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTEATIONS. 
 
 Plata I. Feontispiece Woodbury type after Van der 
 
 Weyde. * 
 
 „ II. Violin bv Andreas Amati, \ 'Woodbury type after FleU 
 MADE FOR King Charles IX. j {Putney). 
 
 „ III. 'Ditto, Side View Woodbury type ■ after Field 
 
 {Putney'). 
 „ IV. ■OtTTSiDE Mould and Acces-, 
 
 SORIES. Model op Steadi- ( Traced from the Originals. 
 
 VAEIUS ) 
 
 „ V. Inside Mould and Acces- ) 
 
 80KIES. Model of Joseph ^ Traced from the Originals. 
 
 GWAKNEKIUS DEL jBStr . . ) 
 
 „ VI. //Holes OF Joseph GuARNERius. Traced from the Originals. 
 
 „ VII. Violin BY the Author (Guar- ] Autotype |rom an original 
 NBBius Model) described >• pencil drawing by Rosamund 
 IN Chapter XXI. ... J B. Borsleij. 
 
 Ileading to the Introduction. " The Cat and the Piddle." 
 
 Randolph Caldecott. 
 
 LIST OF WOOD-CUTS. 
 
 FIG, 
 
 1. 
 
 6. 
 7. 
 
 8. 
 
 9. 
 10. 
 11. 
 12. 
 
 Grotesque Figures from Panels in the 
 
 roof of Peterborough Cathedral, 1194 (?). 
 Viol attributed to Albinus (?), 14th centurj'. 
 Medal of the ^milius aiid Scnbonius 
 
 FamilieB, b. c. 204. 
 Same Medal erroneously figui'ed by 
 
 Valeriano (1568). 
 The Ravanastron (Ancient and Modem 
 
 ludiaji). 
 The Omerti (India). 
 Kemaugeh a'gouz (Modem Turkish). 
 Bebab esh-Sha'er (Modem Turkish). 
 Goudok (Primitive Russian). 
 Rebab (North Africa). 
 Nofre or Nefer (Ancient Egyptian). 
 Iiutrument of the Trigouou Species 
 
 (A*t>riaii). 
 
 FI&. 
 
 13. Viol from. MS. of St. Blasius, 9th centuv;" 
 
 (Gerbeiii). 
 
 14. Viol from the Cotton MS., 10th century 
 
 (Saxon). 
 
 15. Viol from 11th centuiy Psalter (Bi-itiah 
 
 Museum). 
 
 16. Gigua or Rebec from Bas-relief at St. 
 
 Gt»'ges de Boscherville, Rouen, lltli 
 century. 
 
 17. Viol from same Bas-relief. 
 
 18. Viol from Sculpture at Notra Dame da 
 
 Chartres. 
 
 19. Rebab (Ancient and ModeiTi Moorish). 
 
 SO. Gros-geige, from an Illustratioa of M, 
 
 Agricola (1545). 
 21. Gigue from the Cathedral at Mans (14tb 
 
 century) 
 
XVlll 
 
 LIST OF WOOD-OUTS. 
 
 22. Discantus, l<ttb centuiy (M. Agiicola). 
 
 23. "Pera"or "Poche,"1648(M. Mersennus). 
 
 24. Derlce of John Oporinus (Bale), 1530. 
 
 25. Viola da Gamba, 1667 (C. Simpson). 
 36. Ancient Hebrew Lyre, B.c. 1700 
 
 27. Kisaar (Ancient and Modem African). 
 
 28. Ancient Greek Lyres with Bridges. 
 
 29. Barbitoa (from Herculaneum). 
 
 SO. Eotta of the 7th oantnry (MS. Psalter in 
 British Museum). 
 
 31. Botta from the St. Blasius MS. (9th 
 
 century). 
 
 32. Crwth of the 9tli century (WiUemin). 
 
 33. Crwth from MS. from St. Martial de 
 
 Limoges (11th century). 
 
 34. Crwth of 12th century (Riiblmann). 
 
 35. Crwth from 'Worcester Cathedral (13th 
 
 century). 
 
 36. 13th century Crwth from Amiens Cathe- 
 
 dral (de Coussemaker). 
 
 37. Figure of Crwth given by Daines Barring- 
 
 ton, F^tis, Sandys and Forster, etc. 
 
 38. Crwth in South Kensington Museum. 
 
 39. Diagram explaining Technical Terms used 
 
 to denote the various parts of the 
 Violin. 
 
 40. /hole of Gasparo da Salo. Tenor (1555). 
 
 41. /hole of Andreas Amati (1580). 
 
 42. /hole of Antonius and Hieronymus Amati 
 
 a587). 
 
 43. /hole of Jacob Steiner (1650), 
 
 44i. / hole of Francisco Buggieri (1720). 
 
 45. /hole of AntoniuB StradiTarius (1714). 
 
 46. /hole of SaDctus Seraphino (1740). 
 
 47. /hole of Carlo Bergonzi (1733). 
 
 48. / hole of Joseph Guaraerius del Jesti (1730). 
 
 49. Bow of the Indian Ravanastron. 
 
 50. Bow of the Moomh Rebab, 
 
 51. Bow of the 8th century (HerbiS). 
 62. Bow of the 9th century (Gerbert). 
 
 53. Bow of the 10th century (Cotton MS.). 
 64. Bowaof the 11th century. 
 
 55. Bows of the 12th century. 
 
 56. Bows of the 13th centuiy. 
 
 57. Bows of the 14th century, 
 
 58. Bows of the 15th centuiy. 
 69 Bows of the 16th century. 
 
 60. Bows of the 17th century. 
 
 61 . Bow of the 18th centuiy with Cr^maiUfere. 
 
 62. Bow by Tourte (the elder), with Nut and 
 
 Screw. 
 
 63. Modem Bow (after Tourte, jun.). 
 
 64. Nut and Screw of Modern Bow, showing 
 
 method of fixing the Hair. 
 
 66. Head of Modem Bow, showing method of 
 
 fixing the Haii-. 
 €6. "Wedge-box in Head and Nut of Modern 
 Bow (enlarged). 
 
 67. Knot at Ends of Hair. 
 
 €8. Self-hairing Bow (Vuillaiune). 
 
 69. Nagelgeige or Eisenvioline (Wilde). 
 
 70. Howell's Patent Violin (1835» No. 6964). 
 
 71. M. H. Collins' "Echolin" in Plan and 
 
 Section. 
 
 72. M. H. Collins' Patent Peg. 
 
 73. Loffelgeige or Spoon-fiddle. 
 
 74. The Chanot Violin. 
 
 75. The Chanot Violin with Reversed Scroll 
 
 and Guitar string attachment. 
 
 76. The Savart Trapezoid Violin. 
 
 77. Diagram explaining Methods of cutting 
 
 wood for Violin-making, 
 
 78. Plank for tracing the Outline of a Fiddle. 
 
 79. Method of Drawing an Outline mathe- 
 
 matically OH a given graduated straight 
 lime 
 
 80. Diagram of a well-seaaoned Back, with 
 
 thicknesses in fractions of an inch. 
 
 81. Diagram of a well-seasoned Belly, with 
 
 thicknesses in fractions of an inch. ^ 
 
 82. The Interior of the Violin. 
 
 S3. Section of the Violin across the// hol«. 
 
 84. Method of tracing a pair of // holes. 
 
 85. The Neck and Scroll, Front and Side 
 
 86. Bridge of Seven-stringed Viol (F. J. Feti«), 
 
 87. Antique Violin Bridge. Antonius Amati 
 
 (F. J. F^tis). 
 
 88. Antique Violin Bridge. Nicolaus Amati 
 
 (F. J. F^tis). 
 
 89. Bridge of Five-stringed Viol (W. E. Hill). 
 
 90. The Modem Violin Bridge. 
 
 91. Ornamentally inlaid Purfling. 
 
 92. Stradivari's method of fixing the Pegs or 
 
 Points (actual size). 
 
 93. Ornamental Purfling of Stradivarius. 
 
 94. Violin with inlaid Back and carped Head.,^ 
 
 95. Violin Pegs. 
 
 96. Machine head for Violin. 
 
 97. Wallis's Patent Peg. 
 
 98. Patent Peg to ensure firmneas. 
 
 99. The Finger-board. 
 
 100. Oi-dinary form of Tail -piece. 
 
 101. Spohr's Patent Tail-piece. , 
 
 102. Vuillaume's Sourdine Pedale. 
 
 103. Zebrow8ki*s Bridge and Mute. 
 
 104. Section of Tail-pih with Sides, Side- 
 
 linings, and Block. 
 
 105. View of Tail-pin with Best, at base of 
 
 Fiddle. 
 
 106. Chin-rest (L. Spohr). 
 
 107. New form of Chin-rest. -,;;, 
 
 108. Tail-piece and Chin-rest combined. -^ 
 
 109. Newest improvement of Chin-rest. Yi 
 
 110. Hill's Vulcanite Mute. 
 
 111. Single Violin-case. 
 
 112. Double Violin-case, 
 
 112a Patent Violin Bag (G. A. Chanot). 
 
 113. Diagi'am illustrating the influence of 
 
 length on the Note produced by a String. 
 
 114. The Harmonic Octave. 
 
 115. The Harmonic Double-Octav«. 
 
 116. Common Iron Cramps. 
 
 117. Sections of Files req\iired. 
 
 118. Scraper, 
 
 119. Sharpening Steel for Scrapers. 
 
 120. VioJ in -maker's Knife. 
 
 121. Bending Iron, 
 
 122. Another (and better) form of Bending 
 
 Iron . 
 
 123. Lining Chisel, 
 
 124. Oval Plane, upper and lower sides (actaal 
 
 size). 
 
 125. Oval Plane (smaller size). 
 
 126. Marking and Measurin-^ Compasses, / 
 
 127. / hole Piercer. 
 
 128. Gauging Callipers. 
 
 129. Violin Screw. 
 
 130. Sound-bar Clips, 
 
 131. Sound-bar Cramp. 
 
 132. Bow Compass. 
 
 133. Purfling Gauge or Marker. 
 
 134. Purfling Compasses. 
 
 135. Piirfling Chisel. 
 
 136. Oblong Steel Plane, 
 
 137. Lining Clip. 
 
 138. Wavy foi-m often taken by extra hand- 
 
 some wood. 
 
 139. Diflerent Stages of Bending the Centre 
 
 Bouts. 
 
 140. Diffei-ent Stipes of Bending the Upper 
 
 and Lower Bouts. 
 
LIST OF WOOD-CUTS. 
 
 XIX 
 
 141. Top and Bottom Blocks (in the rough). 
 
 142. Setting of the Sides, Corner Blocks, and 
 
 Side-linings in the Mould. 
 
 143. Method of Shaping the Comer Blocks. 
 
 144. Method of Setting Linings of Centre 
 
 Bouta into sllta cut in Corner Blocks. 
 
 145. Final Shape of the Linings (Section). 
 
 146. WoodfbrTables joined, uidwithsteadying 
 
 Wedges for pining the fiat sui^ace. 
 
 147. Curve of Gutting Gouge for sinking the 
 
 Edges. 
 
 148. Stages of the Cutting, in sinking the 
 
 149. 
 
 150. 
 151. 
 152. 
 
 153. 
 154. 
 
 155. 
 156. 
 15T. 
 
 15S. 
 
 159. 
 160. 
 
 161. 
 
 162. 
 
 163. 
 
 164. 
 
 165. 
 166. 
 167. 
 
 163. 
 
 Diagram for Regulating the thicknesses 
 
 of the Back. 
 Final thickness of the Back. 
 Inner Edge of the Plates (section) finished. 
 Table fitted on to Bibs and fixed with 
 
 Screws, 
 /hole of Stradivari. Model factual size). 
 Diagram explaining the thickness of the 
 
 Belly and the setting of the Bar. 
 Method of raising the Wing of the / hole. 
 Final shaping of the Bass-bar. 
 Airangement of Screws in fixing Belly 
 
 (to avoid thd corners). 
 Method of Furfiing in the corners, and 
 
 outline fbr marluiig the Pui'fling under 
 
 the Button. 
 Purfiing. The three Strips cut to a Bevel. 
 The Operations of Cutting, Fixing, and 
 
 Finishing the Best. 
 Flank Outline of Neck and Scroll (on 
 
 block). 
 Outlines for making Fiont and Back of 
 
 Scroll (actual size). 
 Neck Block marked for cutting out (Front 
 
 and Back views). 
 Commencement of cutting out Neck and 
 
 Scroll. 
 Front and Back of Volute (Geometrical). 
 Model for Chin of ScroU. 
 Cutting of the Coulisses or Grooves round 
 
 the Head. 
 Neck outlint; (actual size). 
 
 FIO. 
 
 169. Base of Shoulder (actual size) . 
 
 170. Wedge for testing setting of Head and 
 
 Neck. 
 
 171. Finger-board Holder. 
 
 172. Guide for thicknesses of the Neck, and 
 
 Curves of the Finger-board. 
 
 173. Half outline of Tables (Back and Belly). 
 
 174. Half outline of Sides. 
 
 175. Inside Mould with rough Blocks fitted. 
 
 176. The Cramping Blocks of Plate V. in 
 
 position against the Mould (blocks 
 finished). 
 
 177. Wedge cut for "whole "Back. 
 
 178. Section of Block fixed to Mould. 
 
 179. Diagram explaining the Cutting of the 
 
 Corner Blocks. 
 ISO. Finishing the Comer Bloc^cs and joining 
 
 the Ribs. 
 131. Stradiuarian Block. 
 
 182. Section of Block used for Cramping on 
 
 the Finger-board. 
 
 183. Guide for marking String-grooves on the 
 
 Nut. 
 
 184. Peg-hole Borer. 
 
 185. Peg-hole Finisher. 
 
 186. Peg Fitter. 
 
 I 187. Setting of the Pegs in the Cheeks of the 
 I Scroll. 
 
 188. Sotmd-post Setter. 
 
 ld8A Guide for Cutting the Arching of the 
 Bridge. 
 
 189. Cracks in the Wings of the //holes and 
 
 split corner. 
 
 190. Methods of i-e-setting pieces split from 
 
 the outline of the Fiddle. 
 
 191. Apparatus for strengthening an old Table 
 
 with a veneer of new wood. 
 
 192. Operation of splicing Head on to Neck 
 
 (side view). 
 
 193. Operation of splicing Head on to Neck 
 
 (front view). 
 
 194. Base of Peg-box prepared to splice on to 
 
 Neck. 
 
 195. Top of Neck prepared to receive Head. 
 *" 196. Operation of splicing Head on to Neck. 
 
Hie Instrument on -which he playetl 
 Was in Cremona's workshops made, 
 By a great master of the past, 
 Ere yet was lost the art diyine. 
 Fashioned of maple and of pine, 
 That in Tyrolean forests vast 
 Had rocked and wrestled with the blast: 
 Exquisite was it is design, 
 Perfect in each minutest part, 
 A marvel of the lutist's art ; 
 And in the hollow chamber, thus 
 The maker from whose hands it camo 
 Had written his unrivalled name, — 
 
 "ANTONIUS SlEADIUARirs." 
 
 • ♦ * 
 
 H. W. LONGFELLOW, 
 
 ** Talet of a Wayside Inn.* 
 
VIOLm-MAKITO: AS IT WAS ATO IS. 
 
 3lntcoDuction. 
 
"Ccboes." 
 
 Tatta la notte in sogno mi venite 
 Ditemi, bella mia, perchd lo fate 
 Echi Tiene da Toi quando dormite. — STORyELLO Tosoaita. 
 
 WOun is ilu Stmt at the Jflaioers tot jatherti 
 
 aShen jOTir r0s*-j}arbfn toaa sU aBloto, 
 JlnJ) ilte air ioa luabs, almost, toitit siatttrassl 
 
 — ^ISanisheft, aa sarelg as iaai gear's smrto. 
 Jttassfs ei geUoio artb oream anb cnmssm, 
 
 5«»est 00lben anb faiwtest jrfnk ; — ; 
 gttt the seeitt sst smt Waoi-reb bttb joa flabe me 
 
 i shall neber fxrrget, i think.- 
 
 aahere is the sonxHi at the ^axiQS giro sang then ? 
 
 (gfftt utt the terraee artb i toithin.) 
 ^0lD fair g0tt Ixroked, toith the skg £ehinii son, 
 
 3Elil2 tottchina goar ^wrlin, — 
 ^:xit classic, tt« ; imt gmir boiee bias tenier,' 
 
 C^Icars stfttitbei throngh, thottgh vaux son^s toere gaj)- 
 gVs thottgh s«tt stretcheJ) 0Kt Boar hanJ sni toocheJ) me. 
 
 It haJ) sach a i»assixntate, ^rleaiiing toag. 
 ^oft 0lb gJieier rerallins the pine iaaoii^, 
 
 (Snatches ai tinkling serenabe ; 
 gat 0ne keen stoeet phrase in an aXis §i.avndio, 
 
 Jill these gears in mg s<mi has stagjtb. 
 
 ^arelg ane Jag— be it.^ale ar (SamnuT, 
 
 ^ain at sanshine,— bg lanb xrr sea — 
 'SChe faint rich fragrance erf thtrse beab rases 
 
 Wmx sovi, that still Ubes, mag steal back to me • 
 ^ttb mw bag, mag-be, in some toarm still toeather, 
 
 gHhilst a pale light stags in a tfnber skp, 
 i shall hear the notes of goar oXii ^tomello 
 
 gKanbering back from the hoars gone bg. 
 
 m. a, 
 
 July, 1879. 
 
PLATE II. 
 
 From a Photograph by Wm. Field (Putney). Vinceot Brooks, Woodburytype. 
 
 VIOLIN BY ANDREAS AMATI. 
 
 One of 24 made by Andreas Amati for Charles IX. King of France, 
 (vide p. 73.) 
 
\vl|V auyiJoUb^ dMdJjy \„ i'.C- 
 
 VIOLm-MAKITO: AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 Heididuluml atqueiterum didulum! Felisque 1 Fidesquel 
 Vacca super Lmise comua prosilmt ; , 
 
 tipeotatum adinissus risit sine fine Catellns, 
 'Sit subito rapuit lanx cochleare fuga ! 
 
 INTEODUCTION. 
 
 There are but few of us who can look upon the above delight- 
 ful drawing of Mr. Eandolph Caldecott's,^ and deny that the 
 Violin was one of the first impressions of our childiood. To 
 me it has always been a most significant fact, that so many of 
 the Nursery Rhymes with which we amuse our children are in 
 
 ' I hare to thank Mr. Oaldecott for the above reduction from the frontispiece 
 of his well-known work, " Bye Baby Bunting " (London, 1882), which he has 
 kindly adapted and subscribed in his autograph for me. 
 
 1 
 
Z VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT "WAS AND IS. 
 
 some Tray connected with the fiddle. The one trait of Old King 
 Cole's character which to my juvenile mind proved he was not 
 wholly vile (as his pipe and bowl would indicate !) was his love 
 of music and pencJiant for the violin,^ and 1 remember a 
 doggerel for which I always had a great affection, was that one 
 beginning : — 
 
 " Cock a doodle doc, my Dame has lost her siioe, 
 My Master's lost his fiddling stick, and don't know what, to do I 
 Cock a doodle doo, what is my Dame to do 1 — 
 Till Master finds his fiddling stick, she'll dance without her shoe I " 
 
 That man was always my ideal of blank despair. Nor is the 
 rhyme I have quoted above the only one in which a cat figures 
 as a violinist : Halliwell (vide note) gives two rhymes in which 
 this phenomenon occurs, viz.: — 
 
 " A cat came fiddling out of a barn. 
 With a pair of bag-pipes under her arm, " — 
 
 a wondrous performance truly, which made up for her want of 
 vocal attainments, for — 
 
 " She could sing nothing but ' Fiddle cum fee. 
 The mouse has married the humble-bee ; ' " 
 
 and he also quotes one of still greater antiquity, where the 
 
 ' " Old King Cole was a merry old soul, and a merry old soul was he. 
 
 He called for his pipe and he called for his bowl, and he called for his 
 
 fiddlers three. 
 Every fiddler he had a fiddle, and a very fine fiddle had he 
 
 (Twee, tweedledee, tweedledee went the fiddlers). 
 Oh 1 there's none so rare as can compare 
 With King Cole and his fiddlers three." 
 
 The traditional nursery rhymes of Great Britain commence with a legena3iy 
 satire on King Cole, who reigned in Britain, as the old chronicles inform us, in 
 the third century after Christ. According to Eobert of Gloucester, he was the 
 father of St. Helena, and if so, Butler must be wrong in ascribing an obscme 
 origin to the celebrated mother of Constantine. King Cole was a brave and 
 popular man in his day, and ascended the throne of Britain on the death of 
 Asclepiod amidst the acclamations of the people, or, as Eobert of Gloucester! 
 expresses himself, "the folc was tho of this lond y-paid wel y-now." At 
 Colchester there is a large earth-work, supposed to have been a Roman amphi- 
 theatre, which goes popularly by the name of " King Cole's Kitchen." Accord-' 
 ing to Jeffrey of Monmouth, King Cole's daughter was well skilled in music, 
 but we unfortunately have no evidence to show that her father was attacheM 
 to that science fmrthor than what is contained in the foregoing lines, whiclt are 
 of doubtful antiquity. — Vide J. O. Halliwell, "The Nursery Ehymes of 
 England " (London, 1844 : J. E. Smith). 
 
 In Lewis' "History of Great Britain " (London, 1729) three monarchfi 
 rejoicing in the name of " King Cole " are mentioned, yS 
 
INTKODUCTION. 3 
 
 word "crowd" is substituted for fiddle.^ But in riper years 
 my affection for all these has waned in favour of "John," 
 whose affection for his violin far exceeded that for his wife, 
 for it runs : — 
 
 "John, come sell thy fiddle, and buy thy wife a gown." 
 " No, I'll not sellmy fiddle for any wife in town 1 " 
 
 (truly a most ungallant and sensible man ! ) 
 
 It is from such songs as these that most of us become first 
 acquainted with the fiddle, and become inspired with a love of 
 the instrument which draws a wide gulf between us and the 
 " Gierke " mentioned in the Prologue to Chaucer's " Canterbury 
 Tales." 2 
 
 It hardly seems natural or possible to us to-day, who are wont 
 to hear the violin played by members of all classes, from a Royal 
 Duke downwards, that it could ever have been considered that 
 " fiddler " was a term of the greatest reproach, and " fiddling " 
 a synonym for dishonesty ; and yet such was the case; indeed, 
 it is comparatively recently that Lord Chesterfield told his 
 son that " fiddling puts a gentleman in a very frivolous and 
 contemptible light, and brings him. into a good deal of bad 
 company, and takes a good deal of time which might be much 
 better employed ; " ^ an opinion, I'^grieve to say, largely shared 
 
 ' " Come dance a jig, to my granny's pig, 
 And pussy-cat shaU crowdy." 
 
 Messrs. Sandys and Forster (" History of the Violin," etc. London, 1864 : 
 J. B. Smith) give the following interesting note on this subject of the cat 
 and fiddle :— "Middleton in his play of Tlie Witch (1778), in one of the scenes 
 of conjuring or enchantment, introduces a cat playing on the fiddle, but the 
 well-known nursery rhyme is older than this, and the fact of equal authenticity 
 in both. We have a curious old French print, where there is a cat playing on 
 the fiddle, and a dog with a fool's cap dancing ; a pantaloon is also playing 
 a guitar. . . . Pussy's fiddle is of the viol character, with four strings 
 and no frets. The print is caUed, " Le Diuertisement de Mardy Qras." Among 
 the Unes at the bottom are the following : — 
 
 " La grotesque rejouissance 
 
 Du chat jouant du Violon 
 
 Et du chien qui dance, en cadence 
 
 De la Guitare ^ paatalon." 
 
 ' " A Gierke there was of Oxenforde alsoe. 
 
 For him was lever han at his beddes hed, 
 A Twenty Bokys clothyd in blacke or rede, 
 Of Aristoteland hys philosophiej 
 Than robys riche oi fidel or sautrie." 
 G. Ceaucek, " Canterbury Tales :" Prologue, " The Clerke of Oxenforde." 
 
 ' " Lord Chesterfield's Letters to his Son, Philip Stanhope, together with 
 several other Pieces on various subjects " (London, 1774), 4to, 2 vols. 
 
4 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 by many " parents and guardians " of our own days. It seems 
 to have been rather a mania with Lord Chesterfield to consider 
 fiddling disreputable, and the word a synonym for disreputa- 
 bility ; for he says in another place : ^ " And I heard some 
 persons assert that King James was sung and fiddled out of 
 the kingdom by the Protestant tune of ' LillybuUero/ and 
 that Somebody else would have been fiddled into it again," ': 
 etc. This abuse of " fiddlers " has not, however, been con- 
 fined to any one period, as the following instances will show. 
 Parke tells a story of Miss Brent, who as Dr. Arne's 
 favourite pupil was a source of considerable revenue to him till 
 she married Pinto, the great violin-player of the time. On 
 some one mentioning her, Dr. Arne is said to have exclaimed, 
 "Oh, sir, "pray don't name her, she's married & fiddler ! " ^ 
 
 Anthony k Wood tells us that " before the Eestoration, gen- 
 tlemen played three, four, and five parts with viols. They 
 esteemed a violin to be an instrument only belonging to 
 a common fidler, and could not endure that it should come 
 among them for feare of making their meetings to be vaine 
 and frivolous, but before the Restoration of King Charles II., 
 and especially after, viols began to be out of fashion, and 
 only violins used as treble violin, tenor, or bass violin, 
 and the King, according to the French mode, would have 
 twenty-four violins playing before him whilst he was at meals, 
 as being more airie and brisk than viols." ^ The enemies of 
 Roger L'Estrange used to vent their spleen by calling him 
 " Roger the Fidler," and published notably a celebrated squib, 
 entitled " The Loyal Observator : or Historical Memoirs of the 
 Life and Actions of Roger the Fidler ; alias the Observator " 
 (London, 1683: 4to, 12 pp.)* The following interesting note 
 is appended : — " The subject of this libellous pasquinade was 
 Sir Roger L'Estrange, who was nicknamed "Cromwell's 
 Fidler," from his having been heard playing in a concert where 
 the Usurper was present. Of this afi^air he speaks in his " Truth 
 and Loyalty Vindicated " ^ thus : — " Concerning the story of 
 
 ' " Miscellaneous Works of the late Philip Dormer Stanhope, Earl of Chester- 
 field " (Dublin, 1777), vol. ii., p. 97. " Miscellaneous Pieces, No. XVIII.," 
 being a letter in Cotamon Sense or the lEnglisliman's Journal, October 14th, 
 17.B8 (London, 1739), vol. ii., p. 213. 
 
 2 Parke's " Musical Memoirs " (London, 1830), vol. i., p. 150. 
 
 ' A. Wood's Life, in MS. in the Ashmolean Library, Oxford ; written 1653. f 
 and published at Oxford in 1772. 
 
 * Eeprinted in the " Harleian Miscellany ; A Collection of Scarce, Curious, and 
 Ent rtaining Pamphlets and Tracts, etc." (London : White & Co., 1810), vol. 
 vi., p. 65. 
 
 '^ "Tr;ith and Loyalty Vindicated from the Eeproaches and Clamours oE 
 Mr. E. Bagshawe," etc. (London, 1662, 4to). ' 
 
• INTRODUCTION. 5 
 
 the fiddle, this, I suppose, might be the rise of it ; being in 
 St. James's Park, I heard an organ totiched in a little low room 
 of one Mr. Henckson's ; I went in, and found a private company 
 of some five or six persons. They desired me to take a viol and 
 bear a part. I did so, and that part, too, not much advance to 
 the reputation of my cunning. By-and-by, without the least 
 colour of design or expectation, in comes Cromwell. He found 
 us playing, and so he left us." " The Observator " was a paper 
 set up by Sir Roger after the dissolution of Charles II.' 
 Parliament in 1679 ; the design of which was to vindicate 
 the measures of the Court, and the character of the King from 
 the charge of being popishly afiected. To the above pasquinade 
 and others he wrote in reply, "The Observator defended by 
 the author of the Observators in a full Answer to several 
 Scandals cast upon him," etc., etc. (London, 1685). 
 
 Thus it will be seen that to be a violinist required in the days 
 of our forefathers some courage on the part of an amateur, just 
 as a few years ago it required considerable nerve for a lady to 
 play the violin in public. Parke, the genial and discursive, was 
 not free from this foible ; for he says (under date February 19 th, 
 1790), whilst discussing the performance of oratorios (notably the 
 Messiah) at Covent Garden : — " The concertos were by Clementi 
 on the pianoforte, and Madame Gautherot on the violin. It is 
 said by fabulous writers that Minerva, happening to look into 
 the stream whilst playing her favourite instrument (the flute), 
 and perceiving the distortion of countenance that it occasioned, 
 was so much disgusted that she cast it away and dashed it in 
 pieces. Although I would not recommend any lady playing 
 on a valuable Cremona fiddle to follow the example of the 
 goddess, yet it strikes me that, if she is desirous of enrapturing 
 her audience, she should display her talent in a situation 
 where there is only just light enough 'to make darkness 
 visible.' " ^ It occurs to me that if the society of tts present 
 day entertained any such horrible ideas, a very large amount of 
 worldly pleasure would be lost to the devotees of music in 
 general, and of the violin in particular. 
 
 Dubourg^ tells us that Queen Elizabeth was a violinist, and 
 his statement seems to be carried out by the wonderful fiddle, 
 now exhibited in the South Kensington Museum, which is made 
 of boxwood, beautifully carved "with woodland scenes," and 
 which is said to have been given by Queen Elizabeth to the 
 
 ' W. Paike, "Musical Mamoirs" (London, 1830), vol. i., p. 129. 
 
 " G Duboarg " The Violin," etc. (London, 1st Edition, 1836 ; 2nd Edition, n.d. 
 riBSTl • 3rd Edition, n.d. [1850] ; 4th Edition, 1852 ; 5th Edition, enlarged 
 by John Bishop, 1878). 1st Edition, p. 224 ; 5th Edition, d. 254. 
 
6 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 Earl of Leicester.^ The best known instance of a lady 
 amateur of the last century is that of Signora Maddalena 
 Lombardini, to whom Tartini wrote his celebrated " Lettera 
 alia Signora Maddalena Lombardini, inserviente ad una im^ 
 portante lezione per i suonatori di Violino," -which was pub- 
 lished a few months after his death in " Europa Litteraria " 
 (tome v., 1770, pt. ii., p. 74).^ As Hullah justly remarks ^ :— 
 "The blank and stupid astonishment with which the apparition 
 — nay the very mention — of a female violinist was once received 
 amongst us, is happily a thing of the past, and the instrument 
 which Fiesole has so often put into the hands of his angels, and 
 Raphael of his saints, is no longer regarded as unbecoming to ' 
 ' the sex ' nor in any hands ungraceful. But ' everything in thist 
 , world,' said Metastasio, ' is habit ; even virtue itself ! ' There is 
 an Oxford tradition that at an amateur concert about the year 
 1827, the performance of the first male pianist that had been 
 seen in that university was rewarded with a storm of hisses. 
 The pianoforte was then regarded as essentially a woman's 
 instrument ! " Fortunately nous avons changd tout cela ; but 
 the fact remains that till comparatively recently the " fiddle " 
 was essentially the instrument of what " Democritus Junior " 
 (R. Burton) calls " circumforean rogues and vagabonds ; " and 
 Francis Bacon was only using the language of his era when 
 he tells us that Themistocles, " desired at a feast to touch a lute, 
 he said he ' could not fiddle, but yet he could make a small town 
 a great city ' ; * and he goes on to say, ' And certainly those 
 
 ' This instrument is illustrated and fully described in Sir John Hawkins' 
 " History of Music " (London, 1776), toI. It., p. 342, and also in Carl Engel's 
 " Descriptive Catalogue of the Musical Instruments in the South Kensington 
 Museum " (London, 1874), p. 287, in which latter place its full history may be 
 found. It is also mentioned in Dr. Burney's " General History of Music " 
 (London, 1776). Vide p. 109. 
 
 ^ This letter was published separately with a translation on the opposite pages 
 by Dr. Buiney thus intituled : — " Lettera del defonto Signor Giuseppe Tartini 
 alia Signora Maddalena Lombardini," etc. (Londra, 1771), and the translated 
 title page (opposite) runs, " A letter from the late Signor Tartini to Signora 
 Maddalena Lombardini (now Signora Sirmen), published as an important :i 
 lesson to performers on the violin, translated by Dr. Burney (London, 1771). ' 
 A second edition appeared in 1779, and a German translation entitled " Brief , 
 an Magdalen Lombardini, enthalteud eine wiohtige Lection fiir die Violin- ■ 
 spieler" (Hanover, 1786). This translation had before appeared in Hiller's 
 " Lebensbeschieibungen beriihmter Musikgelehrten und Tonkiinstler," etc. 
 (1784), p. 278. An English translation appears at p. 257 of Dubourg's work 
 {vide note ^, p. 5), 5th edition. 
 
 ^ J. Hullah, " Music in the House" (London, 1877), p. 30. 
 
 * "The Works of Francis Bacon," by J. Spedding and others (London, 1858) 
 vol. v., p. 79. The passage he refera to about Themistocles is that one found in 
 Plittaech:— nATTAPXOT BIOI: GBMISTOKAHS II iS),"Oe^ iiarepov ivran 
 iXevBepiais Kal do-reiais SiaTpi^aii Inrb t&v 'ireTaiSev<r8ai Sonoivrav -xXevaibiiOioi 
 ipiay KiicTO (popriKiSiTepov Au-vviaBai \iyuv, Sti Xvpav piv d,pii.btja<r8aL Kal /iera' 
 
INTRODUCTION. 7 
 
 degenerate arts and shifts, whereby many councillors and 
 governors gain both favour with their masters and estimation 
 Avith the vulgar, deserve no better name than fiddling ! ' " 
 Now, however, the viohn finds its votaries, as I have said, alike 
 among princes and peasants. England has been peculiarly 
 fortunate in numbering members of its Eoyal families among 
 amateur players.^ In Parke's "Musical Memoirs," above quoted, 
 we find, under date January 14th, 1787, an account of a Sunday 
 concert at Lord Hampden's, concerning which he says : — " In 
 one of the overtures the Prince of Wales and the Dukes 
 of Grloucester and Cumberland performed ; the two former 
 on the violoncello, and the latter on the violin." King 
 Charles I., we are told by Messrs. Sandys and Forster {vide 
 note *, p. 3), was not only a great patron of music, but also 
 a fine player on the bass-viol or viol da gamba himself, 
 especially in " those incomparable phantasies of Mr. Coperario 
 to the organ," which had an accompaniment for one violin and 
 a bass-viol.^ And to come down to to-day, the brotherhood of 
 amateur violinists is led by His Royal Highness Alfred Duke 
 of Edinburgh ; so that the ancient stigma attaching to the 
 instrument we may now consider to be a thing of the past, and 
 when it crops up we can look upon it as a relic>f barbarism ! 
 
 Whilst on the subject of amateurs, it must be noted that the 
 term amateur is not the highest compliment that a player can 
 be paid, for it is, and always has been, almost equivalent to an 
 accusation of mediocrity when one is asked, " How does So-and-so 
 play ? " to reply, " Oh, en amateur." In the last century it 
 was the custom to distinguish amateurs from professionals by 
 calling the former " gentlemen players ; " and a story is told, 
 dating from 1791 (Parke's " Musical Memoirs," vol. i., p. 142) 
 
 of a gentleman who, being asked how Lord C (who was a 
 
 very indifferent violinist) played, replied : " His Lordship, I 
 can assure you, sir, plays in a very gentleman-like manner." 
 Perhaps one of the most genial and eccentric of amateur violin- 
 ists was Franz Anton Weber (father of the celebrated com- 
 poser), who was on this account a great favourite at the court 
 
 Xeipi(r(urdat faXrriptov oix iiridTaTou., iroKiti Si lUKpi.v Kal dSofoc vapaXa^iiv 
 (vboiov KoX lieydXi/i' direpydtrcurffM. Bacon translates \vpa,v pin dpp/i(ra<r6ai xal 
 lieraxeiplraffBai tpaXriipMv by " fiddle ! " 
 
 ' " Others import yet nobler arts from France, 
 
 Teach kings to fiddle, and make senates dance I " 
 
 A. Pope, "The Duuciad," Book IV., line 598. 
 
 ' " Coperario " was the Italianized name of one John " Cooper," a composei 
 for, and performer on, the lute and viol da gamba. He was the master of the 
 children of King James I., and died during the Protectorate of Cromwell, leaving 
 behind him many compositions eyidently done "to order." 
 
8 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 of Karl Theodor, Elector of the Palatinate, about the middle of 
 the eighteenth century. "He played the violin remarkably 
 ■well, and used to astonish the good people of Hildesheim during 
 his waUis in the neighbourhood by wonderful flights of fancy on 
 his favourite instrument. He afterwards degenerated into 
 ' Stadt Musikant,' or fiddler at balls, weddings, and the like.''^ 
 
 Charles IX. of France was an amateur violinist,^ a fact, how- 
 ever, which did notprevent Groudimel (instructor of Palestrina) 
 from being killed in the massacre of St. Bartholomew's day. 
 Poisot says he has seen the instrument this monarch played on in 
 the Bibliothfeque de Cluny (Sa6ne et Loire).^ I need not quote the 
 time-honoured but idiotic legend that Nero fiddled whilst Eome 
 burned, but the above anecdote reminds me of it. Oyprien 
 besmarais * teUs us that Charles IV., Duke of Lorraine and 
 Bar, was a great patron of violin-making, and that it was under 
 his auspices that one of Amati's workmen, named Medar, was 
 established in France, and commanded to make a set of bow 
 instruments for the State concerts ; that these instruments were 
 illuminated (like those of Amati, vide note ^) with the ducal arms.^ 
 
 Some of the best amateurs who have left their marks 
 on the rolls of fame have been clergymen, from the monks 
 of the middle ages to the musical " clericos " of to-day.* 
 
 ' "The Great Musicians," edited by Francis Huefier. "Weber,"' by Sir 
 Julius Benedict (London, 1881). 
 
 ^ It was for Charles IX. that Andreas Amati made the celebrated instru- 
 mentB known as " Charles IX. Amatis." These were twenty -four violins (twelye 
 large and twelve small pattern), six violas and eight violoncellos. The work- 
 manship was exquisite, and the colour a rich red-brown. They were illuminated 
 with the arms of France, and the motto "Pietate et Justitia." One of them is 
 represented in the Photographs, Plates II. and III. (vide page 73). 
 
 ' C. B. Poisot, " Histoire de la Musique en France depuis les temps lea 
 plus recul6s jusqu'i nos jours " (Paris, 1860 : Dentu). 
 
 * Cyprien Desmaiais, " Arch6ologie du Tiolon. Description d'un Violon 
 Historique et Monumental." (Paris, 1836 : vide note ', p. 20.) 
 
 ' The same writer goes on to say : " Louis XIV. fut le premier prince qui 
 adopta pour sa chapelle et pour le service divin, I'usage des instruments & 
 cordes et & archet, tels que violons, altos, basses, et contre basses. Ce futLuUy, 
 surintendant de la musique du roi, qui fut chargS de s'eu procurer. lis furent 
 f abriques et f ournis par Meda/r, luthier 4 Nancy : les violons furent peints d'une 
 couleuT rouge, moins fonc6e cependant que celle des violons de Stradivariius. 
 lis furent armories aux armes de France et de Navarre, avec cette devise du 
 grand roi ; Nee plv/ribus vmpar. Tous les rois de I'Burope s'empressferent de 
 suivre I'exemple de Louis XIV. en adoptant pour leur musique I'usage des 
 instruments k cordes et ^ archet." 
 
 ' As I write the above my thoughts naturally wander to that eccentric 
 enthusiast and exquisite writer on all subjects connected with music and the 
 violin, the Kev. H. E. Haweis, of whom, and of whose wonderful execution in 
 the old days at Cambridge, wonderful stories are still told by eye-witnesses and 
 
 iPP 
 
INTEODUCTION. 9 
 
 Sandys and Forster {vide note ^, p. 3) relate that the eminent 
 preacher Bonrdelot was a performer on the violin, and quote 
 the following anecdote : " He was appointed to preach on 
 Good Friday, and the proper oflScer to attend him to 
 church having arrived at his house, was directed to go to the 
 study for him. As he approached he heard the sound of a 
 violin, and, the door being open a little way, he saw Bourdelot 
 stripped to his cassock, playing a brisk tune on the instrument, 
 and dancing about the room. He was much surprised, and 
 knocked at the door, when the distinguished divine laid down 
 his instrument, and putting on his gown, told the officer with 
 his usual composed look that he was ready to attend him. On 
 their way his companion expressed his surprise at what he had 
 seen to Bourdelot, who replied, that he might be, unless made 
 acquainted with his practice on these occasions. On thinking 
 over the intended subject of his discourse, he found that he was 
 too depressed to treat it as he ought, and, therefore, had recourse 
 to his usual method — some music and a little bodily exercise, — 
 and thus put himself into a proper frame of mind to enable him 
 to go with pleasure to what would otherwise have been a work 
 of pain and labour to him," Trnly, an instance of a " dancing 
 parson," which reminds us of the gay young clergyman of the 
 time of Edward II., of whom we are told that when he goe 
 
 out: — 
 
 " He putteth in his pawtener a kercHef and a comb, 
 A skewer and a coyf to bind with hijs looks 
 And ratyl in the rowbyble," and in non other books. 
 
 Ne mosl " 
 
 So much for the amateurs who have gone before us. It is 
 to be presumed that the term "amateur" must continue to be 
 in some way a term of contempt until the sex, which is by a 
 strange misnomer termed " the weaker," shall have wiped away 
 this reproach. In conclusion, I can only say that many is the 
 time when I have devoutly wished that amateurs would bear in 
 mind the words of Stephens,^ who remarks with much dry 
 humour and sound sense, " A fiddler is, when he plays well, a 
 delight only for them that have their hearing, but is, when he 
 plays ill, a delight only for those who have not their hearing." 
 
 Even to-day the word " fiddle " has many opprobrious significa- 
 tions, relics of the days when " a fiddler " was a synonym for a 
 rogue or useless fellow, and the French, as we know, have even 
 now the phrase " mettre au violon," meaning " to imprison or 
 
 ' ' Eowbyble, rnbible, rubebe, rebec ; terms synonymous, vide chap. i. 
 
 " J. Stephens, " Bssayes and CharacteiB, Ironical and Instructive .(London, 
 « The Second Impression," 1615). 
 
10 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 lock up." About the origin of this use of the word violon there 
 have been many discussions among philologists and etymologists ; 
 a writer in Ifotes and Queries, in 1864/ tells us that in the 
 time of Louis XL the " Salle des Pas Peradus " (? Perdus) 
 was so much frequented by spadassins, turbulent clerks and 
 students, that a bailiflF of the palace, to put an end to their 
 disturbances, adopted the plan of shutting them up in a lower 
 room of the conciergerie whilst the courts were sitting, but, as 
 they were not guilty of any punishable offence he allowed them 
 a violin to amuse themselves with during their temporary cap- 
 tivity. Hence the word " violon " came to be applied to places 
 where persons under provisional arrest were confined.^ How- 
 ever this may be, it is anything but complimentary to the instru- 
 ment which, as a writer in the Daily Telegraph^ justly remarks, 
 " is pre-eminently the instrument of peace and contentment, of 
 gentle suasion and harmony among mankind," for, indeed, as 
 Captain Macheath says in his pretty compliment alike to woman 
 and the violin * — 
 
 " If the heart of a mS,n is depressed with cares, 
 The mist is dispelled when a woman appears ; 
 Like the notes of a fiddle she sweetly, sweetly 
 Raises the spirits and charms our ears," — 
 
 and Tom Hood spoke from the bottom of his heart when he 
 rather descriptively put it : " Heaven reward the man who first 
 hit upon the very original notion of sawing the inside of a cat 
 
 ' 2Votes and Queries, third series, vol. tI., p. 496 (December 17th, 1864). ' 
 
 ' The aboTe appeared originally in Galignani. On January 2Ist, 1865, another 
 writer in Notes and Qusries (vol. vii.), referring to the above recited article, 
 says, apropos of this subject : [translation] " The following explanation by the 
 eminent French philologist G6nin, Is more to the purpose. 1 took note of it 
 from a series of papers he furnished some years ago to the Jowrml d' Illustra- 
 tion, but it is to be found with many other curious things in his ' Enervations 
 Philologiques ' : ' Metteb ait Violon. — It is well known that in the middle 
 ages they said, instead of " mettre au violon," "mettre au psaltVrion." Psal- 
 t6rlon, saltVrion, saut6rion, are all identical with the Latin word " psalterium," 
 these being Gallicized foi-ms. Throughout the middle ages the seven penitential 
 psalms were as much used as " I'oraison dominioale " itself. By degrees it 
 became a habit to say casually " time to say a sept-pseaumes," as now we say 
 " time to recite a pater." " Mettre au psaMrion " meant, therefore, to be set 
 down to one's psalter, to be set down to a penance, to meditate over one's follies, 
 to repent of them, and to recite the seven penitential psalms (une sept-pseavmies) 
 without fear of interruption. But the ' ' psaltVrion " was also a musical instru- 
 ment, and the populace took advantage of the equivoque, and, seeing that the 
 psalterium was antiquated, substituted for it the violin, which had asserted itself 
 as the king of instruments. Instead of saying "mettre au psaltVrion " we say 
 " mettre au violon," and the play upon words is kept up.' " 
 
 " February 13th, 1882. 
 
 ' J. Gay, " The Beggar's Opera" (London, 1727), actii., sc. 1. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 11 
 
 with the tail of a horse ! " i The vanity which fiddlint^ was 
 supposed by our forefathers to be, is amply proved by their 
 many writings -in its disparagement. Dr. Barnes (chaplain to 
 King _ Henry VIII.) distinguishes fiddling as a reprehensible 
 trade in his "What the Church is,"^ etc.; and Dryden's lines,— 
 
 " Stife in opinions, always in the wrong, 
 Was everything by turns, but nothing long, 
 But in the course of one revolving moon 
 Was chjmist, Jiddler, statesman, and buffoon, '"— 
 
 are too well known to require quotation. 
 
 " Fiddle-faddle," as an expression denoting frivolity, is of very 
 great antiquity, and is obviously derived from the old idea of the 
 vanity and frivolity of the instrument ; thus Ford says,* " Ye 
 may as easely outrun a cloud driven by the northern blast, 
 as fiddle- f addle so;" and Samuel Butler uses the word in his 
 celebrated "A Ballad on the Parliament" (verse 1), which 
 begins : — 
 
 '■ As. close as a goose sat the Parliament House, hatching the Eoyal Gull ; 
 After much fiddle-faddle the egg proved addle, and Oliver came from the 
 North." 
 
 It seems to have been an expression much in use about this 
 time, doubtless because the fiddle had just been introduced by 
 the Stuarts, and was looked upon as one of the many follies of 
 those sovereigns. Beaumont and Fletcher, in their play The 
 Humorous Lieutenant (London, 1620), act i., sc. 1, say : — 
 
 " And that sweet tilting war with eyes and kisses, 
 Th' alanns of soft vows and sigb.sa.nd fiddle-faddle, spoils all ourtrade."' 
 
 And even in our day the expression (which is now antiquated) 
 has appeared on title-pages and the like.^ So much, therefore, 
 
 ' This is a description which reminds me of the Irishman who on returning 
 home from a fair where he had heard a violin played, described it to his 
 ■wondering circle thus : "It was the sliape of a turkey and the size of a goose, 
 and he turned it over on its back and rubbed its belly wid a stick, and och ! 
 St. Patrick, how it did squale ! " 
 
 ^ London, eiroa, 1530. " Whether they be Jew or Greeke, free or bounde, 
 friar or fiddler." 
 
 ' J. Dryden, " Absalom and Achitophel," part i., line 547. 
 
 • J. Ford, " Tliie Brohen Hearty A Tragedy (London, 1633), act i., sc. 3. 
 
 ' " The Works of Beaumont and Fletcher," edited by Geo. Darley (London, 
 1840), p. 236. 
 
 • As, for instance, " Fiddle-faddles Sentimental Tour in Search of the 
 Amusing, Picturesque, and Agreeable " (London, 1845 : G. Virtue : illustrated 
 by " Phiz "), and that delightful squib on the dress of the dandies of a former 
 generation, " The Fiddle-faddle, Fashion Book, and Beau Monde ^ la Franpaise, 
 enriched with numerous highly coloured figures of Lady-like Gentlemen," 
 edited by the Author of the "Comic Latin Grammar." The costumes and 
 other illustrations by John Leech. (London : n.d. [1840].) 
 
12 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 for the opinions of our forefathers concerning the violin, and the 
 meaning, in their estimation, of the word " fiddle." ^ 
 
 However small may have been, in days gone by, the_ esteem 
 in which the violin was held, there is no doubt about its high 
 position nowadays, both socially and commercially ,'' now that 
 our daughters are being taught the violin instead of the piano, 
 and that violins fetch suras of money which are simply out 
 of all reason. As regards the former of these " signs of the 
 times," a writer in CasseU's Familz/ Magazine justly remarked 
 a short time ago : ^ " The rage for teaching girls the violin, 
 which at present exists in England, is little more than a fashion, 
 and, unless it is directed with more knowledge and care on 
 the part of parents than most of them now show, it will die 
 like one. And we are not quite clear that, if this care is 
 withheld, a more suitable and salutary end could overtake it. 
 A new terror would be added to society were every budding 
 " Miss," no better instructed in the art than under the present 
 rdgime she is likely to be, were permitted or required to compel 
 the silence of the drawing-room whilst she scraped out one of 
 Bellini's airs with variations." This is quite true en bloc, 
 but there is no doubt that when the first rage consequent on 
 the perfect technique of such lady-players as Kormann-Neruda, 
 
 ' Before I go further I would say a word on my constant use of the word 
 "fiddle" instead of "violin;" it is a prejudice of mine. I always prefer to 
 say "fiddle," "tenor," "bass," and " double bass, " rather than use the Italian 
 words "Tiolin," "viola," "violoncello," and "violono," or the French " violon," 
 " alto," " basse," and " contre-basse. " We should not much like it if we were 
 made to use the Polish "skrzpc6," "altowka," " basetla, " and " kontrabas ; " 
 so why cannot we use English words when we have them to use ? People have 
 often asked me (in absolute good faith and innocence), " What is the difference 
 between a fiddle and a violin ? " a question which always reminds me of a 
 story told by Mr. A. Chasemore, in his " History and Associations of the Old 
 Bridge at Fulham and Putney " (London, 1875, 8vo), of an old waterman at 
 Putney, who, in describing the glories of a certain band known as " Brook's 
 Band," which played on the occasions of the old FulhaiA watermen's 
 Regatta, stated that it consisted of " a big drum, a clarionet, two fiddles and a 
 
 ^ Whilst I write the above there comes into my mind a little book which 
 was. sent me the other day, and which by its recent date shows that the antique 
 prejudice against the fiddle is not absolutely extinct even now. This little 
 booklet, which is fortunately anonymous, is entitled, " The singular life and 
 surprising adventures of Joseph Thompson, known by the name of Fiddler 
 Thompson of Halifax, with an account of the various hardships he endured ; 
 the wickedness of common Fiddlers and Fiddling ; his practice as a Horse- 
 rider and Juggler ; narrow escape from death ; his being a Fiddler on a cruise 
 in a Privateer ; his cruelty as a husband, father, &c., and his subsequent con- 
 version and devotedness to God." (Wakefield : W. Nicholson, n.d. [1880]). It 
 is extraordinary to me, how in these days of enlightenment such a philippic 
 could have been published. 
 
 ^ Vide Tlie Musical Standard, August 6th, 1882, and the Orchestra and 
 Choir, September 1S82. 
 
INTEODUCTION. 13 
 
 Teresina Tua, de Pommereul, and otber well-known violinistes, 
 has cooled down, the ladies who continue to play the violin will 
 raise (as I have said before) the name of "Amateur Violinist " 
 trom the slough of despond in which it is at present sunk : for 
 It IS obvious that the greater perseverance, delicacy, and spirit of 
 emulation, of the fair sex, to say nothing of the greater time at 
 their disposal, must soon raise them far beyond the standard 
 attamed by nineteen out of every twenty male bipeds who 
 
 play the fiddle a little, you know." 
 
 The present is neither a suitable place nor an appropriate 
 occasion for an exposition of the failings of the ordinary 
 amateur; but there are two principal ones which deserve 
 a passing notice: these are, excessive tuning and "showing 
 off. There seem to be many amateur fiddlers who think it 
 shows self-confidence, skill, or nonchalance to tune with 
 unnecessary vigour and at unnecessary length, not reflecting 
 that to_ the experienced musician such a proceeding is a certain 
 indication of executory inaptitude.^ The passion for " showing 
 off" is apparently an incurable disease, for one hears even 
 advanced players running scales up and down the finger-board 
 and playing bravura passages whenever they can get a suitable 
 or unsuitable opportunity. It is a maddeningly contemptible 
 habit. What is more distressing to the musical ear than the 
 discordant quart-cChmre that precedes the overture in most 
 of our theatres? If one listens carefully, one can often dis- 
 tinguish whole exercises by well-known masters being "run 
 through " by individual fiddlers. It is related of Cramer, that 
 when on his way to England he was engaged to play a con- 
 certo on the violin at the " Concert-Spirituel " in Paris. Oa 
 entering the orchestra he was struck with amazement at seeing 
 
 ' Francis Beaumont, " The Knight of the Burning Pestle," Comedy, first 
 played in 1611. 
 
 ^ Philip Massinger was also impressed with this idea, when fiddles first 
 came over to England, for he says : — 
 
 " Wire-string and eat-gut men, and strong-breathed hohoys, 
 For the credit of your calling have not your instruments 
 To tune when you strike up." 
 
 The Guardian, a comedy (London, 1655). 
 
 And I can always feel for, and sympathise with, the Court in the old story of the 
 Eastern potentate for whose delectation a band was sent forth to his domains. 
 Before their first (proposed) performance they began to tune their instruments, 
 an operation which produced on the Court the same kind of effect that stepping 
 on a red-hot shovel produced on Mark Twain's contemplative spider. (He 
 first expressed a wild astonishment and then shrivelled up I) Oistupuerwit, 
 stete>"u,ntque conite — and the miserable fiddlers were sent home as fast as possible 
 by the king, who refused to hear another note of their music, fearing it might 
 be " up to sample ! " 
 
14 YIOLI^r-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 the second, and inferior violin players playing for their own (?) 
 amusement the most difficult bravura passages at the top of 
 the finger-board. " If," thought he, " the French subordinate 
 fiddle-players possess such uncommon powers of execution, I 
 can have little chance of pleasing a Parisian audience." How- 
 ever, he went through his' concerto and was accorded a whirl- 
 wind of applause ; next day, on his mentioning the matter to 
 an eminent French musician, the latter replied, " Oh ! confound 
 them, they only practise such monkey-tricks, and can play 
 nothing else." Such a player as this was the celebrated Lolli,^ 
 who seems to have been a trick-player of marvellous force, 
 et prceterea nihil ! Indeed Parke in his " Musical Memoirs " 
 (voli.,p. 52) says of him: — " His execution was astonishing, and 
 the tricks he played in various parts of his concerto excited the 
 risibility more than the admiration of his auditors." ^ The only 
 person of our day (as far as I know) who has made a practice 
 of this kind of charlatanry is a certain eccentric professional, 
 who has recently made his appearance at music-halls and other 
 entertainments of a similar nature under the hideously sug- 
 gestive title of " Paganini Eedivivus." My readers (who have 
 not seen him) will judge of him and his merits when I say 
 
 ' Antonio LoUi was a native of Bergamo, born in 1730, whom Sir George 
 Grove in his " Dictionary of Music and Musicians " (London, 1880 — 1884) 
 describes as "a most extraordinary performer, but also the type of an 
 unmusical, empty-headed virtuoso, and In addition a complete fool ; " and this 
 opinion of him is unanimously that of all his biographers. 
 
 ' Mr. H. C. Luim, in his " Suggestions for a Musical Amphitlieatre " in 
 " Musings of a Musician " (London, 2nd Edn., 1849, p. 200), gives a delight- 
 ful item in an imaginary programme, being a hit at the sickening way in which 
 inferior players pander to the popular taste by these " exhibitions " of • 
 "musical pyrotechnics.'' He says; — "Mr. Lucius Gbaham Walker, the 
 Miraculous Violinist (justly surnamed the One-stringed Prodigy') will afterwards 
 go through the whole of his much admired performances upon A single 
 STEING. In order that there may be no deception in this, the violin will be 
 brought before the audience and three strings broken in their presence. After 
 this feat he will exhibit some of his new effects for the instrument which have 
 been received on each representation with shouts of LAUGHTER and 
 THUNDEES of APPLAUSE. Amongst the most prominent of these will be a 
 peculiar sound got by gently tapping the string, whilst the wood of the bow 
 is placed close to the bridge and suddenly drawn up and down the string 
 with great force. The poi'tamento too, so much used by singers and lately 
 by violinists, which consists of gliding one note into the other instead of 
 separating them as tltey are marlted upon the paper, will, on this occasion, be 
 carried to an extreme. He vrill perform a portion of a well-known concerto, 
 in which, by simply using the means above mentioned, he will make the 
 most lovely andante appear a series of the most extraordinary wails ever 
 listened to, and transform a beautiful composition into a correct representation 
 of a concert of cats. This feat has always been received with the utmost 
 LAUGHTBB and APPLAUSE," — and, in truth, this just describes many of the 
 wonderful exhibitions of musical gymnastics forced upon wondering ears by 
 hundreds of charlatans, amateur and professional, in the drawing-room, on the 
 platform — and in the circus. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 15 
 
 he appears, a ghastly object, " made up " to resemble the corpse 
 of Nicolo Paganini according to the weirdest likenesses of him, 
 on a darkened stage and to slow music, after which he plays 
 one or two of the *' tours-de-force " which are associated with 
 the name of the arch-charlatan and virtuoso, the king of 
 violinists, Paganini. I simply must reproduce an advertisement 
 of his which appeared in the Titnes of the 2nd March, 1883, 
 and which runs thus : — 
 
 PAGANINI EEDIVIVUS begs to make known, in 
 reply to numerous inquiries, that he seldom 
 performs Beethoven's -Concerto, M Midolo Defan's 
 Concerto, Tartini's Devil's-Sonata, Bach's " Cha- 
 conne," or the other stereotyped pieces of the 
 inevitable so-called classical repertoire. Paganini 
 Eedivivus has heard them so frequently hackneyed 
 about by little conservatoire pupils on the Conti- 
 nent, that they have lost their importance for him. 
 However, although from a violinistio point of view 
 they are morse than trivial, still as musical com- 
 positions they are very admirable. Therefore later 
 on Paganini Bedivivus may be induced to give a 
 SPECIAL EECITAL of the above stated pieces, in 
 order to shore tlie London public hom tliey should be 
 
 No comment of mine is needed to point the moral of the 
 above edifying paragraph. True, he was a marvellous executant, 
 but from an artistic point of view — ^bah ! ^ It is this terrible 
 temptation to charlatanry which spoils the playing of so many 
 amateurs, for in their love of exciting wonder and applause, 
 they lose sight entirely of the glories of purity of tone and 
 expression, which must be the substratum to which all orna- 
 ments of style are purely incidental, so that people may say in 
 the words of Edmund Gosse,^ — 
 
 " And when I stand 
 To watch the fingers of a master's hand, 
 
 And taste the rich arpeggios, and ablaze 
 With florid chords, hear how the fire is fanned, 
 
 . • a • • 
 
 I throb with joy ; and as I look I learn." 
 
 Of course the great thing which stands in the way of 
 amateurs is want of practice. Boys cannot or will not give the 
 requisite time to the instrument which is the inevitable pathway 
 to proficiency ; they cannot realize the powers of the " Niebe- 
 lungenlied " Volker, who is described as wielding the fiddle-bow 
 as dexterously as the sword; they can very seldom even be 
 persuaded to follow the example of dear old Saihuel Pepys, who 
 
 ' Any one who feels an interest in this nineteenth century Lolli should refer 
 to the pages of the Musical /Standard for March 10th and 24th, 1883. 
 ' B. W. Gosse, " On Viol and Lute" (London, 1873), " Ad auditorem," p. 1. 
 
16 VIOLIN- MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 tells US (December 3rd, 1660) : — " Rose by candle, and spent my 
 morning in fiddling till time to go to the office ; " and it is 
 urged that the pursuits of boys and men unfit the hands fi)r the 
 delicate touch necessary to a perfect intonation, or the suppleness 
 requisite for a proper technique upon the finger-board : ^ this 
 is why I hail the time when women shall play the violin to 
 us, when the execrable amateur fiddler, whom we have all 
 endured and anathematized, shall be a thing of the past, and 
 when it will be counted a shame and a disgrace to play the 
 violin either like a marvellous piece of mechanism or a trained 
 animal.^ Of coure it is out of the question to suppose that 
 amateurs (even ladies !) will ever emulate the phenomenal 
 application which is reported of Paganini, of whom we have 
 handed down to us terrible stories of ten and twelve hours 
 a day uninterrupted practice,^ or that they will practice till 
 their fingers bleed, like the pupils of the genius Fossegrin;* 
 
 ' " Nothing could possibly add to the charm and variety of Music in the 
 House like a general increase of skill in Tiolin-playing. And if this increase is 
 to be made, it mast be made for the present at least through female aid. An 
 exclusive devotion, through the growing years of boyhood, to cricket and 
 boating, however directly conducive to ' the promotion of piety and good litera- 
 ture,' leaves little time for the acquisition of skill on a musical instrument, not 
 to say that hands stiffened by the bat and oar are little likely to make much 
 of the bow or finger-board." — J. Hullah, " Music in the House " (London, 1877). 
 
 " Speaking of trained animals reminds me of a most interesting note which 
 I find in Knight's "American Mechanical Dictionary" (New York, 1875, 
 3 vols., articles " Fiddle " and " Violin"), which points out the fact that though 
 grasshoppers, crickets, and the like are frequently spoken of as " singing," yet 
 " they do not sing, they fiddle. By rubbing legs and wings together — each in 
 the manner peculiar to the species— these insects produce the sounds which 
 characterize them. Locusts are fiddlers. Their hind legs are the bows, and the 
 projecting veins of their wing-covers the strings. On each side of the body, in 
 the first segment of the abdomen, just above and a little behind the thighs, is 
 a deep cavity closed by a thin piece of skin stretched tightly across it like 
 a banjo-cover. When a locust begins to play he bends the shank of one hind 
 leg beneath the thigh, where it is lodged in a furrow designed to receive it, and 
 then draws the leg briskly up and down several times against the projecting 
 lateral edge and veins of the wing-cover." Shortly after reading the above, I 
 was lying in the blazing sun on one of the southern slopes of the Pyrenees, and 
 an enormous field-cricket or grasshopper, unaware of my, presence, came and 
 sat down a few inches from my head, and gave me a concert. I watched him 
 very carefully, and the operation was exactly as above described : his tone was 
 full and jound, and formed a pleasing contrast to that of a lady field-cricket 
 who was fiddling about a yard away, with whom my soloist seemed to be 
 conversing. Her tone was comparatively thin and weak, and presently ceased 
 altogether, whereupon my gallant insect skidded away to make inquiries. 
 
 ' F. J. Fetis, '• Notice Biographique sur Nicolo Paganini," etc. (Paris, 1851), 
 translated into English by Wellington Guernsey : — " Biographical notice of 
 Nicolo Paganini," etc. (London : Schott, n.d.) Second edition, anonymous 
 (London, n.d. [1876]). 
 
 * In Norway the genius Fossegrin teaches the violin on the night of Holy 
 Thursday to any person who sacrifices to him a white goat, and throws it into 
 a cascade flowing northward, taking care to turn away his head. The genius 
 
INTRODUCTION. 17 
 
 but the forbearance of their relations will surely allow them to 
 give more time than (as a rule) they do, and it is certainly time 
 that the people who can afford most for tuition should produce 
 the best results. Another fault of amateurs is their constancy; 
 an amateur will go on playing snatches of tunes, "somehow 
 like this," in what Mr. Corney Grain calls " the there or there- 
 abouts style," till one longs to be afflicted with a thickening of 
 the tympanum. I once knew an amateur who would go on 
 worrying his fiddle by the hour together for my edification, out 
 of pure vanity of his own powers. He reminded me of a French 
 virtuoso, named Alday, who played on his first appearance in 
 England (at Coleman's Theatre in 1792) a concerto on " Grod 
 save the King" with variations. After some seventeen or 
 eighteen variations some wag in the gallery called out, " Are 
 you going to play all night, Mr. All-day ? " This started a laugh, 
 which, turning into a hiss, drove the discomfited soloist from 
 the platform. 
 
 There is no doubt about it, that to have learnt the violin has 
 often been the first musical training of the greatest composers. 
 We all have heard the well-known story of Mozart, who when he 
 was quite a child taught himself to play the violin ; the story is 
 told by Hogarth ^ as follows : — " When the family returned to 
 Salzburg in 1762 Mozart (being then six years old) brought 
 with him a small violin with which he amused himself. An able 
 violin-player of the name of Wenzl called one day on his father 
 to ask his opinion of six trios he had just composed. They 
 proceeded to try them, Wenzl himself playing the first violin, 
 Mozart's father the bass, and a performer of the name of 
 Schachtner^ the second violin. Young Mozart begged hard to be 
 allowed to play this last part, but his father angrily refused his 
 request, naturally conceiving it to be a childish whim. At last, 
 however, on the good-humoured intercession of Schachtner, the 
 
 then seizes the right hand of his pupil, and moves it over the strings of the 
 fiddle till the blood comes out under the nails. The apprentice is thenceforward 
 a master, and his enchanted violin will make trees dance and rivers stay their 
 course 1 — Mime and the Drama, March 10th, 1883. 
 
 ' Gr. Hogarth, " Musical Historv, Biography, and Criticism,'' etc. (London, 
 1835), ch. xiii., p. 240 (2nd edition, 1838, vol. ii., ch. i., p. 3). 
 
 ^ Johanu Andreas Schachtner held the post of Court Trumpeter at Salzburg, 
 and was an intimate friend of the Mozart family. AH these particulars of the 
 childhood of Mozart (as well as many others) are taken from a letter vpritten 
 by Schachtner, after Mozart's death, to his (Mozart's) sister, under date 
 April 24th, 1792. The original is in the possession of Herr Aloys Puchs, and is 
 to be found at length in Otto Jahu's "Life of Mozart," translated from the 
 German by Pauline Townshend (London, 1882, Novello), 3 vols., vol. i., p. 21. 
 (" W. A. Mozart " : Leipzig, 1826-59 ; Breitkopf, 4 vols. 8vo). It is also to be 
 found in G. R. de Nissen's "Biographic W. A. Mozarts" (Leipzig, 1828), and 
 in A, H. F. SchlichtegroU's "Nekrolog der.Deutsohen " (Gotha, 1790-1806). 
 
 2 
 
18 VIOLIN-HAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 child was allowed to play along with him on his little violin, and 
 cautioned by his father to make little noise. In a few minutes, 
 nodding to his companions, Schachtner laid down his instrument, 
 and Mozart went on alone, playing his part with the utmost 
 accuracy and steadiness, to the admiration and astonishment of 
 the party." ^ 
 
 Again, Sebastian Bach (born at Eisenach, in Thuringia, March 
 31st? 1685) was in his youth his father's pupil on the violin, and 
 it was his proficiency on this instrument (joined to his fine treble 
 voice) which got him into the " Matin " choir at the Michaelis 
 Schule at Lueneberg ; and when his voice cracked he held for 
 some months the post of violinist in the band of Prince Johann 
 Ernst of Weimar.^ Schubert also, we are told,* was his father's 
 pupil on the violin at the age of eight. In 1808 he became one 
 of the Imperial Chapel Choir, and a pupil of the Stadtconvict, 
 where he soon became leader of the school orchestra.^ 
 
 Cremona ! It would almost seem unnecessary to ask whether 
 there breathes any one who has never heard of a " Cremona 
 Violin," but it is not so ; often when talking of violins some one 
 has said naively, "And then, — what is a ' Cremona ? ' " indeed, 
 the name which is more than a household word to all violinists 
 is by no means understood in its full signification by ol •jtoXKol ; 
 even the well-informed Parke says (vol. i., p. 301) : " As the 
 appellation of ' Cremona fiddles ' may not be generally understood 
 I will take this opportunity to explain it. These instruments 
 were made by two Italians, named Amati and Stradivarius at 
 
 ' He was fond of playing on Sobachtner's yiolin on account of the sweetness 
 of its tone, and Schachtner used to tune it and leave it with him. One day when 
 Schachtner came to visit his father, Mozart remarked to him that the last time 
 he tuned his violin he had not kept it at its former pitch. " It is half a quarter 
 of a tone," said he, " lower than this one of miae." They at first laughed at 
 this extreme exactness ; but the father, who had often observed the extra- 
 ordinary delicacy of his son's ear and his memory for sounds, desired him to 
 bring Schachtner's violin, and it actually proved to be half a quarter of a tone 
 below the other. 
 
 ' Many biographers state that he was born on the iwewiy-first, and they also are 
 right, for Bach was born on the 21st (old style) and 31st (newstyle)of March, 1685. 
 
 ' R. L. Poole, " Sebastian Bach " (London, 1882). ("The Great Musicians," 
 edited by F. HuefEer.) 
 
 * H. F. Frost, " Schubert " (London, 1881). (Same series.) 
 
 ° As an instance of his delicacy of ear, parallel to that of Mozart (vide note '), 
 we are told that at home, when the family played quartetts (he playing the 
 viola, his father the bass, and his brothers the violins), he would detect the 
 smallest blunder. In the instance of one of his brothers he did not scruple to 
 rebuke by word or look ; but if his father played a wrong note or made a false 
 entry, he would ignore the mistake once, and if it occurred again, he would say 
 with hesitation, " Father, I fear there is a mistake somewhere ! " The viola has 
 been the favourite instrument of more than one great composer. Besides 
 Schubert, both Mozart and Mendelssohn were tenor-players. 
 
INTRODUCTION, 19 
 
 Cremona, in the Milanese ; and, like the well-known ' Sedan 
 chairs, origmally made in France, go by the name of the town 
 in which they were first manufactured " (!). This is a terrible 
 statement for a musical historian to make, but it shows us what 
 was the opinion in musical circles in 1830. That Cremona 
 violins have always enjoyed a high reputation in this country is 
 shown by the following entry in the Enrolments of the Audit 
 Office in the reign of Charles II., 1662, vol. vi.. No. 359: 
 " These are to require you to pay, or cause to be paid to John 
 Bannester, one of his Ma''" musicians in ordinary, the some of 
 fourty poundes for two Cremona violins by him bought and 
 delivered for his Ma''« service, as may appeare by Ihe bill 
 annexed ; and also tenn poundes for stringes for two years 
 ending 24th June, 1662. And this shall be your Warrant. 
 Given under my hand this 24th day of October, 1662, in the 
 fourteenth yeare of his Majesty's reign : (signed) E. Man- 
 chester. To Sir Edward Grriffin, K'''- Treasurer of his Ma''« 
 chaniber."! The position of Cremona violins in the present 
 day is, perhaps, a trifle anomalous : as Charles Reade very 
 justly says : ^ " The fiddles of Cremona gained their reputation 
 by superior tone, but they hold it now mainly by their beauty. 
 For thirty years past violins have been made equal in model 
 to the chef-cfoeuvres of Cremona, and stronger in wood than 
 Stradivarius, and more scientific than Guarnerius in the thick- 
 nesses." 
 
 This is an argument which, though obviously triie . to all 
 connected with violins, is very difficult to hammer into the 
 heads of amateurs and others, who either possess or crave for 
 the possession of a masterpiece of Cremona. No one who has 
 seen the magnificent new instruments of Chanot, of Hill, of 
 Boullangier, of Simoutre, of Gand and Bernardel, and of many 
 other living makers, can possibly deny that these instruments 
 will be, when a little matured by age, far sweeter and finer than 
 any of the time-withered, tampered- with, over-repaired, and 
 dilapidated instruments which flood the market under the names 
 
 ' Communicated to Notes and Queries, vol. vii. (first series), p. 36, by 
 Peter Cuimingham. 
 
 ^ C. Eeade, " A Lost Art Revived : Cremona Violias, Four Letters descrip- 
 tive of those exhibited in 1873 (sic) at the South Kensington Museum ; also 
 givmg the Data for producing the True Varnishes used by the Great Grempua 
 Makers," reprinted from the PaU Mall Gazette, by G. H. M. Muntz (Gloucester, 
 1873). This is a pamphlet of considerable rarity and bibliographical value, got 
 up in a style de luxe, and consisting of four letters written by Charles Beade in 
 the PaU Mall Gazette of the 19th, 24th, 27th, and 31st August, 1872, descrip- 
 tive of the vioUns exhibited at the special Exhibition of Ancient Musical 
 Instruments at South Kensington in 1872 (not 1873, as stated on the title-pag«. 
 of the brochure in question). Vide note ', p. 24. 
 
20 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 of Stradivari, of Guarneri, of Amati, of B-uggerius, of Stainer, 
 of Bergonzi, and a hundred lesser names. People hear masters 
 like Joachim, Wilhelmj, Saintonj or Sarasate play on a gem from 
 some Cremonese workshop, and make up their minds that the 
 exquisite purity of tone oomes from the instrument (and not 
 from the player !), and not so much from the instrument as 
 from its age ! It reminds one of the old story about Giardini, 
 whose taste and purity of tone were simply exquisite. Parke 
 says of him : " Giardini when in his zenith produced on the 
 violin a tone more powerful and clear than any of his contem- 
 poraries. This knack, if I may be allowed the expression, proved 
 very profitable to Giardini, enabling him to sell, his inferior 
 instruments for a large price to gentlemen who in his hands 
 admired their powerful tone, though they found afterwards, to 
 their great surprise, that they could draw forth very little, 
 apparently not aware that the tone came from the skill used, 
 and not from the fiddle." People have even written books (or 
 rather, pamphlets) to impress this on the devotees and collectors 
 of the violin, which though too often simply written as adver- 
 tisements of a particular make, are really absolutely correct, 
 and if properly studied (apart from their "puff" element) 
 would conduce to a more liberal pati'onage of contemporary 
 work, and I have, personally, no doubt that a hundred pounds 
 spent now in bran new instruments would more than increase 
 tenfold in the space of fifty to eighty years, for, as a writer 
 in one of the above-mentioned pamphlets wisely remarks, the 
 supply of Italian master- violins is necessarily limited, and in a 
 comparatively short time players will be obliged to turn to 
 modern makers for their instruments.-' I have played on bran 
 
 ' The works which I have in my mind as I write this are particularly a delight- 
 fully conceited work by George, Gemiinder, the violin-maker of Astoria, 
 New York, entitled " George Gemiinder's progress in Violin-making," etc. 
 (Astoria, N.Y., 1881, 8vo), which for cast-iron self-glorification far surpasses 
 the most eloquent lucubrations of the historic Pharisee ! Another opusculum 
 of the same kind is Mr. J. Broadhouse's " Facts about Fiddles, Violins Old 
 and New," a brochure which has seen two editions (London, n. d., [1879 and 
 1882]), and is devoted entirely to the advertising of the instruments of an 
 amateur maker named Mr. John Day. A third, which has recently made its 
 appearance, is a work called " Anx Amateurs du Violon. Historique, Con- 
 struction, Eeparation et Conservation de cet Instrument "(BS,le, 1883), and 
 written by M. C. Simoutre, of whose fiddles it is in fact a great advertising 
 puff. And to go back to the beginning of the century, we have the well- 
 known work by Jacob Augustus Otto, " Ueber den Bau der Bogen-instnx* 3 
 mente," etc., 1st edition (Halle und Leipsic, 1817); 2nd edition (Jena, 1828), 
 which has been translated into English by T. Fardely, " Treatise on the Con- 
 struction, etc., of the Violin, etc." (London and Leeds, 1883) ; and by John Bishop, 
 of Cheltenham, "A Treatise on the Structure, etc., of the Violin, etc." (London, 
 1st edition 1848 ; 2nd edition 1860 ; 3rd edition 187.o) ; and the very scarce, if 
 not unattainable pamphlet of M. Cyprien Desmarais, " Description d'un Violon 
 
INTKODUCTION. 21 
 
 new violins — ^violins the varnish of which has been absolutely 
 " sticky," and their tone has been perfect (that is, of course, it 
 has given great promise), and no doubt after the transition period 
 will be quite as fine, if not finer, in tone than those wonderful 
 violins bearing talismanic names which raise their prices inta 
 the hundreds of pounds. It is perhaps not generally known 
 that it is only in what I have called " the transition period" that a 
 well-made violin is hideously rough and discordant, that its tone 
 is described as " new," and that players avoid it as they would 
 the Evil One. When a violin is first made, and the wood is 
 soft and sappy, and the varnish sticky and elastic, the tone is 
 muffled in a manner which gives an idea of softness and sweet- 
 ness which is very deceptive to an inexperienced player ; it is 
 when the fiddle has been played on for a month or two, and the 
 fibres of the wood are beginning to answer to the sound-waves, 
 that the tone becomes harsh and musard. At this point many a 
 good fiddle is permanently spoilt by having the sound-post and 
 bass-bar shifted about and the wood scooped out, but as this 
 belongs to another part of the work, I must not air this griev- 
 ance in this place. Often when I have been playing my own 
 fiddles " into condition " friends have said : " Well, old fellow, 
 it seems unkind to say so to you who made it, but that's a beastly 
 fiddle." I always reply, '•' Tout vient k celui qui sait attendre," 
 and, indeed, it is after a month or two of this " cracked-voice" 
 condition that the instrument settles down gradually into a full, 
 sweet tone (or the reverse). I have expatiated thus at length 
 on the subject of age, because it is a matter so little understood 
 even by violinists themselves, and it simply reduces itself to this : 
 If a violin is well made, its tone from the beginning will either 
 be good in itself, or indicate future sweetness, and it will 
 gradually improve with nse and age ; but if a fiddle is originally 
 inferior, no amount of playing upon it, and no length of time, 
 will make it more than it is, " a squeaking crowde," fit only for 
 the orchestra, or, worse still, for the peripatetic fiddler, who 
 extracts rather than coaxes pennies from the passer-by. Dr. 
 Oliver Wendell Holmes, in his "Autocrat at the Breakfast 
 Table," ^ discusses this question most beautifully, saying : 
 " Certain things are good for nothing till they have been kept 
 
 Historique et Monumental " (Paris, 1836), which is a description of a violin 
 made by the nife of the late M. Georges Chanot, of Paris, and a puff of her 
 husband's works. All these, as will be seen, are merely written by way of 
 advertisement, but they are all valuable additions to the literature of the violin, 
 because they point out the possibility of excellence in new fiddles, which 
 excellence is, of CQurse, destined to increase as time and vse mellow the 
 instruments. ,, . ,_ 
 
 ' Appeared originally in the Atlantic Monthly m Inovember, 1857. 
 
22 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 a long while, and some are good for nothing till they have been 
 long kept and used ... Of those which must be kept long 
 and used I will name . . . violins . . . the sweet old Amati, 
 the divine Stradivarius. Played on by ancient masters till 
 the bow-hand lost its power and the flying fingers stiffened ; 
 bequeathed to the passionate . young enthusiast, who made it 
 whisper his hidden love, and cry in inarticulate longings, and 
 scream his untold agonies, and wail his monotonous despair ; 
 passed from his dying hand to the cold virtuoso, who let it 
 slumber in its case for a generation, until, when his hoard was 
 broken up, it came forth once more and rode the stormy 
 symphonies of royal orchestras beneath the rushing bow of 
 their lord and leader ; into lonely prisons with improvident 
 artists ; into convents, from which arose day and night the holy 
 hymns with which its tones were blended ; and back again to 
 orgies in which it learned to howl and laugh as if a legion of 
 devils were shut up in it ; then again to the gentle dilettante, 
 who calmed it down with easy melodies until it answered him 
 softly as in the days of the old maestros, and so given into our 
 hands its pores all full of music, stained through and through 
 with the concentrated sweetness of all the harmonies which have 
 kindled and faded on its strings . . . Now you know very well 
 that there are no less than fifty-eight (sic) different pieces in a 
 violin. These pieces are strangers to each other, and it takes a 
 century, more or less, to make them thoroughly acquainted. At . 
 last they learn to vibrate in harmony, and the instrument becomes 
 an organic whole, as if it were a great seed capsule which had 
 grown from a garden bed in Cremona. Besides, the wood is 
 juicy and full of sap for fifty years or so, but at the end of fifty 
 or a hundred more gets tolerably dry and comparatively re- 
 sonant." What more beautiful explanation of the matter can 
 we want ? What I have said concerning this matter of new 
 violins (or, as the writer in The Orchestra and Choir ^ says, 
 " modern examples ") introduces the next portion of this subject, 
 and that is the Collection of violins. 
 
 Concerning Collections of Violins much has been said in favour 
 of them and much against them. The first record I have found 
 of such a collection is in Parke's " Musical Memoirs," where 
 we find (vol. i., p. 301), " Mr. E. Stephenson, the banker, had 
 perhaps the best and most valuable collection of Cremona 
 violins of any private gentleman in England. I am, however, 
 inclined to think that these are frequently more estimated on 
 account of theif scarcity (like strawberries in January) than 
 
 ' Orcliestra and Clwir, June, 1882. 
 
INTRODUCTION. . 23 
 
 their valuable qualities." (He then goes on with the remarks 
 quoted on p. 18.) I do not know if any collection has been 
 recorded before this date (1802), if so, I have never come across 
 it.^ As to the ethics of violin collecting, there seem to be three 
 opinions. First, that violin collecting is in every way to be 
 deplored, as thereby magnificent .fiddles are shut away out of 
 sight and never heard ; this is the opinion of Mr. J. M. FIeming,i 
 and he suggests that the owners of collections ought to give 
 them to players, or else to trustees, to lend to students; a 
 practice simple enough to propound, but slightly utopian, to 
 use no stronger expression. Second, that violin collecting is 
 a most praiseworthy and expedient pursuit, as it tends to 
 preserve old violins much longer than they could otherwise 
 last, and that thereby the masterpieces of the old makers 
 become handed down from generation to generation, with 
 occasional periods of rest, which prevent their dying out 
 altogether. And third, that every man has a perfect right to 
 do what he likes with his own, and that it is nobody's business 
 to say that a man ought not to keep instruments which he 
 has bought and paid for. The latter is principally my opinion. 
 Of course, there is no doubt that it is a pity that the exquisite 
 tones of these stored violins should never be heard; — this is the 
 basis of the controversy which is got up at intervals about the 
 celebrated Guarnerius, which was Paganini's favourite instru- 
 ment, which he bequeathed to the municipality of his native 
 place (Grenoa), and which has been untouched ever since, 
 excepting once when his great pupil Sivori was suffered to play 
 on it at a concert. People suggest that it should be played 
 upon at concerts, that it should be sold to found a Paganini 
 scholarship, and a hundred other uses are suggested to the 
 Municipality, but really I cannot see that it is anybody's 
 business to interfere, and I think it is most natural that the 
 municipality of the Grreat Virtuoso's birthplace should like to 
 keep his instrument sacred from all other touches.^ Then again 
 
 ' J. M. Fleming, " Old Violins and their Makers, including some reference to 
 those of Modern Times " (London, 1883). Appeared originally as a series of 
 articles in The Bazaar, JEmehange and Mart, 1882, January 27th, et seq. 
 
 ' This " Griiarnerias del Jesd," dated 1743, was lent to Paganini in 1820 by a 
 M. Livron, a merchant at Leghorn, to play upon, at a concert in that place. 
 After the concert, on Paganini's returning the Tiolin to its owner, the latter said 
 to him, " Je me garderai bien de prof aner des cordes que vos doigts ont touch^es ; 
 c'est i. vous maintenant que mon violon appartient," and from this moment it 
 was Paganini's principal and favourite -piolin. Illustrations of this instrument 
 may be found in G.Hart's ' ' The Violin, its Famous Makers, and their Imitators " 
 (London, 1875), Frontispiece ; and in the second edition of Mr. Wellington 
 Guernsey's translation of F. J. F6tis's, " Notice Biograpbiqiie sur Nicole 
 Paganini" (Paris, 1851 ; Translation, London, n. d.; 2nd Edition, London, 
 n. d. [1876]). 
 
24 , VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 the second opinion is undoubtedly very well conceived, for had 
 it not been that these master-violins have been stored up, 
 untouched for years, from time to time, they would disappear 
 from the face of the earth very rapidly ; but the third opinion 
 is the only really tangible one, and the only one that can be 
 discussed .with anything like profit, for it is manifestly absurd 
 to dictate to men of means what they shall do with their pur- 
 chases. It would, of course, be of the most fascinating interest 
 if we could have periodical exhibitions like that of the year 
 1872 (vide note ^), but, unfortunately, that requires an amount 
 of philanthropic self-devotion and trouble which we, in these 
 hard-living latter days of the nineteenth century, have neither 
 the time, patience, nor inclination to give.^ 
 
 And this question of collecting brings us naturally to the 
 prices paid for violins. Although the wonderful prices we now 
 hear of as being paid for fiddles are things of comparatively 
 late years, still, every now and then, one hears some story of 
 fabulous prices paid for fiddles by " them of old time." The 
 Times of March 31st, 1876, contained a note to the effect that 
 at a then-recent sale by auction at Dresden, one of the objects 
 sold was the famous violin which the Count Trautmannsdorf, 
 Grand Equerry to the Emperor Charles VI., bought from the 
 celebrated maker Stainer on singular conditions. He paid in 
 cash sixty-six golden caroluses, undertaking to supply Stainer as 
 long as he lived with a good dinner every day, 100 florins .in 
 specie every month, a new suit of clothes with gold frogs every 
 year, as well as two casks of beer, lodging, firing, and lighting ; 
 and further if he should marry, as many hares as he should 
 want annually for himself, and as many more for his old nurse. 
 As Stainer lived sixteen years afterwards, the violin, must have 
 cost the Count 20,000 florins in cash. The instrument, which 
 was last in the hands of an Austrian nobleman, was sold to a 
 Russian for 2,500 thalers (about 10,000 fcs.). The above story, 
 which purports to have been taken from the Globe, is rather 
 too " tall " (as an American would say) to believe, but that it 
 could have been thought possible shows in what estimation old 
 violins have always been held. Earlier than this the same 
 paper (November 4th, 1859) gives an account taken from The 
 Entr'acte to the effect that M. de Beriot had sold his famous 
 
 • Apropos at such exhibitions, a volume of the deepest interest to violinists 
 (apart from its great bibliographical rarity) is the magniacent Mition de luxe 
 of the " Catalogue of the Special Exhibition of Ancient Musical Instruments, 
 MDCCCLXXli " (London, 1873). Compiled by the late Carl Engel Qvide note ', 
 p. 6), and embelUshed with fourteen photographic plates, ot vrhich ten are photo- 
 graphs of celebrated Cremonese fiddles. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 25 
 
 violin to M. Wieniawski for 20,000 francs.^ The Times has 
 often given notes of such prices, notably on June 24th, 1859, 
 and June 28th, 1862, when it chronicles sales at Messrs. Puttick 
 and Simpson's, among the items of which we find, Stradivarius 
 violins sold for £249, £80, £56, £135, and £90 ; Stradivarius 
 'cellos at £129, and £210, and instruments by other celebrated 
 makers at similarly varying prices.^ W. Parke in his " Musical 
 Memoirs " (vol i., p. 302) recounts a negotiation for a violin, 
 which recalls the (to my mind) apocryphal one concerning the 
 Stainer. Mr. Hay, a former excellent leader of the king's band, 
 produced on his favourite violin, by Klotz, a Grerman, a tone so 
 sweet and powerful, that he was on one occasion offered by a 
 noble lord £300 in cash and an annuity durante vita of £100. 
 Mr. Hay, however, possessing a handsome independence, and not 
 being desirous of parting with his instrument, rejected the offer, 
 
 ' This announcement arose out of the following circumstanoe : — ^The two 
 celebrated violinists happening to meet (in 1859) at Ems, Wieniawski, after 
 playing on De Beriot's violin (a Maggini) in his apartments, asked him if he felt 
 inclined to seU. it. " Yes," answered De Beriot, " but not for less than 20,000 
 francs." Thereon M. Wieniawski expressed his desire to purchase it notwith- 
 standing its high price. M. de Beiiot having assured him that he would be 
 most happy to see the instrument in his possession, the young artist asked per- 
 mission to delay his final answer till the coming winter, after his return from 
 St. Petersburg. The negotiation never came to a deal, but these are the facts 
 concerning M. de Beriot's 20,000 franc violin. 
 
 ' Those who are ounous concerning the prices of violins will find carefully 
 prepared tables of Celebrated Collections, Sales, and Prices of Violins in the 
 appendix to Peter Davidson's " The Violin, a Concise Exposition of the General 
 Principles of Construction theoretically and practically treated " (Glasgow, Lon- 
 don, Edinburgh, and Aberdeen, 1871), and more fully still in the appendix to the 
 4th edition, 1881, p. 220. Mr. Davidson, besides being the author of the above 
 little work, which is not without merit, is also the author of " Scintillations 
 from the Orient," "Celestial and-^-Terrestrial Fire," and "The Philosophy of 
 Man," and also of the following advertisement which I saw in Tlie Xondonf 
 and Provincial Masio Trades Review, June 15th, 1883, and which, like the 
 advertisements I have reproduced on pages 14 and 15, 1 simply transcribe for 
 the instruction and amusement of my readers : — 
 
 " Very important to all Musicians. A Ten Guinea VioUn Given Away 
 Gratis ! To every Subscriber to The Caledonian Collection of Strathspey's 
 Reels, Gigs, Slow Airs, Songs, Hornpipes, Waltzes, Polkas, etc., composed and 
 arranged for the Pianoforte, or Violin and Violoncello, by Pbtek DAVIDSON, 
 Author of ' The Violin, ' etc., and Honorary Member of the Bengal Academy 
 of Music, Calcutta, Honorary Member of the Poonah ' Gayan Samaj Musical 
 Society,' etc., etc. The Author will issue a beautiful Photograph of Burgie 
 Castle, Morayshire — ^taken by him expressly for this purpose — upon which 
 a Number will be imprinted, this serving as a Coupon, which wiU entitle 
 each subscriber to a participation in the Drawing for the above Prize, viz. : — 
 An Old Tyrolese (Oil Varnish) Violin, a copy of a Joseph Guarnerius, fecit 
 Cremonae, Anno 1720, 1.H.S., being of magnificent Wood, Workmanship, Tone, 
 and Brilliancy, and unanimously valued by Judges at Ten Guineas. The 
 Violin will be delivered Gratis to the Holder of the Winning Number. The 
 Drawing for such to take place within the year by a Committee selected by 
 the Subscribers, etc " 
 
26 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 and, dying some years after, this rara avis at the subsequent 
 sale of his effects produced but £40. There are but few 
 amateurs who would give £40 for a Klotz nowadays, and Mr. 
 Hay must have been possessed of a very dull wit to reject so 
 phenomenal an offer. 
 
 Stories such as these of the enormous prices which have 
 been, and still are being, given for fiddles naturally suggest 
 the recitals one constantly comes across of Stradivaris, 
 Guarneris, Amatis, and so on, being " picked up for a mere 
 song'' in out-of-the-way empori^ of second-hand goods. 
 Now and then, indeed, such a thing happens, — indeed a " find " 
 of this sort was chronicled in the Orchestra and Choir for 
 October 1882. In this case a very fine violin by Antonius 
 and Hieronymus Amati was bought by a gentleman in its 
 original condition for five shillings at a broker's shop in 
 Nottingham. But these things are of the days gone by ; the 
 days of Luigi Tarisio and his extremely dishonest way of 
 acquiring valuable fiddles on the " new-lamps-for-old " prin- 
 ciple, are over. A fiddle will now always fetch its value, and 
 second-hand furniture dealers who happen to get hold of the 
 most inferior old fiddle will always nowadays affix thereto a 
 price preposterously disproportionate to its value for fear of 
 letting a treasure go for nothing. At the same time, an excellent 
 fiddle can be bought nowadays for £25, which brings us back 
 to my remarks on page 21 ; but if the amateur wishes to 
 acquire a collection of undoubted masterpieces, let him first turn 
 to the Times of May 26th, 1876, which chronicles the sale of a 
 collection of fifteen Cremonas the day before at Messrs. Foster's 
 in Pall Mall, for £1,682 ; two Stradivaris going for £240 
 each, and a Joseph Gruarnerius del Jesi for £630 ! 
 
 I meant this Introductory Essay to be but a short opening to 
 the historical section of my work, but as I have worked, old 
 memories have come upon me currente calamo, until my brief 
 introduction has developed into a prolix treatise on matters 
 connected with the Violin, which should find no place in a 
 practical manual on Fiddle-making. The reader will, I hope, 
 forgive me this extension of a labour of love, on my promise 
 not to let my calamus carry me away again ; and if he (or She) 
 has been interested in my long " gossip " concerning the instru- 
 ment,' I can only say that I lay down my pen preparatory to 
 commencing the serious History of the Violin, with a joyful 
 conviction that my labour has not been wasted. 
 
PAET I. 
 
 historical. 
 
DB FIDIBTJS. 
 
 INTENSOS EESONA PKIMTTM TESTUDINB NERVOS 
 
 MEBcrnnjs pertuk sollioitasse manu, 
 
 CUM EAPTAS PBOUDBS QU^KENTBM CARMINE PHOBBTTM 
 
 MOLMVrr OKEPITANS FILA CANOBA LTRAE. 
 FLUMIKA EIVORUM POTUIT CELERESQTJB MORABI 
 
 THBBICIUS VENTOS VOCE POETA SUl ; 
 QUIN COMITES SILVAS DUXIT SOOPULOSQDE, FERASQITE 
 
 DULCISONIS DOMUIT CAHTEBUS ILLE LTRa). 
 TU GEHtrs HUMANUM, LAORTMAS, SPSS, GA0DIA, LUCTU3, 
 
 CALLIOPE OITHAbA SUB DITIONE TBNBS ; 
 6AUDIA SI TEEMULIS PIDIBCS MODtTLARIS OVAMnS, 
 
 SIVE PLACET PLANCTUS CORDA DOLORE GBMENT ; 
 1U MISBRORUM OCULIS DULCES REVOOABE S0P0EE3 
 
 PECTOEA IV PmiBUS M(ESTA LETAEB QUBAS : 
 TU MIBI SiBVOEUM DOMUISTI CORDA VIRORUM 
 
 IDALQ PUERI VANA SAGITTA FDIT. 
 
 S. 0. G. 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE ANCESTKY OF THE VIOLIN.* 
 
 Difficulties in the Way of Eesearch— Destruction— Errors of Description and 
 Kepresentation— Mention of Viols in the Bible— Bow Instruments among 
 ae Ancient Greeks and Eomaus— The Eavanastron— The Omerti— The 
 Kemangeh a'gouz— The Eebab esh Sha'er— The Goudok— The Eebab— The 
 mi!^~?F-^^ Assyrian Trigonon— Pear-shaped Viols— The Eebec and the Viol 
 — The Gigue and the Kit— The Viol-makers and their Instruments— French 
 Claims to Inyention— The Viol da Gamba— Playford— The Barytone— 
 Praetorius— Chests of Viols. 
 
 " 'Tis true, the finding of a dead horse head 
 Was the first invention of string instruments, 
 Whence rose the gitterne, viol, and the lute."- 
 
 In no subject of research, perhaps, has the Antiquary so 
 many difficulties to contend with as in the consideration of 
 the " Ancestry of the Violin," and the study of the pre- 
 cursors of instruments of music played with a bow. 
 
 The History of the Violin from the earUest times until com- 
 paratively recently has been one exclusively of pictures and 
 sculptures. Metal and stone instruments may come down to us 
 preserved in tombs, etc., in almost their original state, but the 
 wooden instruments of music, especially those of such delicate 
 buUd as those made to sustain the tension of musical strings, 
 even had they been intentionally preserved by those whose ears 
 they charmed, must long ere this have succumbed to the ravages 
 of time and its attendant destroyers ; besides this, any instru- 
 
 ' The following chapter (as also chapter ii. on the Welsh Crwth) is to a 
 great extent the substance of a Lecture delivered by the Author on Friday, 
 June 2nd, 1882, at the Freemason's Tavern, before " ffije Sette Of ® Jll l^oIttUtCB," 
 which was subsequently printed in limited edition (210 copies for private circula- 
 tion), and dedicated to " SEfje gelte ot ©tr& VolvmtS " under the title of " The 
 Ancestry of the Violin, being a Discourse delivered at the Freemason's Tavern 
 on Friday, June the second, 1882, to ffiSe SSiette Ot ©IrJl Volumes ; " Part I., The 
 Origin of the Violin; Part II., ITie Welsh Cmth (London : printed for the 
 Author by Mitchell and Hughes, 140, Wardour Street, 1882, forming No. 1 
 of a series of pamphlets on the Violin, entitled " De Fidiculis Opuscula"). 
 
 * "I4ngua,orthe Comiatofthe Tongue and the Five Semes for Superiority,'" 
 an Allegorical Play, written in 1607, and attributed to Anthony Brewer. 
 
30 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 ment played with a bow or plectrum, has the additional dis- 
 advantage that this necessary appendage may easily become 
 separated from it and lost, whilst the instrument itself is 
 preserved. And, indeed, this is proved by the fact, that though 
 we know that many of the classic instruments were played with 
 plectra of various sizes, and of various materials, some of 
 them extremely hard and durable, in no instance has an 
 authenticated specimen of a plectrum been found, to give 
 us accurate information of what these prehistoric "bows" 
 actually were. This being so, we are thrown upon descrip- 
 tions in prose and verse by contemporaneous writers, on 
 sculptures, frescoes, and carvings, and on pictures represent- 
 ing, or including in their subjects representations of, stringed 
 instruments. Undoubtedly of these four the first are the best, 
 but the inferiority of a written description to an actual repre- 
 
 FiG. 1. — Groteaque figures from panels in the roof of Peterborough Cathedral. 
 Date, 1194, (P). 
 
 sentation in carving or drawing needs no comment, and we 
 know from painful experience how intensely unsatisfactory and 
 doubtful any such representations must be when we reflect that 
 not only may the artist for his own artistic purposes have 
 " invented " an instrument, so to speak, to embellish his design, 
 regardless of the fact that he was recording, for the use of future 
 generations, a history of the dress, manners, and instruments of 
 his own time, but also the hand of the restorer may have been 
 at work ; and I doubt very much whether the good-natured 
 people who subscribe heavily in cash, and get up bazaars, 
 concerts, and what not, to raise funds for the "restoration" 
 (save the mark!) of the parish church, with its monuments, 
 frescoes, and ornaments, ever realize what irreparable mischief 
 such work is apt to do, unless carefully superintended, and 
 conscientiously and intelligently carried out by the artificers. 
 
THE ANCESTRY OF THE VIOLIN. 
 
 31 
 
 As an instance of the first of these contingencies, I would call 
 your attention to the well-known Holy Familv, painted by 
 Carl Muller, who is, perhaps, one of the greatest living deli- 
 neators of sacred subjects. The young Mother, the carpenter 
 Joseph, the Infant Saviour, are all breathing images whose purity 
 of expression and truth of colouring will render the picture 
 immortal ; hut, in an attitude of devotion, there kneels upon the 
 ground an angel playing on a sort of three-stringed violon- 
 cello, more hke the Kemangeh a'gouz of the modern Moham- 
 medan (Fig. 7) than anything else. In a few centuries some 
 SQavant will say—" In Germany, in the latter half of the nine- 
 teenth century, was played a modifica- 
 tion of the Mohammedan Kemangeh : it 
 would appear to have been used exclu- 
 sively for devotional purposes." As an 
 instance of the second of these casualties, 
 in the lozenge-shaped panels in the roof 
 of Peterborough Cathedral are grotesque 
 figures playing violins (Fig. 1). Now, 
 this roof is considered to be of the date 
 1194, but these violins — I use the word 
 advisedly — are almost perfect ; the / / ! 
 holes, scrolls, necks, finger-boards, strings. 
 and tail-pieces show a perfection not 
 attained till the fifteenth century, and 
 the bows are practically those of the 
 eighteenth century. How account for 
 this? Simply thus — I quote the words 
 of Messrs. Sandys and Forster * — " The 
 ceiling was retouched a little previous to 
 1788, and repaired in 1835, but the 
 greatest care was taken to retain every fis. 2.— vioi attribntea to aiw- 
 
 °, , .,,., .., •' HUB (?). Fourteenth century. 
 
 part, or restore it to its original con- 
 dition, so that the figures, even where retouched, are in effect 
 the same as when first painted." This is of course impossible ; 
 accurate tracings of the original designs would have been in- 
 valuable, imperfect though they might have been ; but as they 
 are, though as ornaments they may be pretty, as antiquarian 
 records they are comparatively useless. 
 
 A final instance that I will cite, as it concerns a frequently 
 reproduced figure, is that of the so-called " Viol of Albiiius." 
 This (Fig. 2) is a figure found in a MS. of the fourteenth century 
 in the library of the University of Ghent, entitled, " De diversis 
 
 W. Sandys and S. A. Forster, " History of the Violin " (Loudon, 1864). 
 
32 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 monochordis, tetrachordis, pentachordis, extachorais, epta- 
 chordis, octochordis, etc., ex quibus diversa formantur instru- 
 menta musicse, cum figuris instrumentorum." The manuscript 
 is not signed, but the viol purports to be the invention of one 
 Albinus, and until we can find out who this Albinus was, and 
 when he lived, the figure, which is a very interesting one, is not 
 much use. Some have stated him to be identical with a certain 
 Alcuin, who lived in the eighth century , but the viol is not only 
 of a very fourteenth century shape, but its four strings are 
 actually marked A, D, G, 0, which renders it absurd to sup- 
 pose it is a faithful representation of an eighth century viol. 
 Others, more enthusiastic still (reminding us of Rousseau and 
 Bartoloccius cited below), try to identify him with the Albinus 
 mentioned by Cassiodorus (!), but the reader who peruses the 
 next few pages will quickly dismiss any idea of this sort. No ; 
 this remains one of those mysteries which we can only solve by 
 analogy, and therefore, as we cannot identify Albinus, and the 
 MS. is obviously fourteenth century, and appearances favour the 
 assumption, we can almost safely say that we have here a fairly 
 well-developed viol of the fourteenth century, represented with 
 its mode of tuning and bow complete. . 
 
 These three instances out of countless examples are enough 
 to show the difficulties .with which I enter upon a notice of the 
 earliest forms of the fiddle. Plato,^ indeed, tells us that among 
 the ancient Romans "it was not allowed to painters or other 
 imitative artists to innovate, or invent any form different from 
 what were established, nor lawful, either in painting, statuary, or 
 music, to make any alteration." This rule would, indeed, have 
 been most useful if it had been adhered to throughout all ages, 
 and would relieve the musical antiquary from the necessity 
 of making my first complaint ; but the ravaging restorer would 
 still rage around among the monumenta temporis acti, and nullify 
 this far-seeing and provident law. It is to such meagre materials, 
 therefore, that I turn for the information to be set forth at this 
 present. Even later on in the Middle Ages, as will be seen, 
 the sources of information are equally unsatisfactoiy ; and in 
 concluding these preliminary remarks, for the length of which 
 I must crave your indulgence, I merely quote Bottle de Toul- 
 mont,^ who says — " Si le moyen kge est I'^poque oil la nomen- 
 clature des instruments est la plus nombreuse, c'est aussi celle 
 oil les renseignements sur leur nature laissent le plus k desirer." 
 
 Before going further I will dispose, once and for all, of the 
 
 ' " De Legibus," lib. ii. (B.C. 409). 
 
 " B. de Toulmont, " Dissertation sur les instnunents de musique au moyen 
 
THE ANCESTRY OF THE VIOLIN. 33 
 
 writers who have stated that the viol was known to the Israelites, 
 citing in support of their theory many passages of the Old 
 Testament where the word " viol " occurs. The word " viol " 
 is of much more constant occurrence in old translations of the 
 Bible than in the modern and accepted version. Thus the 2nd 
 verse of Psalm Ixxxi. used to read, " The pleasaunt harpe, with 
 the viol ; '^ the 12th verse of Isa. v. reads, "The harp and the 
 viol, the tabret and pipe and wine are in their feasts." In an 
 old Bible of the year 1551 the 5th verse of 2 Sam. vi. is rendered, 
 " And David and al the house of Israel played before the Lord 
 with al maner instrumentys of fyrre woode, wyth harpes, 
 psalteries, timberelles, fyddelles and symbals." The 11th verse 
 of Isa. xiv. reads, "Thy pomp is brought down to the grave 
 and the noise of thy viols ; " ^ and the 23rd verse of Amos ch. v. 
 reads, " For I will not hear the melody of thy viols." ^ In all 
 these cases the word translated is the Hebrew b?, which is 
 equivalent to the Greek ■^jraXT'^piov and the Latin psalterium, 
 and should be translated harp. In an old French Bible of the 
 early part of the ninth century verse 3 of Psalm cxllix. is 
 rendered, " Louent-il son noun en croutJi ; si chantent il k lui 
 en tympan et psaltruy " — where the word meaning " dance " is 
 rendered by the name of the instrument to which they used to 
 dance (the crwth, vide p. 58), just as lkter_ on, the instrument 
 known as the "gigue " (vide post, p. 49) gave its name to the dance 
 it accompanied, which came to be called "jig." * In Gen. iv. 21 
 the word i/raXr^jOtoi' is translated organ in our version ; but in 
 the Lutheran version this passage reads, " Und sein Bruder hiesz 
 Jubal, von dem sind hergekommen die Geiger und Pfeifer ; " * 
 and the same word {-faXTTjpiov) is translated "viol" in the 
 sixth chapter of Amos, ver. 5. = Again, the great divine, John 
 Bale, talks of " the merye noyse of theym that play upon harpes, 
 lutes, and fydeles."^ These instances are enough, without un- 
 necessary multiplication, to prove that as a matter of fact the 
 equivalent of the word " viol " does not occur in the original text 
 of the Bible, nor does any other word signifying bow-instrument ; 
 
 ' Germ. : " Dem Klange deiner Sarfen." ^ 
 
 ^ Germ. : " Denn ich mag dein Psalterspiel nioht horen. 
 » This use of the word erouth reminds me of an absurd mistake made by 
 Bishop Morgan in his translation of the Bible into Welsh, where he translated 
 
 " viaUoi wrath " by the word " crytTimh "-».«., crowds or moli! 
 ' " And his brother was named Jubal, from whom descended fiddlers and 
 
 ^ The German version gives the word" P«a?<e!-" in this place. 
 
 • "The Ymage of Both Churches after the moste wonderful and heavenly 
 Eeuelacion oflaincte John, &c. Compyled by John Bale (London, 1550), 
 Part III., ch. xviii., not paginated, leaf next before sig. Ccl,.bemg the Com- 
 mentary to the Eevelation, ch. xviii., ver. 22, 
 
 3 
 
34 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 and we can therefore be quite sure that the viol or violin wa8 
 not in use among the Hebrews, for we may justly pause before 
 believing the statements of Jean Rousseau, who declared that 
 Adam used and understood the viol in the garden of Eden ! ! ^ 
 and of Julius Bartoloccius,^ who is cited by Gerbert,^ and who 
 mentions among the instruments of the Hebrews the '^ viola or 
 chelys ; " but as he supports his statement by no evidence, and 
 afterwards states that they had pianofortes (spinnettcB !), we are 
 justified in doubting his accuracy. So much, therefore, for the 
 claims of the Israelites to the possession of bowed instruments. 
 If anyone would prosecute the enquiry, let him commence by 
 reading Dr. Stainer's "Music of the Bible";* as for us — moniti 
 meliora sequamur. 
 
 The history of the fiddle is as a matter of fact simply the 
 history of the bow ; establish the existence of the bow, and you 
 have the existence of the fiddle. It is a question yet unsolved 
 whether the Latin word plectrum (which comes from plango = 
 I strike), and the Greek word "TrXrJKrpov" (which comes from 
 " ifkrjo-ffeiv" to strike), can be translated " bow," i.e., " instru- 
 ment for rubbing the strings." The English word "bow" is 
 often translated into Latin by the word plectrum, but it is a 
 matter of considerable doubt whether this Latin word plectrum 
 can be translated into English by the word "bow" i and it 
 remains to be found whether the bow was actually known to 
 the ancients or not.' As a commencement to the question, I 
 
 ' " Et comme la viole est le plus parfait de tous, parce qu'elle approohe plus 
 prfes du naturel qu'ancun autre, on pent jiiger que si Adam avoit voulu faire un 
 instrument, il auroit f aict une viole, et s'il n'en a pas f aiot, il est facile d'en donner 
 les raisons." (I) J. Eousseau, " Trait6 de la Viole," etc. (Paris, MDCLXXXvn.), 
 p. 3. 
 
 ' A monk of the order of St. Bernard, wlio lived in the seventeenth century 
 (1613 — 1687), and who, being attached to the Library of the Vatican, left behind 
 him two treatises of little value, entitled (i.) " De Psalmorum libro, Psalmis et 
 musicis instrumentis " and (ii.) " De Hebrseorum musics brevis dissertatio," which 
 are to be found in the " Bibliotheca Eabbinica" (Eome, 1675). 
 
 ' " De Cantu et Music^ SaorH " (St Blasius, 1774). 
 
 * John Stainer, " The Music of the Bible," etc. (London, n.d. [1880]). 
 
 ° One of the most commonly quoted instances of the use of the woid plectrum » 
 ia the 647th line of the sixth book of Virgil's " ^neid " :— 
 
 " Nee non Threicius long4 cum veste sacerdos 
 Obloquitur numeris, septem discrimina vocum 
 Jamque eadem digitis, jaxo. peotine pulsat eiurno." 
 
 Mr. H. Nettleship in his " Abridgment from Connington's Virgil " (London, 1 872— 
 one of Whittaker's Grammar School Classics) gives the following note : ' ' Pbctinb 
 — Though the Romans adopted into their own language the Greek ■woTdpleotmin, 
 they used the Latin peeten to denote the same thing, not because the instrument 
 used in striking the lyre was at all like a comb in shape and appearance, but 
 because it was held in the right hand, and inserted between the stamina of thft 
 lyre as the comb was, between the stamina of the loom." 
 
THE ANCESTRY OF THE VIOLXDf. 35 
 
 will shortly enumerate what M. VidaP says on the point. He 
 cites the erroneous drawings and letterpress of one Valeriano,* 
 who, in 1568, in his description and representation of a medal 
 of me ^miUus and Scribonius families, B.C. 204 (Fig. 3), 
 altered the two lyres hanging thereon to a violin (Fig. 4) ; a 
 daring innovation truly, and one carrying out my first wail 
 about pictorial history. He then refers to Blaise de Vigen^re,* 
 who, in 1605, reproduced Valeriano's errors, and gave a 
 representation of Amphion raising the walls of Thebes by 
 force of his viol playing. In conclusion, Vigenfere cites 
 Valeriano as his authority, just as, in 1735, 1'AbbS de Ghateau- 
 neuf* reproduces the theories of Valeriano and Vigenfere. 
 The work was never by him intended for publication, but 
 was produced many years after his death full of uncorrected 
 faults. Zaccharia Tevo, in 1706, asserts positively,^ "II 
 violino fti inventato da Orfeo, figlio d' Apollo ; e Safo poetessa 
 invente I'arco de qrini >di cavallo, e ffi la prima che lo suonase 
 come si costuma oggidi." This is probably in allusion to a 
 
 Fis. 3. Medal of the ^miUus and Fis. 4— Same medal, erroneously 
 
 Scribonius families, b.o. 201. figured by Valenano. 1588. 
 
 well-known gem illustrated by MaflFei,^ representing Orpheus 
 playing to wild beasts on a violin, reproduced as a frontispiece 
 to his work '' by M. Gallay, which was supposed to be antique, 
 but subsequently proved to be comparatively modern. This is 
 another illustration of misleading artistic imagination, than 
 which no better specimen exists than the "Parnassus" of 
 Eafaelle in the Vatican at Rome, where Apollo is represented 
 as playing a viol.* My readers will, of course, all know the cele- 
 
 • A. Vidal, " Les Instrumenis S, Archet " (Paris, 1876). 3 vols., 4to. JEditim 
 
 2 "Hieroglyphica Commentaru Joannis Pierii Valeriani per Thomam Guari- 
 
 °"°B. de vigen^re, "Les Tableaux de Philostrate, traduits en Fransais et 
 comment^s " (Paris, 1605). . ... „ ^n . -inn^^ 
 
 * L'Abb6 de Chateauneuf , " Dialogue sur la Musique des Anciens (Pans, 1735). 
 « P. B. Zaccharia Tevo, "Musico Testore" (Venice, 1706). 
 
 " P. A. MafEei, " Genune Antiche figurate" (Rome, 1708). ■ 
 
 ' J. Gallay, " Les Luthiers XtaUens aux \V et 18» siteles (Pans, 1869). 
 » rUe the foot-note to p. 340 of 'JKapliael^ His Life, Works and Times ' 
 from the French of Eugene Muntz, edited by Walter Armstrong B.A (London 
 1882), which runs : " It has often been asked why Raphael, instead of placing 
 
36 VIOLm-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 brated picture by Paul Veronese in the Louvre, of the " Marriage 
 at Cana of Galilee," in the foreground of which is a figure (a por- 
 trait of Titian) playing on a perfectly-defined double-bass ! It is 
 needless to mijtiply cases ; all the supposed antiques that M. VidaP 
 could get cognizance of were the works of comparatively modern 
 artists, and he consequently comes to the conclusion that to the 
 Greeks and Romans bow instruments were unknown. Sir John 
 Hawkins^ cites a work on stringed instruments, written in 
 A.D. 60, by one Nichomachus Gerasenus, a Pythagorean, who 
 does not mention any mode of vibrating strings otherwise than 
 with the fingers or plectrum. Now, against all this Mr. J. M. 
 Fleming ^ makes some most interesting and valuable (if reliable) 
 statements, going to prove the existence of the bow in classic 
 times, quoting from an illustrated catalogue of the collection of 
 Greek and Etruscan vases, made by Lucien Napoleon, Prince 
 of Canino, published by subscription at Milan in 1836.* He 
 mentions " a tall-handled cup on which the figures are painted 
 red on a black ground. The subject is a man seated reading a 
 volume to two youths, who, leaning on knotted sticks, are 
 listening attentively. On a little table or box in front of the 
 principal figure is inscribed the name ' Chironeis.' On each 
 side of the reader is an object which authorities in these matters 
 
 the legendary lyre in the hands of Apollo, represented him playing the violin. 
 According to Passavaut ('Eaphael,' vol. i., p. 119) he was led to commit this 
 anachronism either by the pope or by some other great personage who was 
 anxious to have the portrait of some skilful player, possibly of Giacomo San^ 
 secondo, whom Castiglione, in his ' Courtier,' eulogises as so accomplished a 
 musician. This is very far fetched, for Pinturicchio, in his frescoes in the 
 Borgia rooms, had already represented Music under the figure of a young woman 
 playing the violin (Pistolesi, ' II Vaticauo descritto,' vol. iii.). Lo Spagna, in 
 his Magliana frescoes, now in the museum of the Capitol, always substituted the 
 violin for the lyre. Eaphael was also guided in his choice of this instrument 
 by special considerations, for the lyre had already been placed in the hands of 
 one of the Muses in this fresco, and he had also painted Apollo with it in ' The 
 School of Athens ' and in the ' Death of Marsyras.' He could not continually 
 be repeating the same motive." 
 
 ' A. Vidal, "Les Instruments & Arohet" (Paris, 1876). 
 
 ' J. Hawkins (Knt.), " General History of Music " (London, 1776), p. 73. 
 
 ' J. M. Fleming, " Old Violins and their Makers " (London, 1883). This 
 work first appeared serially, in the pages of the Bazaar, in 1882-3. 
 
 ^ Micali, " Storia degli Antichi Popoli Italiani " (Milan, 1833), and Atlas 
 thereto Tav. ciii., " Tazza a un alto mauico, figure rosse in fondo nero della 
 forma medesima num. 6 Tav. xcix., Pr. di Canino." The description runs thus : 
 " Molto singolare, quanto nuovo e gradito dovra parere all' osservatore il tema 
 di questo dipinto. Vi si vede un uomo sedente irovctirios ivvolte ligenocchia 
 nel suo manto che sta leggendo un volume o papiro. Duo giovanni uditori, 
 cinto del pallio, ed ambo appogiati a un nodoso bastone attentamente lo asooltano. 
 Dinanzi al leggitore 6 uno scrigno alto a oontenere i volumi sul di cui coperchio 
 leggesi il titolo xipoviix. Gli arredi appesi in alto possono essere theccB deno- 
 tative la professione del maestro. A lato dei due Efebi e la solita epigrafe 
 KoXds nel mezzo dello scrigno KoKk. " The drawing of which this is a descrip. 
 tion is reproduced at p. 250 of Mr. Fleming's work, cited in note '. 
 
THE AKCESTKY OF THE VIOLIN. 37 
 
 term ' thecae,' indicating the profession of this principal figure. 
 One of these has a neck or handle, an oval disc, or sounding 
 plane, and a tail-piece extending below this disc rather more 
 than half the length of the neck. From the upper extremity of 
 the neck to the lower extremity of the disc are stretched strings, 
 and across these strings at the centre of the disc is placed a bow 
 of as rational construction as anything that has come down to 
 us prior to the days of Corelli. The instrument is indeed almost 
 identical with the Ravanastron, the oriental precursor of the 
 occidental fiddle. . . ." The bow above mentioned is placed so 
 close to the instrument that it appears to have no hair, and it 
 might on that account be claimed as a species of plectrum ; but 
 when we remember that Paganini is reported to have played 
 divinely upon his violin with a slender rush in a contest which 
 he had with a vain young man in Italy, we need be at no loss 
 to suppose that the ancients may have excited the vibrations of 
 their strings by a similar contact before hair came to be used. 
 This is a very important discovery, and its importance will be 
 more fully appreciated when we remember the law I alluded to 
 just now against artists altering existing forms in their works, 
 and our not finding frequent representations of this instrument 
 may very possibly be accounted for by the reason given by 
 Mr. C. Engel,^ viz., that the scenes transmitted to us are 
 chiefly those of funereal, triumphal, or other rites in which 
 instruments of such a primitive description as the fiddle must 
 then have been (if it existed at all), would have taken no part. 
 
 Leaving, therefore, the consideration of the use of bowed 
 instruments among the Greeks and Romans with these statis- 
 tics, the earliest traditions and descriptions of a positive nature 
 come from the East. M. F^tis has in more than one of his 
 works remarked, "Rien dans lX)ccident qui ne vienne de 
 rOrient ; " and certainly in the matter of the ancestry of the 
 violin this is apparently the case ; nor is it at all unlikely, for, as 
 we aU know, the West (i.e., Europe) was civilized long after the 
 Eastern continents. In his " Notice of A. Stradivari " ^ he says, 
 very truly, " If we would trace a bow-instrument to its source 
 we must assume the most simple form in which it could appear, 
 and as such required no assistance from an art brought to per- 
 fection, and such a form we shall find in the Ravanastron 
 (Fig. 5), made of a cylinder of sycamore wood hollowed out from 
 one end to the other." 
 
 ' 0. Engel, " Catalogue of Musical Instnitnents in the South Kensington 
 Museum" (London, 1874). 
 
 2 F J F^tis, " Notice d'Antoine Stradivari " (Pans, 1856), translated into 
 English by John Bishop (of Cheltenham), " Notice of Anthony Stradivari, the 
 Celebrated Violin-Maker," etc., (London, J 864). 
 
S8 
 
 TIOLIN-MAKENG : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 The first tradition we have of this instrument is given by 
 Sonnerat^ who mentions the Ravanastron as having been in- 
 vented, 5000 years ago, by one Kavana, then King of Ceylon. 
 Mr. Engel ^ says on this subject, " However this may be, there 
 is a great probability that the fiddle originated in Hindustan, for 
 Sanskrit scholars inform us * that there are names for the bow 
 
 C5f5 
 
 Fia 6. — The Eavanastron. (Ancient 
 and Modem India.) 
 
 Fia. 6.— The Omerti. (India.) 
 
 which cannot be less than 1500 to 2000 years old. These names 
 are Kona, GarikS,, and Parivadas. The kona is described as 
 the rudest kind of bow, consisting of a cane, perhaps without 
 any hair ; it may have been made rough either by small incisions 
 
 ' Sonnerat, " Voyages anx Indes et i, la Chine " (Paris, 1782). 
 
 2 C. Engel (mde note ', p. 37). 
 
 ' F. J. F6tis. " Histoire Gdnlrale de la Musique " (Paris, 1869). 
 
THE ANCESTSY OF THE VIOLIN. 39 
 
 or by the application of some kind of resin. Howbeit, any one 
 may convince himself that a string, especially if it is of silk, as 
 the strings of Asiatic instruments generally are, may be made 
 to sound by the friction of a long rod drawn over it like a 
 bow." (This bears out the supposition of Mr. Fleming,^ when 
 he alludes to the hairless bow, and throws a new light on the 
 plectrum, when we remember that we find representations of 
 plectra of considerable length among the works of the classic 
 authors and artists.) " The non-occurrence of any instrument 
 played with a bow on the monuments of the nations of antiquity 
 is by no means so sure a proof, as has been generally supposed, 
 that the bow was unknown. The fiddle in its primitive condition 
 must have been a poor contrivance, and probably was despised 
 by players who could produce better tones with greater facility 
 by twanging the strings with their fingers or a plectrum, and 
 thus it may have remained through many centuries without 
 
 experiencing any material improvement In 2000 years 
 
 people will possibly maintain that some highly-perfected instru- 
 ment popular with them was entirely unknown to us, because it 
 is at present in so primitive a condition that no one hardly 
 notices it." (Indeed, who shall say that in days to come the 
 Jew's harp may not become a leading instrument !) " Some 
 authors have supposed that the Eavanastron was introduced 
 into India by the Mohammedans ; if this had been the case it would 
 most likely bear some resemblance to the Arabian and Persian 
 instruments, and it would be found rather in the hands of the 
 higher classes in the towns, whereas it is principally met with 
 among the lower orders of people in isolated and mountainous 
 districts. Moreover, it is remarkable that the most simple form 
 of Eavanastron (Fig. 5) — there are nowadays some varieties of 
 this instrument — is almost identical with the Chinese fiddle 
 called Ur-heen. This species has only two strings, and consists 
 of a small block of wood hollowed out and covered with the skin 
 of a serpent. The Ur-heen has not been mentioned among the 
 most ancient instruments of the Chinese, since there is no 
 evidence of its having been known in China before the intro- 
 xiuction of the Buddhist religion into that country from India. 
 From indications, which to point out would lead too far here, it 
 would seem that several instruments found in China originated 
 in Hindustan." Another form of modern instrument almost 
 identical with the Eavanastron is the Indian Omerti (Fig. 6) and, 
 coming a step westwards, almost identical with the omerti is the 
 modern Turkish and Arabian Kemangeh a'gouz (Fig. 7). Now 
 
 ' Vide note ', p. 36. 
 
40 
 
 VIOLIN-MAKINa : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 kemangeli is derived from the Persian word kemangeh, which 
 means " place of the bow," and " a'gouz " means " ancient," so 
 that the entire translation is in fact "ancient bow-instrument."' 
 Now the Arabs themselves say that they got the instrument from 
 Persia, and the word being Persian supports their own statement. 
 The Persian kemangeh is described by Sir William Ouseley ^ as 
 practically identical with the Turkish variety, and that it has not 
 had a changeful existence is proved by a treatise on Persian music, 
 written, in 1418, by one Abd-ul-cadir, which gives an identical 
 description of the instrument.^ Another modern Turkish and 
 Arabian instrument is the Bebab, of which there are many 
 
 Fio. 7.— Kemangeh a'gouz. (Modem Turkish.) 
 
 varieties, one of them (the Eebab esh-Sha'er) differing from the 
 Kemangeh a'gouz only in that it consists simply of a four-sided 
 frame (Fig. 8), the top and bottom being composed of two pieces 
 of stretched skin. In one of his earlier works M. F6tis * derived the 
 origin of bow instruments from the Goudok(Fig. 9) of the Eussian 
 
 ' A. Christianowitch, " Esquisse Historique de la Musique Arabe " (Cologne, 
 1863). 
 
 ^ Sir W. Ouseley, Bart., " Travels in Varioua Countriea of the East, especially 
 Persia " (London, 1819). 
 
 ^ Ben Gaibi Abd-nl-cadir was a Persian musician, whose work, quoted above, 
 (a manuscript entitled U. J ^\^1\ ju.ls. i^\S' ,_iJb ^,1 jjV, ^| [Treatise 
 on the reasons of modulation in chants and measures]) exists in the library 
 of the University of Leyden. 
 
 * F. J. F6tis, " Biographie Universelle des Musiciens " 1835. 
 
THE ANCESTRY OF THE VIOLIN. 
 
 41 
 
 peasantry,^ but in a later work ^ he corrects this, and ascribes the 
 Goudok to its proper source, viz., the Rebab, and thence through 
 the Kemangeh and Omerti to the Ravanastron of ancient and 
 modern India. Al Farabi, a musical historian of the tenth 
 century (whose work* was largely reproduced in 1841 by M. 
 Kosegarten *), does not allude to the bow, but Ash-shakandi, in 
 1200, mentions the Rebab as having been in use in Spain 
 for centuries without having been thought worthy of notice 
 on account of its rudeness. It exists, indeed, still among the 
 country people in Spain under the names " rabel " and" arrabel," 
 
 Fis. 8— Rebab eab Sha'er. (Modem Turkish and Arabian.) 
 
 almost identical with the Rebab of the north of Africa (Fig. 10). 
 I have heard it played by the peasants of the Basque dis- 
 tricts of the Pyrenees, but could never acquire a specimen by 
 purchase or barter. A peasant whom I employed to compass 
 
 > The goudok has three strings, the first of which is touched with the finger 
 while thi other two are sounded with the bow, which is short, clumsy, and 
 
 elementary. . „ ,„ • to^o-^ 
 
 ' F. J. F6tis, " Notice d'Antoine Stradivari (Paris, 1856). _ 
 ' Abon-Nasr-Mohammed-Ibn-Obeydallah-Alkaysl Al-Farabi, Istikasat-ilm- 
 
 musike " [Elements of Music], a manuscript, written about a.d. 930, and now 
 
 nreserved in the library of the Escurial at Madrid. 
 * J. G. L. Kosegarten, " Alii Hispanensis liber cantilenarum magnus ex. 
 
 oodioibus inanuscriptis Arabice editus " (Greifswalde, 1841). 
 
t2 
 
 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 ;his for me, told me these "old violins" (vienx-vielles) are 
 banded down from father to son, and are extremely scarce, and 
 
 impossible to obtain from their 
 owners. Now the Rebab was, 
 without doubt, in use among the 
 Moors in the seventh century, and, 
 as they proceeded along the North 
 of Africa and conquered Spain in 
 the eighth century, that accounts 
 for its presence along their track 
 from that time to the present day. 
 And as the Arabs themselves assert 
 that they got the Rebab with the 
 Kemangeh from Persia, we thus 
 reach the intelligence again of 
 another ancient Persian instru- 
 ment, which makes another link 
 
 Tig. 9.— The Goudok. (Primitiyo 
 
 EuBsian.) Fio. 10.— Eebab. (North Africa). 
 
 in the chain which traces these instruments from India through 
 Persia and Arabia into Turkey, on the north of the Mediter 
 ranean, and along the north of 
 Africa into Spain on the south. 
 There is no doubt that the Egyp- 
 tians had an instrument called 
 " Nofre," (or Nefer, or Nefru, 
 or Nef ) of the highest antiquity, 
 with finger-board and bridge, 
 and frets for producing different 
 uotes on one string (Fig. 11), 
 and it seems astonishing that so 
 highly civilized, inventive, and 
 musical a people as the Egyptians 
 should not have made the transi- 
 tion, which would be natural, 
 were they in the habit of using 
 a bridged and finger-boarded in- 
 strument with a plectrum, viz., 
 that of rubbing the strings by the same means so as to produce 
 continuous and slurred notes instead of the short sudden ones ; 
 for, be it borne in mind, as I have suggested before, the use of 
 
 Fio. 11.— Nofre, or Nefer. (Ancient 
 Egyptian.) 
 
THE ANCESTRY OF THE VIOLIN. 
 
 43 
 
 hair is by no means essential to the existence of a bow. Of the 
 high antiquity of the nofre (signifying, when used as a hiero- 
 glyphic, " good," 1) there is no doubt, for we find it among the 
 instruments used at concerts of the eighteenth dynasty (b.c. 
 1575 — 1289), and it occurs also in papyri of the date B.C. 2000, 
 and even earlier. Mr. Chappell states that representations of it 
 are found dating from the fourth dynasty. Some fragments 
 of a nofre were found in a tomb at Thebes by Mr. Madox, 
 on the neck of which some of these frets (which were formed i 
 of camel-gut tied round the finger-board) were still remaining. 
 This most interesting relic is in the British Museum, and is 
 figured by M. F6tis.^ Mr. Chappell* gives many most 
 interesting figures and descriptions of this instrument ; on page 
 
 Fie. 12.— Trigonon. (Assyrian.) 
 
 320 he reproduces one with three bridges, and a carved head, 
 being played with a plectrum; and on p. 62 he gives two 
 figures of its use as a hieroglyphic, with two cross bars (or 
 pegs) in the head, and one of them with a, perfect bridge and 
 taS-piece. His illustrations are from the " Denkmaler of 
 Lepsius, and are of the fourth dynasty, in the reign of O^hepb-en 
 (or Suphis II.), who erected the second great pyramid. Ihis 
 would give the instrument an antiquity of 3124 B.C. accord- 
 ing to Lepsius, or of 2083 B.C. according to Sir Gardner 
 Wilkinson. 
 
 ' S. Birch, "An Introduction to the Study of the Egyptian Hieroglyphies " 
 (London, 1857), p. 225. . „ m ■ „,, 
 
 2 F J. F6tis, " Histoire Gto^rale de la Musique Tome i., p. 271. 
 
 ' W ChappeU, " The History of Music," vol. i. (all published) (London, n.d. 
 [1874])- 
 
44 
 
 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT "WAS AND IS. 
 
 Mr. Engel ^ gives a figure from an Assyrian slab in the 
 British Museum, of about B.C. 880 (Fig. 12), playing an instrument 
 of the trigonon species, holding a plectrum of considerable length 
 in the right hand, whilst he stops the strings with the left, 
 which, as Mr. Engel justly remarks, may very probably be a 
 rude prototype of the modern violin bow, for these long plectra 
 constantly occur ; and, as they must have been very much more 
 inconvenient to twang the strings with than a short one would 
 have been, it is to my mind almost a certainty that the plectrum,] 
 when it got beyond a certain length, ceased to be an instrument 
 of percussion, and became one of friction. From all these facts, 
 
 therefore, I deduce this one, that 
 in ages of the highest antiquity 
 bow-instruments, or at any rate 
 stringed instruments from which 
 the tone was produced by fric- 
 tion, existed among the primitive 
 Asiatics. That with the Moors ' 
 and Mohammedans these instru- 
 ments journeyed westward into 
 Spain and south-eastern Europe. 
 From these two points they pro- 
 gressed to the north-west by the 
 colonization of the British Isles 
 and Brittany from Spain, and, 
 without soaring into the Indo- 
 European origin of the Celtic 
 tribes, we may say that these 
 great waves of population were 
 progressing gradually into North- 
 ern Europe from the east and 
 south-east, bringing with them 
 their superior fiddles (keman- 
 gehs, rebabs, etc.) to supersede the more inferior bow in- 
 struments already there (to which I shall presently refer).! 
 There is no doubt that from Spain colonists were continually/ 
 overrunning Europe, and this accounts for the presence in 
 nearly all European languages of Moorish names for musical 
 instruments, it being not at all improbable that names of crude 
 and imperfect instruments have in all languages become trans- 
 ferred to newer and more perfect instruments as the former 
 went out of, and the latter came into, use. From Spain 
 ■iolonists settled in Brittany, England, Normandy, and other 
 
 ' C. Engel, " The Music of the Most Ancient Nations," etc. (London, 1864), 
 p. 49. 
 
 ne. 13.— Viol from MS. of St. Bias ins. 
 Ninth century. (Gerbert.) 
 
THE ANCESTRY OF THE VIOLIN. 45 
 
 parts of Europe, long before the Indo-European tribes had 
 reached so far, and accordingly it is in these countries that we 
 find records of the first pear-shaped viols, properly so called, 
 bearing strong resemblance to a small variety of ancient and 
 modern Moorish kemangeh. We do not find any actual and 
 authentic representations of pear-shaped viols before the ninth 
 century, which supplies us with a one-stringed viol (Fig. 13), from 
 a MS. from the Monastery of St. Blasius in the Black Forest, 
 which MS. was destroyed when the Monastery was burnt 
 down, but of the illustrations of which the Abbot Grerbert had 
 tracings, which he subsequently reproduced.^ Representations 
 of viols of supposed earlier dates have been now and then 
 produced, but they have always been found to be ante-dated. 
 In the earliest representations of bow instruments it is rather 
 the exception to find a bridge, tail-piece, sound holes, etc., 
 
 Fig. 14 -Viol from the Cotton MS. Fio. 15. -Viol from Eleventh Century 
 
 Tenth century. (Saxon.) Psalter. (British Museum.) 
 
 represented ; but as they occur frequently it seems certe,in that 
 when they do not it is by the omission or ignorance of the artist 
 or sculptor, or by subsequent " restoration " of his work. A very 
 favourite specimen is found in a MS. in the British Museum » 
 (Fig 14) ofthe tenth century, which bears a marked resemblance 
 to a form of the ancient Moorish kemangeh and rehab, which is 
 stiU found among the Breton and Basque peasantry under the 
 name « rebec " {vide p. 41). This is reproduced by Strutt, together 
 with some others, from a like source.^ A Psalter of the eleventh 
 century, in the British Museum, gives a fiddle* mounted with 
 
 ' M. Gerbert, "De Cantu et MusicS Sacra" (St. Blasius, 1774). 
 
 » ?°Stmtf TonbiSel^cTOnan ["Manners and Customs of the Inhabitants 
 of EnS^Sondon, 17T); ank also "The Sports and Pastimes , of the 
 People of England, including the Kural and Domestic Eecreations," etc. 
 
 ^^°The word "^fiddle" is of immense antiquity, being derived in all languages 
 
46 
 
 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 on« string (Fig. 15), reminding us of the one from the St. Blasius 
 MS. before referred to. A bas-relief of the same century from 
 St. Georges de Boscherville (now in the Museum at Rouen), has 
 two figures playing viols (Figs. 16 and 17), one of which (Fig. 16) 
 is held like the modern violin, and the other (Fig. 17) like the 
 modern violoncello, in which last we begin to see the inward 
 curvatures, which, from this date, almost invariably distinguish 
 the viol, properly so-called, from the more primitive gigue or 
 rebec, about which I shall presently say a few words. The 
 twelfth century supplies M. Potier (author of " Monuments 
 Frangais ") with a viol of a similar but more ornate and cum- 
 brous description from the porch of Notre Dame de Chartres 
 (Fig. 18) ; and a number of similar ones, only of more definite 
 
 Fis. 16.— Gigue, or Rebec, from 
 Bas-relief at St. Georges de 
 Bosolierville, Bouen. (Eleventh 
 century.) 
 
 FiQ. 17.— Viol from the same 
 Bas-relief as Tia. 16. 
 
 and advanced form, are carved on the porch of a church at 
 Santiago di ComposteUa, in Spain, built in the thirteenth 
 century. At Exeter Cathedral, in the Minstrel's Gallery, a 
 sculptured orchestra gives us perfect representations of the viol 
 and rebec of the fourteenth century, after which we reach the 
 fifteenth century, which saw the introduction of the perfect 
 viols, the immediate predecessors of the modern violin, which 
 were, indeed, for a long time its companions in harmony. 
 
 About the eleventh century the fiddle would seem to have 
 
 from the old Gothic. Thus we have in the old German "videl," a fiddle; 
 " -ridelsere," a fiddler ; " videln," to fiddle ; in the modern "fidel," and " fiedel." 
 In the Icelandic " fidla," in the Dutch " videl, viool, and veel.". As an Anglo- 
 Saxon word " fythele " is of immense antiquity. In the legendary Life of St. 
 Christopher, written A.D. 1200, we find, " Christofre hym serued longe ; Ye 
 Kynge loued melodye of fythele and of songe " (G. Dubourg, " The Violin " : 
 London, 1852). 
 
THE ANCESTRY OF THE VIOLIN. 
 
 47 
 
 divided into two classes — one the viol proper, having indenta- 
 tions at the sides, and probably two tables connected by sides ; 
 and the other the rebec or gigue, which kept the most elementary 
 or pear-shape, (which carries us back to the ancient Moorish 
 "rebab" [Fig. 19], from which it was undoubtedly descended,) 
 being first called the '' rubebe," a most primitive instrument ^ 
 probably only having two strings, thence to the " rebec " and 
 '' gigue," in which form it still exists 
 tamong the Breton and Spanish 
 Tpeasantry and the inhabitants of the 
 northern states of Africa. A friend, 
 recently travelling in Poland, has sent 
 me a most interesting photograph of a 
 peasant rejoicing in the " un-in-one- 
 breath-utterable " name of Stary 
 Sabata Krzctowski r Sgstikanu 
 Smyczhiem, who is playing just 
 such an instrument as this, excepting 
 that it has a head after the accepted 
 form of violin-scroll, and a bridge 
 and // holes. It is played with a 
 bow as long as the instrument itself, 
 resembling both a double-bass bow, 
 and what is known as a " Corelli " 
 bow, and is altogether a most in- 
 teresting relic of the Moorish rebab. 
 The Germans called all their bow 
 instruments "geige" (which is also 
 the modern term), and divided them 
 into " klein - geige," " gros-geige," 
 which was of a very distinct form with 
 long inward curvatures, sound-holes, 
 and tail-piece, or rather string-holder 
 like the guitar, and was mounted 
 with from three to nine strings 
 (Fig. 20). Most of the illustrations 
 of this instrument which have come down to us are bridgeless, 
 but this is doubtless in every case an error of the artist, for 
 they were very highly perfected instruments, and were used as 
 late as the sixteenth century. There were four sizes (as with 
 our bow instruments), the set of which are figured by Martm 
 
 PlO. 18. 
 
 -Viol from Sonlpture at 
 Notre Dame de Ohartres. 
 
 ' The rebab had various different names in the different countries of Europe 
 in which it was found: -such as rebebe, rubebe, rebesbe, rebel, arrabel, rabel, 
 rebelle, rebec, and so on (vide note ', p. 9). 
 
48 
 
 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 Agricola in 1545,^ and their names are discantus (Fig. 19), alius, 
 tenor, and bassus. I came across a curious illustration which 
 I take to be of this instrument, a short while since, in the 
 British Museum, in a little black letter pamphlet, beginning, 
 
 " ail 31Uui3ti:tsi0imum ^©cmctpem ^SanDulgium Slpala«0tam 
 Sivimini liominum 3loanni!3 aurelii auffurcUi Sivimi- 
 mn0i& carmitium Ubtv primu0," and ending, " 3lmpre00um 
 ©erone anno Domini Sl^cccclw;c;ct (1491) nit quinto 'iuUi," 
 
 to which it forms the frontispiece or title-page. It is a representa- 
 tion of a viol and bow hanging on nails ; the' viol hangs by a 
 ribbon, and the bow by its own head, as bows are even now hung 
 
 Fis. 19.— Eebab. (Ancient 
 and Modern Moorish.) 
 
 Fio. 20.—" Gros-geig," from Illus- 
 tration of M. Agricola. (1646.) 
 
 up in shops. The bow is of a very advanced type, having a nut 
 button and head of almost the design of the modern double- 
 bass bow. The viol is fanciful in shape, having a long body 
 with a short neck and a perfect finger-board; the centre-bouts 
 (scilicet) are set low in the body, the head is square, carved and 
 provided with seven peg-holes in front, set, three on each side, 
 and one in the middle, whilst at the side of the head there 
 projects a peg with a perfect " thumb-piece," which supports 
 two strings (just below the thumb-piece), whence they appear 
 to go into the head at the top of the square box thereof. There 
 are five strings on, and two off, the finger-board to the right. 
 The bridge is identical with the modern violoncello bridge, and 
 
 ' M. Agricola, " Musica Instrumentalis " (Wittenberg, 1545). 
 
THE ANCESTRY OF THE VIOLIN. 
 
 4<J 
 
 the tail-piece is like that of all the later viols, and has a tail 
 loop of twisted cord, which is not however tied on to the in- 
 strument ; the sound-holes are in the form of two C's facing one 
 another. It is the most advanced representation of a bow 
 instrument I have ever seen for the date. 
 
 The klein-geige, or gigue, which was identical in shape with the 
 old rebec (Fig. 10) and Moorish fiddle, was most probably never 
 more than the ancestor of the " kit," which was used up till late 
 years by our dancing-masters. M. de Cousseraaker describes one 
 from the Cathedral of Mans, of the fourteenth century, which has 
 
 Fio. 21.— Gigue from the Cathedral 
 at Mans. (Fourteenth century.) 
 
 Fig. 22. — Diacantus. Sixteenth 
 century. (M. Agricola.) 
 
 the head thrown back^ (Fig. 21), and Agricola, m the sixteenth 
 century (vide note \ p. 48), gives a set of four of a similar but 
 very much improved shape and condition, which may be judged 
 from the discantus (Fig. 22). They were used as late as the 
 seventeenth century, and they were illustrated by Mersennuy 
 in their last and most improved form. The rebec is specially 
 mentioned among the rules of the "Roi des Violons, an 
 
 » C. E. H. de Coussemaker, " Histoire de I'Harmonie au moyen Sge " 
 
 ^^* m! Mersennus, " De instrumentis Harmonicis," Ilarmomooruin Libri xii, 
 in quibus agitatur de sonorum natura, causis, et effectibus (Fans, lb4»;. 
 
 4 
 
50 
 
 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 antique office of high emolument in France. We find ^ among 
 the rules of the corporation of musicians, confirmed by Louis 
 XIV. in 1658 (la Confr^rie de St. Julian des Menestriers), the 
 following " . . . il etait defendu aux musicians qui n'etaient pas 
 Maitres, de jouer aux cabarets, etc., . . . k peine de prison," and 
 the author appends the following footnote, " II y avait cependant 
 
 une exception en faveur da ceux qui 
 ne jouaient que du rebeo. Le rebec 
 ^tait un violon grossiar qui avait 
 precede I'usaga de celui que nous 
 connaissons. II avait la forma d'un 
 battoir echancre par les quatres angles, 
 au lieu d'etre arrondi comme le violon, 
 at n'etait mont^ que de trois 'cordes : 
 mi, la, tL II parait, par une sentence 
 du prev6t de Paris, du 2 mai 1664, 
 qu'il y avait des hautas-contras, des 
 tailles, et des basses de rehec. Cet 
 instrument s'est maintenu en France 
 jusqu'a la fin du dix-sapti6me sifecle 
 et y fut long- temps d'un usage general. 
 On connait ces vers de la 10' satire de 
 Rfegnier, — 
 
 " ' Muse I je t'invoque, emmielle-moi le bee, 
 Et bande de tes mains les nerfs de mon 
 rebec! " 
 
 The last relic that survived of this 
 form of fiddle was the Sordino 
 (French, pochette ; German, TascJien- 
 geige) of the dancing-masters of 
 the seventeenth and early eighteenth 
 century. Marsennus in his " De In- 
 strumentis Harmonicis " ^ gives a 
 vary good illustration of a "pera" 
 or " pocha " of the date 1648 (Fig. 23), 
 and this shape did not alter very much 
 till the eighteenth century, whan it was practically abandoned. 
 There is in the South Kensington Museum a great beauty of this 
 date, made in ivory with a wooden bally, the head a carved, 
 female bust, the bow ivory, and the case leather stamped and 
 gilt. Both the instrument and the bow are fifteen inches long. 
 
 Fio. 23.— "Pera" or "Poclie." 
 1648. OS.. Mersennus.) 
 
 • F. J) F6tis, " CuriosMs Historiques de la Musique " (Paris, 1830), p. 294. 
 2 " Harmonicorum Llbri xii, in quibus agitatnr de sonorum naturS,, etc., . 
 OTbisque totius haimonicis instrumentis " (Lutetiee Parisiomm, ISIS). 
 
THE ANCESTET OF THE VIOtlN. 51 
 
 From this time they would seem to have given way to the' kit 
 of the ordinary violin shape. It is from the word "gigue" 
 that our word "jig" is derived, as being used by dancing- 
 masters and so on. They are at all events most interesting, as 
 being the last relics of, and descended directly from, the most 
 ancient type of fiddle. Some twenty excellent specimens were 
 exhibited in the Special Exhibition at South Kensington in 
 1872, and are described and illustrated by photographs in the 
 catalogue.^ This, therefore, brings us to the end of what 
 is, to my mind, the right line of research into the ancestry 
 of the violin, with this single conclusion : " Instruments with 
 an elongated neck, finger-board, and bridge, played with the 
 bow, are' clearly derived from the Eastern nations of the 
 hi^est antiquity." 
 
 Jt is now that we arrive at the time of the true viols, the imme- 
 diate forerunners, and, indeed, early companions of the violin as 
 it now exists. At the beginning of the fifteenth century, the sides 
 of the viols began to be well incurved ; as makers We hear of Ott, 
 and Frey, of Nuremberg ; and, about the middle, Joan Kerlino, 
 of Brescia, the probable founder of the Brescia school. There 
 was extant in 1450, according to Laborde, a viol of Kerlino, 
 dated 1449, and we are told that one was exhibited by Koliker 
 atParis in 1804, which was converted into a viola by the substi- 
 tution of a new head, which substitution, it has positively been 
 stated, was Koliker's own work. It is said to have been soft 
 and husky in tone. In the first half of the sixteenth century 
 we come across Duiffoprugcar of Bologna, Linarolli of Venice, 
 Dardelli of Mantua, and others, who have been cited by some 
 as violin-makers ; but it is now certain that they only made 
 the viol class of instruments, such as the viola d'amore, or 
 treble viol, the viola bastarda, or alto viol, the viola da braccia, or 
 tenor viol (hence the modern German word Bratsche for tenor), 
 and the viola da gamba, or bass-viol. Of these Duiffoprugcar, 
 though not an actual violin-maker, would seem to have been 
 the most renowned. According to Mr. J. M. Fleming (whose 
 serial papers on the old violin-makers in Tlie Bazaar, before 
 referred to \yide note *, p. 36], rank among the best works written 
 on the subject), he was a Tyrolese inlayer or mosaic worker, and 
 this would seem to be borne out by the beautifully worked viola 
 da gamba, a picture of which hangs upon the wall of the South 
 Kensington Museum. His life seems to have been a most 
 eventful one. We hear of him in Bologna, Paris, and Lyons, 
 besides the Tyrol. He seems to have disappeared from Lyons, 
 
 ' "Catalogue of the Special Exhibition of Ancient Musical Instruments, 
 181'- " (London, 1873), compiled and within introduction by Carl Engel. 
 
52 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT "WAS AND IS. 
 
 whence we find no trace of bim, except a portrait of him, exe- 
 cuted there by Pierre Woeiriot, which etching is reproduced by 
 M. Antoine Vidal in his wonderful work on the violin.^ It is 
 supposed originally to have been copied from a portrait of him- 
 self on one of Duififoprugcar's instruments, accompanied with 
 the verse quoted on the title of this work, the meaning of which, 
 it may or may not be necessary to state, is : "I lived in the 
 woods, until I was slain by the relentless axe. Whilst I was 
 alive I was silent, but in death my melody is exquisite." But 
 this portrait and motto has also been said to be that of one 
 Bandinelli, a sculptor in the service of Duke Cosmo of Venice, 
 in 1550. The great J. B. Vuillaume made a quantity of violins 
 at the beginning of this century, which were carved and inlayed 
 after the manner of Duiffoprugcar, and many an amateur has 
 fondly imagined himself the possessor of a genuine antique, 
 instead of a great maker's well-executed (not to put too fine 
 a point on it) " forgery." 
 
 The viols all had five or six strings at least, and frets to 
 stop the notes with. We sometimes come across tenors ascribed 
 to one or other of these old " Luthiers," but they can only 
 be thus described when they have new heads, necks, and finger- 
 boards. There were two such in the Exhibition of 1872, made 
 about 1520 by Ventura LinaroUi, of Venice ; both of these had 
 the old six or seven-pegged heads replaced by the modern (or 
 rather sixteenth century) four-pegged scroll. As Mr. G. Reade 
 justly remarks, the immense breadth between the ^' holes shows 
 that : they were meant for five, six, or seven strings. They 
 were played upon the knee ; and as the same connoisseur points 
 out, old tenors and basses always appear much older than they 
 really are, from the fact that at that time (1550 et seq.) such 
 instruments were, as a rule, hung up against a wall when not 
 in use, not nursed in cases. According to Mr. Fleming, Giovanni 
 Cellini, father of the illustrious Benvenuto Cellini, was by his 
 son's statement an accomplished maker of viols of rare beauty, 
 about 1500 ; but beyond this noteworthy reference by his son, 
 Giovanni Cellini's work has not reached us. Prince Jousoupof, 
 the anonymous author of " Luthomonographie," ^ ascribes the 
 invention of the violin proper to one Testator of Milan, who 
 reduced the size of the viola to that of the violin contempo- 
 raneously with, or before, Gasparo da Salo. I cannot, however 
 find any notice of him elsewhere, except in the wok of, 
 
 ' "Les Instruments aArohet" (Paris, 1877: J. Claye). 
 
 ^ " Lnthomonographie historique et raisonn^e, par un Amateur " (Francfort 
 M/. 1S56). 
 
^ THE ANCESTRY OF THE VIOLIN. 53 
 
 M. Antoine Vidal,i who quotes the same author, and utterly 
 denies his statement, which I also class with the other mistaken 
 which have crept into the work of this would-be anonymous 
 Amateur. Nov, nostrum tantas componere lites. As to who 
 really did first make the violin proper in its present form {no 
 one can claim its actual invention) there seems to be very little 
 doubt that it was the Italians. Mr. HuUah^ pretty well 
 sums up all that has been said on the subject when he says :— 
 " The invention of the violin has been claimed for, or rather by, 
 the French on, I believe, one single plea, that in some early 
 Italian scores {e.g., Monteverde's Orfeo [1608]) are found 
 the words 'Piccoli Violini alia Francese.' There is good 
 reason for believing that thbse 'piccoli violini ' were instruments 
 analogous to the kits used to this day by dancing-masters. But 
 granting them to have been violins proper, their appearance in 
 Monteverde's score (published as late as 1615) 
 proves nothing. Vincenzo Galilei asserts in his 
 " Dialogues " (printed at Venice in 1568) that the 
 violino and the violoncello were both invented by 
 the Neapolitans. Montaigne has recorded that he 
 lieard violins in the Great Church (St. Zeno ?) at 
 Verona in 1578. Corelli possessed a violin which 
 had been decorated by the Bolognese painter 
 Annibale Caracci, who died in 1609, and to com- 
 plete the case of the Italians, the first great per- 
 former on the violin of whom we have any account 
 was an Italian named Baltzarini, who was brought, 
 or sent for, into France, by Catherine de Medici, pio. 24.— Device 
 in 1577. No specimen of a French violin, no record Su8.°''''(bmS; 
 of a French violinist, has come down to us of any- ^^^''•' 
 thing like these early dates. The invention of the violoncello 
 again has been claimed on behalf of a certain Abbe Tardieu of 
 Provence, who lived in the beginning of the last century. It is 
 certain, however, that Baptistini, a Florentine, had brought the 
 instrument into France at the end of the preceding century. 
 Specimens of both the violoncello and of the contrabasso of 
 Italian fabrication of the beginning of the seventeenth century 
 are not rare." 
 
 From about 1555 we find the instruments of Gasparo da Salo, 
 the first maker of violas and violins, and as such he -will be 
 spoke of in his proper place in a future chapter ; but he also 
 was a maker of viols. In 1530, John Oporinus, a printer at 
 Basle, had for his device a six-stringed instrument (Fig. 24)^ 
 
 « " Les Instruments 4 Archet " (Paris, 1877). 
 J. Hullah, " The History of Modem Music " (London, 1862), p. 190. 
 
54 
 
 VIOLIN-MAKmG : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 whicli comes very near the true tenor. The violin proper is 
 first referred to by Zacconi in 1596, who describes it with 
 a compass identical with the modern one, without the shift, which 
 would imply that the shift was then unknown or little used, and 
 it was certainly impogsible, or at any rate ineffective, with the 
 frets on the old viols, which were used fretted late on into the 
 seventeenth century, with frets made, as a rule, of pieces of 
 glued catgut tied round the neck at intervals, so as to form 
 rid-ges on the finger-board. 
 
 One of the finest viole da gamba in existence is perhaps that 
 one which was formerly in the pos^ 
 session of Mr. S. A. Forster, who 
 figures it in his " History of the 
 Violin" (London, 1864), but now 
 in the South Kensington Museum. 
 My illustration of the instrument 
 (Fig. 25) is from Christopher Simp- 
 son's " Division Viol." ^ At this 
 period the viol had but six strings, 
 but towards the end of the seven- 
 teenth century, a seventh was added.^ 
 The French gamba-player, Marais, 
 added three bass strings of covered 
 gut, but it was an innovation which 
 did not in any way become general. 
 Connected with the instrument, we 
 find the names of two lady per- 
 formers, Mrs. Sarah Ottey, in 1723, 
 and Miss Ford, in 1760. These must 
 have been ladies of great courage, 
 when we consider the humour in 
 which the world then regarded such 
 performances (vide p. 5). The last celebrated performer on the 
 viola da gamba was Carl Friedrich Abel, who died in 1784. A 
 part was written for the instrument in Bach's Passionsmusik des 
 Mattheus, and M. Caix d'Herveloix wrote some extremely pretty 
 "Suites d'Orchestre " for the instrument in 1710. Its tone 
 is nasal,^ but extremely expressive; indeed, there are a few 
 
 ' C. Simpson, " The Diyision Viol ; or, The Art of Playing extempore upon a 
 Ground" (London, 1667, fol.). 
 ~ Just as of late years a fourth string has been added to the douhle 
 
 Fie. 25. — Viola da Gamta. 
 (C. Simpson.) 1667. 
 
 ' (Jostling was a great admirer of, and player upon, the viol da gamba, and 
 the celebrated Purcell hated it, and could not stand Gostling's practising on the 
 instrument. He therefore composed a " catch " for three voices in sarcastic 
 eulogy of the viol, vfhich he presented to his friend. The music is published 
 
THE AUCESTEY OF THE VIOLIN. 55 
 
 amateurs who play this instrument now, chief among whom I 
 may mention Mr. Payne, over whose initials, E. J. P., most of the 
 first-rate articles on subjects connected with the violin in Sir 
 George Grove's " Dictionary of Music and Musicians " (London, 
 1879 — 1884) are to be found. It was tuned from the D 
 below the stave in the bass clef thus, — D, G, 0, E, A, D ; , 
 but Playford ^ gives the following wonderful method of tuning 
 it : — " When you begin to Tune, raise your Treble or smallest 
 String as high as conveniently it will bear without breaking ; 
 then stop only your Second or Small Mean in F, and then Tune 
 it till it agree in Unison with your Treble open ; that done, stop 
 your Third in F, and make it agree with your Second open ; 
 then stop your Fourth in E, and make it agree with your Third 
 open ; then stop your Fifth in F, and make it agree with your 
 Fourth open ; lastly, stop your Sixth in F, and make it agree to 
 your Fifth open. This being exactly done, you will find your 
 Viol in Tune according to the Rule of the Gamut." Imagine a 
 modern violoncello-player tuning his instrument according to 
 these principles ! 
 
 A most interesting contemporary of the viola da gamba was 
 the viola di bordone, or " barytone," which was mounted with 
 six or seven gut strings (tuned from B below the bass clef, 
 B, E, A, D, F, B, [E] ), and twenty-two wire strings running 
 from the head below the finger-board and bridge to an oblique 
 row of pins under the tail-piece. The specimen exhibited by 
 Mr. Lidel at the Society of Antiquaries in 1840, is now at 
 South Kensington, and a full account and history of the instru- 
 ment will be found in Mr. Engel's Catalogue, p. 264 (vide note \ 
 p. 37). Marpurg^ states that it was originally called "viole 
 de pardon," because it was invented in England by a prisoner 
 about to be hanged, who was pardoned on account of the instru- 
 ment ; but the 'origin of the name is undoubtedly " bourdon " 
 (drone) from the noise made by the sympathetic strings. 
 
 It was usual to have a set of viols called " a chest of viols," 
 
 in a coUection caUed "The Catch Club; or, The Merry Companions."- 
 W. H. Cummings " Purcell " (London, 1881), p. 31 : "The Great Musicians" 
 
 86T16S 
 
 > j' Playford, "An Introduction to the Skill of Musiok" (London, 14th 
 Edition 1700), p. 66. The first edition was published in 1654, but of this 
 edition only am copy is known ; it was sold at the dispersion of the Ubrary of 
 the late Dr. Bimbault in 1877 for ten guineas. This extreme rarity has brought 
 about the consequence that the 2nd edition of 1655 is generally cited as the first. 
 Lowndes makes this mistake, which is probably copied from F. J. F^tiss 
 " Biographie TJniverseUe des Musiciens" (Paris, 1864), which gives 1655 as the 
 
 date of the 1st edition. „..,•„_.■• . i!_ v a 
 
 ■' F. W. Marpurg, " Historisch Kntische Beytrage zur Aufnahme der 
 
 Musik " (Berlin, 1756). 
 
56 AaOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 and players played on all indifferently (very indifferently I 
 should think!). In the year 1620, Prsetorius^ gives a list 
 of the viols then in use, mentioning the 1. " Gross contrabass- 
 geig," like our modern contrebasse, with five strings, s s sound- 
 holes, no frets, and modern scroll and bow ; 2. " Violone," 
 like our violoncello, modern scroll, six strings, six frets, two s s 
 sound-holes ; 3. " Viola da gamba," much the same as the 
 violone, with two crescent-shaped sound-holes, carved head, 
 seven frets, six strings ; 4. " Viola bastarda," the same shape, 
 six strings, modern scroll, two crescent and one round sound- 
 hole, and seven frets ; 5. " Klein posche " (or kit), a little 
 oval instrument like a gigue, with one S hole in the centre 
 under the strings ; 6. " Rechte Discant-geig," almost identical 
 with the modern violin ; 7. " Tenor-geig," much like a 
 modern short-necked viola; 8. "Bass-geig de bracio," like a 
 clumsy short-necked 'cello. It is in allusion to the practice 
 of having a set of instruments that Ben Jonson in Bartliolormw 
 Fayre, act iii., sc. 4,^ makes his character Cokes say, " A set of 
 these violines I would buy too, for a delicate young noise I 
 haue in the Oountrey, thatte are euery one a size lesse than 
 another, iust like youre fiddles." The frets on the viols were 
 never more than seven, for the shift was comparatively un- 
 Imown ; indeed, on the first introduction of the violin, the 
 production of a note higher than the upper B was looked upon 
 as something most rash, and only to be attempted by the best 
 performers. To such a pitch was this carried, that Gallay tells 
 us ^ that in violin solos, where it was known the high occurred, 
 the audience would murmur, as the crucial point was approached, 
 " G-are I'ut ! " (Mind the C !), and if the feat was achieved 
 safely, a whirlwind of applause greeted the temerous player, 
 whilst in case of failure a storm of hisses rewarded his rash 
 efforts. 
 
 Having taken my readers well into the period when the violin 
 proper was in full use, I must leave them, referring them to 
 other and more historical works on the violin, if they would 
 know more of the viols and their music, this being in the main 
 a work on the actual construction of the instrument, to which 
 these historical chapters are practically subordinate. Thus far, 
 however, I have deemed it interesting and necessary to place 
 before them the Ancestry of the Violin, so that they may have a 
 clear perception of what its progenitors actually were. It will 
 
 ' Piaetorius, " Theatrum Instrumentorum " (WolfEenbuttel, 1620). 
 ■^ "The Workes of Ben Jonson" (London, 1640), vol. ii., p. 39. 
 ' J. Gallay, " Les Luthiers Italieus aux xvii" et xviii" sifecles" (Paris, 
 1S69). 
 
THE ANCESTRY OF THE VIOLIN. 57 
 
 be observed that I have made no mention at all of the Welsh 
 crwth, and for this reason, that it has nothing at all to do with 
 the ancestry of the violin. This is a statement so entirely at 
 variance with all which has before been written on the subject, 
 that I refer my readers to the next chapter for proof of my 
 dictum. 
 
 ■' The woodman met the damsels and the swaines, 
 The neatherds, plowmen, and the pipers loud. 
 And each did dance, some to the kit or crowd, 
 Some to the bag-pipe, some to the tabret mov'd." 
 
 Ben Jonson ; T/ie Sad Shepherd ; or a Tale 
 tf Roh'm Hood " (vide note ', p. 56) 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE WELSH CRWTH. 
 
 Ancient Hebrew Lyre— Modem African Lyre— Greek and Roman Lyres— The 
 Rotta— The Crwth Trithant — The Chrotta, or Crwth-proper— Grufiydd ap 
 Howel— Daines Barrington — Wynne Finch — Genealogies of the Violin and 
 Crwth, 
 
 Let us now turn to another brancli of the study of bow 
 instruments entirely apart from what we have already discussed, 
 viz., the consideration of the instrument known as the Welsh 
 Crwth. If we go back to B.C. 1700, among the records of the 
 ancient Egyptians, we find on a tomb at Beni Hassan (that of 
 Osirtasen I., who was the probable Pharaoh who protected 
 Joseph) a group (Fig. 26), supposed to represent the arrival of 
 
 the Israelites in Egypt, one of 
 whom is playing a primitive lyre, 
 the shape of which is very interest- 
 ing to the musical antiquarian, as 
 being very hke the late Welsh 
 crwth. This is reproduced by Sir 
 Gardner Wilkinson,^ who considers 
 it to have been a Hebrew lyre. 
 Almost identical with the true an- 
 cient Egyptian lyre is the modern 
 Kissar of the African negroes~of 
 the north-east (Fig. 27), which, in 
 its primitive rudeness, is acknow- 
 ledged to rival the Ravanastron in 
 its antiquity. I shall not go into 
 the consideration of the progress of this instrument among 
 the ancient Egyptians and Assyrians, but begin at once 
 with the Greeks and Romans, to whom belongs the lyre 
 far excellence. Their lyres were of various sorts and. sizes, 
 dating from B.C. 700, and many of them had bridges (Fig. 28), 
 distinct curved bridges, as efficacious, and to my mind quite 
 
 ' Sir G. WiUcinson, "Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians "' 
 (London, 1878). 
 
 Fig. 26.— Ancient Hebrew Lyre. 
 B .0. 1700. 
 
THE WELSH CKWTH. 
 
 59 
 
 possibly for the same purpose as our modern ones, and as a rule 
 these lyres were played by means of a plectrum. The Roman 
 lyres were practically identical with the Greek in form and 
 
 Fig. 27.— Essar. (Ancient and Modem African.) 
 
 mode of playing ; one kind of cithara, the barbitos (Fig. 29), is 
 especially interesting to us, as having almost exactly the shape 
 of the instrument which is now the subject of our inquiry.^ The 
 
 Fie. 28.— Ancient Greek Lyres, with Bridges 
 
 study of the lyre alone would fill a large volume, and I dare 
 not enter upon it now for fear of being carried far from our 
 
 ' This illustration (from Heroulaneum) ie taken from E. PistoleBl's work, 
 " Beal Mnseo Borbonico desciitto ed illustiato " (Bome, 1838-42), toI, It., pi, 47. 
 
60 
 
 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 subject; suffice it to say that the Eomans had an instrument 
 composed of a frame, one end of which was a hollow, rounded 
 
 Fia. 29.— Barbitos (from Herculaneum.) 
 
 Fio. 30.— Eotta of the Seventh Century. 
 (MS, Psalter in British Museum.) 
 
 cavity, covered with a belly, on which was placed the bridge, 
 and this instrument was played with the plectrum (vide ante, 
 p. 34). The Eomans subsequently colonizing France, Germany, 
 
 Fie. ai.- Hotta from St. Blasius MS. 
 (Ninth century.) 
 
 Fio 32.— Crwth of the Ninth Century. 
 (Willemin.) 
 
 and Britain, introduced their instruments, which became 
 modified according to the countries in which they were adopted; 
 and in a MS. Psalter, in the British Museum, of the seventh 
 
THE WELSH CRWTH. 
 
 61 
 
 century,^ we find the rotta, a primitive lyre-shaped instrument 
 (Fig. 30), strongly recalling the Hebrew specimen before alluded 
 to, and suggesting the later crwth, being merely a solid oblong 
 frame, one end being the sound board, and the other end being 
 open to admit the fingers (or plectrum) which twanged the 
 strings. In the ninth century we find this same rotta (in the 
 MS. of St. Blasius, reproduced by Gerbert, before referred to 
 (Fig. 31),^ become more graceful in form, and ha,ying the sides 
 incurved as well as furnished with a well-formed bridge and 
 plectrum. Willemin ^ illustrates 
 a crwth from a Biblical MS. of 
 Charles the Bald of the ninth 
 century (Fig. 32), and the next 
 figure we have of it is in a MS. 
 from St. Martial de Limoges 
 (Fig. 33), in the Bibliothfeque 
 Royale at Paris, of the eleventh 
 century, which gives us a figure 
 of a crwth, which, like Wille- 
 min's example, has only three 
 strings, and is played with the 
 rudest kind of bow. These last 
 two are probably the first in- 
 stances we have of the crwth 
 trithant or three-stringed crwth. 
 This was not so much esteemed 
 as the proper six-stringed crwth, 
 of which jt would appear to 
 have been only a primitive form. 
 Edward Jones, indeed, says, in 
 his work quoted below (p. 63), 
 " There was likewise the Crwth 
 Trithant or three-stringed crwth, 
 which was a sort of violin, or 
 
 more properly a rebeck; the , u • 
 
 performers or minstrels on this instrument were not held in 
 the same estimation and respect as the bards of the harp dnd 
 crwth ; because the three- stringed crwth did not admit of 
 eqnal skill and harmony, and consequently its power was less 
 sensibly felt." The illustration, however, which he gives of the 
 crwth trithant, is precisely similar to the superior crwth, 
 excepting that it has but three strings. - 
 
 ' Cotton MSS., Vespasian A 1. ^^.^ t>i ■ 1-77^ ^ 
 
 2 M Gerbert, "De Cantu et MusicS, Sacra." (St. Blasius, 1774.) _ _ 
 " n'x Willemin, "Monuments FranQais in6dits et pour servir a, IHistoire 
 deS arts depuis le VI« Si^cle jusqu'au commencement du VIH' ' '^"-^ ^^^^^ 
 
 Fia. 33.— Crwth from MS. from St. Martial 
 de Limoges. (Eleventh century.) 
 
 (Paris, 1839). 
 
62 
 
 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 Riihlmann ^ gives a most interesting specimen (Fig. 34) from 
 a sculpture at Freiburg of the twelftn century, which is a most 
 valuable link in the chain of evidence which connects the crwth 
 with the rotta, for it is identically the latter instrument as illus- 
 trated from the St. Blasius MS. by Gerbert/ with the addition of 
 a bow and a finger-board behind the strings. It has six strings, 
 four on and two off the finger-board, as in the most perfect de- 
 velopment of the instrument, differing only in that these two last, 
 
 Pis. 34.— Crwth o£ the Twelfth Century. (RuMmann. 
 
 instead of both being on one side of the finger-board, are placed one 
 on each side thereof. Now the only difference between the earliest 
 crwths (or chrottas) and the latest rotes (or rottas) seems to> be 
 (especially in the last instance referred to) the addition of the bow 
 and finger-board, and so it would not be out of the way to assert 
 that the instruments are identical, the former being the later 
 and improved form of the latter, and certainly the similarity of 
 
 ' J. Riihlmann, " Geschiclite der Bogeninstrumente " (Brunswick, 1882). 
 ' M. Gerbert, " De Cantu et Musica Sacra." 1774. 
 
THE WELSH CKWTH. 
 
 63 
 
 names is worthy of remark (thougli it must be borne in mind 
 that, as I have said before, names have not nnfrequently been 
 transferred from one instrument to another ; similarity of names 
 is of very little practical value to the antiquary). A crwth or 
 crwd^ of the thirteenth century from Worcester Cathedral 
 (Fig. 35) given by Garter,^ shows a very great improvement, 
 being adorned with a tail-piece, sound-holes, ^nd bow of very 
 rational and practical construction, besides being held like a 
 modern violin. And a somewhat similar but more cumbrous 
 specimen from the Cathedral at Amiens (Fig. 36), dating from 
 the same century, is given by M. de Coussemaker (vide note ^, 
 p. 49). The principal authority on the crwth is Ed. Jones,^ who 
 gives the most accurate descriptions and illustrations of this 
 
 Fio. 35. — Orwtli from Worcester 
 Cathedral. (Thirteentli oen- 
 tnry.) 
 
 rio. 36.— TMrteenth Century Crwtli 
 from Amiens Cathedral. (De 
 Coussemaker.) 
 
 among his other national instruments. The supposition that it 
 was the north-western portion of the continent which, by the 
 application of the bow, first turned the rotta into the chrotta, 
 receives confirmation from the words of one Venantius Fortu- 
 
 ' There is no doubt that from the word crwth or crwd is derived the old 
 English word " crowd " for fiddle, and " orowder " for fiddler. 
 
 " I'th head of all this warlike rabble 
 Crowdero marched expert and able." 
 
 BCTLEE : Suaioras. 
 
 " Now the musicians 
 Hover with nimble sticks o'er squeaking prowds 
 Tickling the dried guts of a mewing cat." 
 
 Marston : What Ton Witt. 
 
 ' 3. Carter, "Ancient Sculpture in England" (London, 1780). 
 • Ed. Jones, "Musical and Poetical Belies of the Welsh Bards" (London, 
 1825), p. 114. 
 
C4 
 
 violin-making: as it was and is. 
 
 natus, Bishop of Poitiers, in the seventh century, who 
 
 says;: — 
 
 " Romanusque lyra, plaudat tibi Barbaras harpa 
 Graecus Achilliaca, Chrotta Britanna canat." 
 
 [the word crwth signifies in the ancient Saxon any bulging 
 cavity, and the instrument is thus described in Welsh verse of 
 .the fifteenth century by one Gruffydd ap Davydd ap Howel : 
 " A fair coffer with a bow, a girdle, a finger-board, and a' bridge ; 
 its value is a pound ; it has a frontlet formed like a wheel with 
 
 Pia. 37.— Figure of Crwtli given 
 by Baines Barrington, P^tis, 
 , Sandys and Forster, etc. 
 
 Fig. 39.— The Welsh Crwtn. 
 (South Kensington.) 
 
 the short-nosed bow across. . In its centre are the circled sound- 
 holes, and the bulging of its back is somewhat like an old man, 
 but on its breast harmony reigns, and from the sycamore 
 melodious music is obtained. Six pegs, if we screw them, will 
 tighten all its chords ; six advantageous strings are found, 
 which in a skilful hand produce a hundred sounds ; a string for 
 each finger is distinctly seen, and also two strings for the thumb." 
 The inferior and primitive crwth trithant, to which I have 
 already adverted, has been erroneously confounded by -Ville-. 
 
THE WELSH CBWTH. 65 
 
 marqu^^ and others with the ancient Moorish fiddle or rebek of 
 the Breton mendicant bards, which, as I have pointed out, has 
 an absolutely different form and origin. Jt has been urged in 
 favour of the theory that the crwth was the ancestor of the 
 violin, by MM. de Coussemaker and de Toulmont, that the 
 parallel sides of the crwth being inconvenient in bowing, they 
 gradually became hollowed out (as in Fig. 35), and thus the 
 crwth turned into the viol, but 1 think that, though this hol- 
 lowing undoubtedly sometimes occurred, as in the Worcester 
 Cathedral instance, it was not carried out and adhered to, as is 
 proved by the ancient form having existed till the end of the 
 last century. M. de Coussemaker thinks that the word " rote," 
 which was also undoubtedly the name of an instrument of the 
 viol kind, was a proof that the rotta or chrotta were part of the 
 progenitors of the violin, but this, I think, is quite accounted for 
 by the remark I made some way back, viz., that the name of one 
 instrument frequently got transferred to another, as the latter 
 superseded the former. The crwth properly so-called existed in 
 Wales to comparatively recent times, and we are told by Daines 
 Barrington, in 1770,^ that it was then played only by one John 
 Morgan of Newburgh, in Anglesea ; but Bingley* mentions 
 having heard it played by an old bard in Carnarvon in 1801, 
 after which it seems to have disappeared, and with it ends this 
 branch of the study of the ancestry of the violin. The figure of 
 the crwth given by Daines Barrington (Fig. 37), and repro- 
 duced by M. F6tis, Messrs. Sandys and Forster, and others, is 
 misleading in its general appearance, and particularly as regards 
 the bridge, finger-board, and tail-piece ; the representation given, 
 however, by Mr. Engel,* of Mr. W. Gt. Wynne Finch's specimen 
 (the only genuine crwth in existence, and now in the South Ken- 
 sington Museum'), is ^uite correct (Fig. 38), as I have found on 
 
 ' H. de la Villemarqu6, "Barzaz Breiz, chants populaiies de la Bretagne " 
 (Paris, 1846). 
 
 ' Daines Barrington was a judge of Carnarvon and Anglesea, who, on the 
 3rd May, 1770, read to the Society of Antiquaries some remarks on the crwth 
 and another Welsh instrument, which were published in " Arohseologia, or 
 miscellaneous tracts relating to Antiquity ; published by the Society of Anti- 
 quaries of London," vol. iii., 1775, p. 32. 
 
 ' W. Biugley, " North Wales, its Scenery, Customs, and Antiquities," etc. 
 (London 1804). 
 
 * 0. Engel, "Catalogue of Musical Instruments in the South Kensington 
 Museum " (London, 1874). 
 
 ' An exact counterpart of this instrument was made by M. Georges Chanot 
 when he had it for the purpose of repairing it. I have had this replica in my 
 hands, and it is certainly so marvellous a copy as to deceive any connoisseur. 
 The late Mr. Engel, to whom it belonged before his death, told me that he himself 
 could not possibly tell which was the original and which the copy when he saw 
 them side by side. Doubtless when this copy has changed hands a few times it 
 will be added to some national collection as a genuine antique Welsh crwth. 
 
 5 
 
€6 violin-making: as it was and is. 
 
 comparing it with the original. Messrs. Sandys and Forster' 
 also figure it correctly, but without bridge, strings, or tail-piece. 
 Mr. Wynne Finch's specimen is labelled 1742 in the inside, but 
 as the condition of the wood betokens a much greater age, this was 
 probably inserted by some one who repaired the instrument at 
 that date. It is formed of one solid block of sycamore wood — 
 except the belly, which is of pine and glued on. The bridge is ■ 
 very flat and curiously formed, one foot passing through the 
 left sound-hole to the back, and thus serving as a sound-post ; it 
 is set obliquely on the belly. Its length is 22 inches, it is 9^ 
 wide, and 2 deep at its deepest part. It has a finger-board 10^ 
 long, and of its six strings four are set along the finger-board 
 and vibrated with the bow, and two lie off it to be played pizzi- 
 cato with the thumb. 
 
 Now this instrument is not a primitive essay which has 
 become improved into the viol ; it is a highly perfected instru- 
 ment in its own unsatisfactory way, and I account for its being, 
 as follows : — The Romans, colonizing the north-western part of 
 Europe, introduced their lyres, where in course of time the use 
 of the bow superseded that of the plectrum, the lyre becomincr 
 the rotta, and subsequently the crwth or chrotta. Meanwhile 
 the Moors from Spain, and the Indo-European tribes gradually 
 suffused the continent, bearing with them their more convenient 
 bow instruments, and with them drove the crwth before them, 
 till it had to take refuge among the aborigines or earlier 
 inhabitants of the north-west, lingering on till it died a 
 natural death in the wUds of Cambria (which, as we know, 
 has remained more exclusively Celtic than any other part 
 of the continent), until the last century. Indeed, the rude 
 Norwegian " fidla " and the Icelandic " lang-spiel " are the 
 only existing prototypes of the crwth, I consider, and I 
 say it with all due deference in the face of all that has been 
 written on the subject, but none the less positively, that the 
 crwth had nothing to do with the Ancestry of the Violin ; such 
 a thing as the friction of a musical string was not a thing that 
 could be discovered by any one nation alone. No ; there were 
 two distinct classes of musical instruments, of which, notwith- 
 standing all that has been written and said to the contrary, I 
 say the crwth was the younger, which, flourishing only so 
 long as it had the monopoly of the bow in Europe, suc- 
 cumbed before the more successful and convenient rival, after 
 trying in vain to hold its own among the Welsh, a primitive 
 people whose conservatism in the matter of their nationalities is 
 
 ' W. Sandys and S. A. Forster, " History of the Violin " London. (Uei). 
 
THE WELSH CRWTH. G7 
 
 proverbial; and so to my mind it must for ever give up all 
 thought of being considered part of the Ancestry of the Violin. 
 
 I have appended here the genealogies of the violin and of the 
 crwth, according to the foregoing doctrines. These "pedi- 
 grees " will, I hope, elucidate any parts of these two chapters 
 which have seemed obscure to the reader.^ 
 
 ' The above elucidation of the Ancestry of the Violin had never been 
 suggested till the Op'osculum mentioned in note ', page 29, appeared in 
 1882. As the brochure was printed for private circulation only (as 1 intended 
 prefixing it, as above, to this work) I did not place it in the hands of the public, 
 and when, in the year 1883, after the death of Mr. Cai'l Engel (to whom I had 
 presented a copy of my brochure), his worlc" Researches into the Early History 
 of the Violin Family " (London, 1883) was published by Messrs. Novello 
 and Ewer, Mr. A. J. Hipkins, the well-known musical historian (to whom was 
 committed the task of preparing the MS. for publication) introduced the work 
 with a short preface, in which he says : " I call attention especially to the inter- 
 esting chain of reasoning which derives the mediaeval rotte from the old Greek 
 lyre." I wrote to Mr. Hipkins on the subject, and he, with a courtesy and 
 generosity which I can never sufficiently esteem, made me the following 
 prompt acknowledgment in The Musical Review, of April 21st, 1883. After 
 calling attention to this obvious " Ancestry of the Violin," he says : " It shows 
 how curiously ideas are ' in the air ' when we find that Engel has not enjoyed 
 this special one alone. A little pamphlet has been brought before our notice 
 containing a lecture delivered last June to a society calling themselves " The 
 Sette of Odd Volumes." This Opusculum of twenty-eight pages has been 
 privately circulated only, and is by Mr. B. Heron- Allen, who, by independent 
 investigation has gone step by step with Carl Engel in the evolution of the bow 
 from a longer plectrum." This is an instance of literary courtesy so marked that 
 I feel a warm satisfaction in having this opportunity of publicly acknowledging 
 my obligation, and of saluting the spirit in which this generous amende was 
 made. 
 
 ' Into the town will I, my frendes to vysit there. 
 And hether straight again to see th' end of this yere, 
 In the meantime, felowes, pype up your fiddles, I say, take them. 
 And let your frendes here such mirth as ye can make them." 
 
 T. CoLWELL : " Gammer Qurton (London, 1575), 
 
68 "lOLIN-MAKING : AS IT 'WAS AND iS. 
 
 GENEALOGY OF THE VIOLi;<( 
 
 Eavanastron. 
 1 
 
 Kemangeh. 
 
 
 Eebab. 
 
 Eubebe. 
 1 
 
 -Gigue. 
 
 
 1 
 
 Eebec 
 
 Kit. Viol. 
 1 
 
 Viol. 
 1 
 
 Violin. 
 
 GENEALOGY OF THE CEWTH, 
 Primitive Lyre. 
 
 Barbitos. Bridged Lyre. 
 
 Eotta. 
 
 Crwth Trithant. 
 
 Orwth. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL. 
 
 Early Makers — Gasparo da Sakj — Gio Paolo Maggini — Andreas Amati — ^An 
 tonius and Hieronymus Amati — Nicolaus Amati — Andreas Guarnerius — 
 Jacobiis Steiner — Francisous Euggieri — Antonius Stradiuarius — Joseph Gnar- 
 neiina — Peter Guarnerius — Laurentius Guadagnini — Johannes Baptistil 
 Gua/dagnini — Domenicns Montagnana — Sanctus Seraphino — Carlo Bergonz- 
 — Prancisous and Omobono Stradiuarius — Joseph Anthony Guarnerius (dea 
 Jesi) — Viucenzo Panormo — Carolus Ferdinandus Landolphi — Laurentius 
 Storioni — Nicholas Lupot — Jean Baptiste Vuillaume — Barak Norman — 
 Benjamin Banks — Thomas Dodd — William Forster — Richard Duke — Peter 
 Wamsley — John Lett — WOliam Ebsworth HiU — Georges Chanot — Jacobs 
 (Amsterdam) — The Mirecourt VioUn Trade. 
 
 The diflFerences in the models, styles, etc., of the greatest makers 
 are so considerable, that my work would, to say the least of it 
 be incomplete were I to enter upon the practical part of it 
 without sketching, as briefly as possible, these " peculiarities of 
 great men," for the guidance and instruction of the would-be 
 fiddle-maker. To impart to the following notes any matter of 
 a biographical description would be obviously outside the object of 
 this work, so I shall confine myself absolutely and briefly to the 
 mechanical characteristics of the " great few " whose names are 
 household words alike to the amateur and the professional. I 
 say the few, for though the name of the fiddle-makers is Legion, 
 they mostly followed the principles of their chiefs, and it is only 
 necessary to notice these great originals. For classification of 
 names and biographical details I must refer our readers to Mr, 
 Hart's work,^ and for any one who requires a complete list of 
 Yiolin-makers, I recommend the alphabetical list in the Appendix 
 to Davidson's work, " The Violin,"* and the Tables of Diehl* and 
 of Niederheitmann.* That the technical terms used in the fol- 
 
 ' G. Hart, " The VioUn, its famous Makers and their Imitators " (London, 
 1875 ; 2nd edition, 1884 : Dulau & Schott. Po^ilar edition, 8vo, 1880). 
 
 ' P Davidson, "The Violin, its Construction Theoretically and Practically 
 Treated" (London, 4th Edition, 1881, p. 228). 
 
 ' N. L. Diehl, "Die Geigenmacher der Alten Italienisohen Sohule," etc. 
 (Hamburg, 1866). 
 
 * F. Niederheitmann, " Die Meister der Geigenbaukunst in Italien und Tyrol " 
 (Vienna and Hamburg, n.d. ri876T). 
 
BACK 
 
 Fig, 30.— Diagram explaining technical terms used to denote the various parts of the violin. 
 A, Scroll; B, cheeks of the scroll; o, peg box; d, pegs; e, finger-board; f, neck; 
 6, button; H, belly; i, back; J, putfling ; k, edges projecting over sides (or ribs), 
 [upper bouts, centre (or middle) bouts, and lower bouts] ; i, comers ; m, centre (inner, 
 or middle) bouts ; jx, ff holes ; o, bridge ; p, tail-piece ; q, tail-pin and rest ; », lower- 
 bouts ; s, nut ; X, shoulder ; Vt eyes of scroll. 
 
BIOGEAPHICAL. 71 
 
 lowing chapters may be fully understood, I have given in Fig. 39, 
 on a tolerably large scale, diagrams of the front and back of the 
 violin, showing its diflferent parts, and the names that are applied 
 to_ them. These diagrams will sufficiently explain their purpose 
 without further description. 
 
 The Violin, as we have before seen, assumed its present form 
 rather suddenly in the sixteenth century, and certain old " Lu- 
 thiers " have been cited and their merits discussed in Chapter I. ; 
 these were Joan Kerlino (Brescia), 1449; Pietro Dardelli 
 (Mantua), 1500; Gaspard DuifFoprugcar (Bologna, etc.), 1510 ; 
 Ventura Linarolli (Venice), 1520 ; Peregrine Zanetto (Brescia), 
 1540; Morglato Morella (Mantua), 1550 — which last date brings 
 us to the Brescian School, founded in 1555 or thereabouts. I 
 shall notice the makers of this and the other schools in chrono- 
 logical order as nearly as possible. 
 
 Gaspard da Salo (Brescia), 1555 — 1610 — so called from 
 having been born at Salo in Lombardy — seems to have been 
 originally a maker of viols, but set to making violins and tenors. 
 It seems probable that the tenor was invented before the violin) 
 at any rate, Gaspard da Salo's tenors are much commoner than 
 his violins.^ His model is excellent in every respect, varying a 
 
 ' As to the order in which the violin, viola, bass, and double-bass were 
 invented, Mr. Eeade, in a letter to the Pall Mall Gazette, August 19th, 1872 (vide 
 note ', p 19), has made the following notes : " Etymology decides with unerring 
 voice that the violoncello was invented after the violono or double-bass, andcon- 
 noisseurship proves by two distinct methods that it was invented after the violin. 
 First, the critical method : it is called after the violon, yet is made on the plan 
 of the violin, with arched back and long inner bout ; second, the historical 
 method — a violoncello made by the inventors of the vioKn is incomparably rare., 
 and this instrument is disproportionately rare even up to the year 1610. Violiio 
 being a derivative of viola, would seem to indicate that the violin followed the 
 tenor ; but this taken alone is dangerous, for viola is not only a specific term 
 for the tenor, but a generic name that was in Italy a hundred years before a 
 tenor with four strings was made. To go then to connoisseurship — I find that 
 1 have fallen in with as many tenors as violins by Gasparo da Salo, and not 
 quite so many by Gio Paolo Maggini, who began a few years later. The violin 
 being the king of all these instruments, I think there would not be as many 
 tenors made as violins, when once the violin had been invented. Moreover, 
 between the two dates came Corelli, a composer and violinist. He would 
 naturally have created a crop of violins. Finding the tenors and violins of 
 Gasparo da Salo about equal in number, I am driven to the conclusion that the 
 tenor had an unfair start — in other words, was invented first. I add to this 
 that true four-stringed tenors by Gasparo da Salo exist, though very rare, made 
 with only two corners, which is a much more primitive form than any violin 
 by the same maker appears in. For this and some other reasons, I have little 
 doubt the viola preceded the violin by a very few years. What puzzles me 
 most is to time the violon, or, as we childishly call it (after its known descendant),, 
 the double bass. If I was so presumptuous as to trust to my eye alone, I should 
 say it was the first of them all. It is an instrument which does not seem to 
 mix with these four-stringed upstarts, but to belong to a much older family— 
 viz., the viole d'amore, da gamba, etc. In the first place, it has not four strings ; 
 secondly, it has not an arched back, but a flat back with a neculiar shoulder. 
 
72 
 
 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS 
 
 little, but generally high; the centre bouts often short and 
 primitive, and generally shallow ; the// holes (Fig. 40) running 
 parallel, very long and pointed, but not out of proportion to the 
 instrument ; the scroll particularly marks the primitive state of 
 the instrument. He made many instruments of pear wood as 
 well as of sycamore, especially basses. His varnish is prin- 
 cipally a light brown amber, 
 very rich and deep ; the grain 
 of his bellies generally very 
 straight and even, but sometimes 
 a trifle wide. The most perfect 
 specimen I ever saw is a tenor 
 in the possession of Mr. Edward 
 Withers, a grand old primitive 
 instrument, from which the / 
 hole (Fig. 40) is traced. His 
 tenors are unquestionably his 
 best instruments j but the few 
 known specimens of his violins, 
 though uncomely, have great 
 individual reputation from their 
 very rarity. Mr. W. A. Tyssen 
 Arnherst, an English amateur, of 
 celebrity, has (or had) an ex- 
 ceedingly perfect specimen ; but 
 
 copied from the viola da gamba ; thirdly, 
 the space between the upper aad lower 
 comers is in the early specimens ludi- 
 crously short. And it is hard to believe 
 that an eye which had observed the grace- 
 ful proportions of the tenor and violin 
 could be guilty of such a wretched little 
 inner bout as you find in a double-bass 
 of Brescia. Per contra it must be ad- 
 mitted that Vaa f f holes of a Brescian 
 double-bass seem copied from the four- 
 stringed tribe, and not at all from the 
 elder family; secondly, that the violin 
 and tenor are instruments of melody and 
 harmony, whilst the double-bass is one of 
 harmony only. This is dead against its 
 being invented until after the instru- 
 ments to which it is subsidiary. Man invents only to supply a want. Thus, 
 then, it is : first, the large tenor played between the knees ; then the violin 
 played under the chin ; then (if not the first of them all) the small double- 
 bass ; then (years after the violin) the violoncello ; then the full-sized double- 
 bass ; then, longo intervallo, the small tenor played under the chin." The 
 author subsequently suggests very pertinently that the best way to solve these 
 difficulties would be to find for what instruments the immediate predecessors 
 of CoreHi, and Corelli himself at the beginning, scored their mtisic, details 
 only to be obtained from the original MSS. or first editions. 
 
 Fig. 40.— /hole of Gasparo da 
 Salo. Tenor. (1BB6.) 
 
BIOGEAPHICAL. 73 
 
 perhaps da Salo's most celebrated fiddle was tlie highly 
 ornamented one of the great Swedish artist Ole Bull, in the 
 ornamentation of which he was aided (it is said) by the 
 great Benvenuto Cellini himself, and which is referred to under 
 that head (vide par. " Ornamentation," ch. ix., p. 167). It is 
 said to have been almost as perfect as when it left the maker's 
 hands ; and at the great virtuoso's death in the United States, 
 was sold to some American amateur. His ticket is " Grasparo 
 da Salo, In Brescia." His genuine tickets are never dated, 
 which makes the period of his activity at least open to question 
 and research, though one writer after another (quorum pars Jui!) 
 has accorded him chronologically the first place among the old 
 fiddle-makers. 
 
 John Paul Maggini (Brescia), 1590 — 1640. Was probably 
 a pupil of Gaspard da Salo ; his pattern is large, and broad in 
 outline, the arching sloping away to the purfling and flattish, 
 the sides rather shallow. The // holes long and pointed, the 
 scroll primitive, but not so much so as that of his master. He 
 made the bellies of his instruments very strong, the back in 
 proportion to the belly, rather thin, and generally ornamented 
 by elegant curls of the purfling, which is generally inlaid in a 
 double line (vide Fig. 91). Varnish, light yellowish, or deep 
 brown, and very rich. The note of his instruments is grand 
 and melancholy, the wood cut " on the layers." His instru- 
 ments are often confused with those of Graspard da Salo. The 
 great violinist De Beriot used one of them (vide note ^, p. 25). 
 Ticket, " Gio Paolo Maggini in Brescia ; " or, " Paolo maggini 
 in Brescia." 
 
 Other makers of the Brescian school inferior to these were 
 Mariani, Buddiani, and Bente, dl from 1570 — 1620. 
 
 The Cremona school was founded by : — Andrew Amati 
 (Cremona), born (about) 1520, died (about) 1580 ; the first c£ 
 his illustrious family. Originally a maker of viols and rebecs, 
 he only began in his later years to make violins. Possibly 
 a pupil at Brescia before he started at Cremona. It is probable 
 that he started the manufacture of violins contemporaneously 
 with Gaspare da Salo, though the latter is generally named first, 
 A rebec of his existed till very lately at Milan bearing date 
 1546. Most of his instruments are small or medium, model 
 high towards the centre, bellies fairly strong. Ba,cks often 
 made of pear wood cut on the layers. Varnish, excellent light 
 brown, or deep golden, work not unlike Gaspard da Salo, but 
 that the// holes (Fig. 41) are rather broad and inelegant. Ticket, 
 " Andreas Amati Cremona, fecit 15 — ." Mr. Hart says, " Among 
 the famous instruments of this maker were twenty-four violins 
 
74 
 
 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 (twelve large and twelve small pattern) six tenors and eight 
 basses made in 1566 for Charles IX., which were kept in the 
 Chapel Royal, Versailles, until 1790. These were probably 
 the finest instruments of Andreas Amati, the workmanship 
 being very perfect. On the backs were painted the arms of 
 France and other devices, and the motto ' Pietate et Justitia ' " 
 {vide p. 8). These instruments were taken out of the chapel 
 and destroyed by the mob in the French revolution on the 
 6th and 7th October, 1790. Two of the violins were afterwards 
 recovered by M. J. B. Oartier (vide Appendix D, No. 18). One: 
 
 Fig. 41.— /hole of Andreas Amati. 
 (1B80.) 
 
 Fio. 42.— /hole of Aatonins and 
 Hieronymus Amati. (1670.) 
 
 of the small violins is now the property of George Somes, Esq., 
 and through his courtesy I am enabled to give photographs of 
 this unique fiddle as plates to this work. Its tone is mellow and 
 beautiful in the extreme, but lacks brilliancy, and as a historical 
 curiosity it is perhaps without its equal in the world of violins. 
 
 Anthony and Jerome Amati (Cremona), 1570 — 1635, sons 
 of Andrew. They Worked together for some time and then 
 separated. Their wood was well chosen, and cut on the layers 
 for the backs and sides, the bellies of fine even grain, their 
 earlier instruments high built in the centre, but sloping gently 
 to the edges, the / holes (Fig. 42) like Andrew's, but the wood 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL. 75 
 
 scooped out a little round them. Their early varnish was 
 deeper in tint than the later, and both were excellent ; their 
 united label was "Antonius & Hieronym Fr. Amati Cremonen 
 Andreas fil. F. 1587." Their backs are cut variously in the 
 whole or slab, or half form, their scrolls differ a good deal, 
 and the purfling is perfect. In the instruments bearing this 
 joint label the styles of the two brothers are quite distinct. 
 Anthony made most of his instruments of Andrew's small 
 pattern, flatter in the model though still high, and shallower 
 in the sides than Andrew's. Their tone is sweet and pure, 
 but not very intense ; his / holes are decidedly Brescian. 
 Anthony died in 1635, or thereabouts, at about the age of 
 eighty-five. Jerome, his brother, who died in 1630, is by 
 some counted inferior to his brother; he made some very 
 large violi'ns, suggestive of his son Nicholas Amati's chef- 
 d'ceuvre, the Grrand Amati ; his model was original and grace- 
 ful, the // holes foreshadowing those of his son, who seems 
 in some measure to have copied them. The edges of his 
 instruments do not, as a rule, overlap the sides much, but are 
 round and obtuse. His backs were generally whole, the 
 purfling broad, and the varnish gold-yellow, or light brown. 
 Tickets of this firm have been cited bearing date 1698, and 
 thereabouts, by many learned authors, but as this would make 
 the brothers average one hundred and forty-eight years of age, 
 the statement has been made without due thought, being 
 probably tickets used after their deaths by their pupils. (It 
 will, therefore, be seen that the practice of labelling fiddles at 
 random is by no means a new one ; in fact, for a long time 
 Stradivari labelled his work " Nicholas^mati ! ") 
 
 Nicholas Amati (Cremona), born 1696, died 1684. Son of 
 Jerome, and the best of this fe,mily of makers. At first he seems 
 to have copied the small instruments of Anthony and Jerome ; 
 working out the ideas of Jerome, his fiddles being more brilliant 
 in tone than any other of the Amatis. His most celebrated 
 fiddles are those known as Grrand Amatis, which were large 
 instruments mth long corners ; he seems to have made but few 
 of them, they are rather high in the centre, sloping rather 
 sharply, so as to form a sinking-in round the edges. He 
 improved Jerome's // holes ; his later scrolls are better cut and 
 bolder than his earlier ones, which were a trifle stiff. In all his 
 design and detail he was perfect, his varnish superb, being 
 deeper and richer than that of the other makers of the family ; 
 his backs are beautifully figured, his bellies have a fine even 
 grain, some of them being most beautifully mottled. Ticket, 
 "Nicolaus Amatus Cremonen Hieronymi Fil. ac Antonij Nepos, 
 
76 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 Fecit 16 — ." His son Jerome, the last of the Amati, was 
 inferior to the rest of his family, and his works are very little 
 known. The best known makers of the Amati school are 
 Joseph Guamerius, Francesco Riiggieri, Jean Baptiste 
 Grancino, Francisco Grancino, Peter Guarnerius, and Sanctus 
 Seraphino. 
 
 (Peter) Andrew Guarnerius (Cremona) 1630—1695 (little 
 known as Pietro) the first of the Guarneri. Pupil with 
 Stradivari of Nicholas Amati, whom he copied ; his work was 
 good but inferior to that of his great master. Later on he 
 struck out somewhat of a new model, making his instruments 
 
 flatter and altering the form of his 
 scroll and // holes. His varnish 
 varied, but was generally a light 
 orange. Ticket, "Andreas Guar- 
 nerius fecit Cremonae sub titulo 
 Sanctse Teresise, 16 — " 
 
 Jacob Stainer (or Steiner) 
 (Absom), birth probably about 1620 
 and death uncertain. More pro- 
 perly a German maker, of whom 
 he was the greatest. Was probably 
 for some time a pupil of Nicholas 
 Amati. His model was highly 
 original ; at his best his instruments 
 were small in the pattern, the / / 
 holes rather narrow and very round 
 at the top and bottom (Fig. 43). 
 His edges were very strong, the 
 purfling set rather near them, the 
 scroll shorter than Amati's but 
 Fio. 43.-/hoie of jaoob broader in front. The grain of his 
 
 steiner. (1660.) , .. ° ■ 1, j 
 
 wood wide, and the varnish deep 
 rose colour like Nicholas Amati's. His instruments are very 
 high built, especially between the upper bouts, and often almost 
 " tubby," the scroll often finished with a carved lion's or other 
 animal's head ; when of the ordinary shape, he made his scrolls 
 broad and rather short. He has by some been preferred to the 
 highest Cremonese masters (!). His most celebrated instru- 
 ments were the " Elector Stainers," M'hich were sixteen fiddles 
 made by him, it is said, in a monastery at the end of his life, '' 
 and sent by him, one to each of the Electors, and the remaining 
 four to the Emperor of Germany. The wood is very hand- 
 some, and the varnish a lovely rose colour; they are decidedly 
 Cremonese, or at least un-German in style. Of these, three 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL. 
 
 77 
 
 are said still to exist, but according to Mr. Fleming these 
 were not his work at all, he having died mad in his own house, 
 — ^a story dismal indeed, and the merits of which it would be 
 outside the province of this work to discuss, but the story 
 of his madness, being well authenticated, must doubtless be 
 accepted ; and as for these three fiddles, the difference they 
 bear to his best known style is particularly in favour of the 
 hypothesis that they were not his work at all. Ticket, "Jacobus 
 Stainer in Absom, prope (Enipontum 16 — " No maker has 
 been more copiously, closely, or vilely copied ; his chief and 
 best pupils and imitators being Matthias Albani (1654), the 
 Klotz family (1670—1700), and in 
 more modern times, Statelmann, 
 Withalm, etc. 
 
 Francis Ruggieri (Cremona), 
 1668—1720, surnamed "II per" 
 from his ticket, which runs " Fran- 
 cesco Rugger detto il Per Cremona 
 16 — " A follower of the Amati 
 school. His outline is original and 
 graceful, his purfling broad, his 
 arching perfect, his wood fine and 
 left thick ; his scroll is equal to the 
 rest of the^-instrument ; the varnish, 
 which is ^nerally deep brown and 
 very first-rate, is very well and 
 evenly laid on. His / hole (Fig. 
 44) has been cited as a blending 
 of that of Stradivari and Nicholas 
 Amati. 
 
 Anthony Stradivari (Cremona), 
 born 1644, died 1737," the greatest 
 fiddle-maker that ever lived. He 
 was a pupil of Nicholas Amati, with whom he worked till 1670 
 before which time he used not to sign his works. Between 1670 
 and 1690he worked on Amati's "grand" model, but modified the) 
 extension of the comers ; these are known as " Amatese Stradi- 
 variuses." The arching is not so high as Amati's, but his //holes 
 and scroll are something similar. The wood (often cut acres 
 ,tiie grain), though acoustically good, is often not so handsome 
 m his earlier instruments as it was later on. After 1690 his 
 individuality began to assert itself, his model became more 
 graceful and flatter, the // holes elegant and reclining, the 
 centre bouts gracefully drawn out, as also the corners; the 
 scroll is bold and striking, and the purfling rather narroW;, 
 
 Fig. 41.—/ hole of TranoiscuB 
 Ruggieri. (1720.) 
 
78 violin-making: as it was and is. 
 
 the varnish beautiful goldeii or light red. It was at the end 
 of this period that he made the fiddles known as " Long 
 Strads," so called from their narrowness between the /holes, 
 giving them a lanky appearance, the actual size varying, the 
 varnish amber or light red. The year 1700 ^Jjrings jas to his 
 best period, the model flattish, the wood cut on the quarter, 
 and thickest in the centre under the bridge, the curves gentle 
 and harmonious, the wood of the blocks very light, often formed 
 of willow, the scroll perfect in its symmetry. The graceful // 
 holes (Fig. 45), the transcendently glorious amber-coloured or 
 rub varnish, are all character/sties of this epoch of the greatest 
 
 maker's greatest power. His best 
 instruments have the purfling 
 pointed across the corner instead 
 of following it round, and it is 
 not uncommon to find it running 
 completely through the corner. 
 His ticket runs, " Antonius Stra- 
 diuarius Cremonensis faciebat 
 Anno 17 — " Between 1725 and 
 1730 the master began to show 
 signs of approaching age {Elmi ! 
 fugaces lahuntur anni), the arch- 
 ing becoming more rounded. The 
 fiddles made after 1730 show a 
 decided falling off, many being 
 made partly or wholly by his sons 
 and pupils Omobono and Fran- 
 cisco Stradivari and Charles 
 Bergonzi, and signed " — sub 
 discipline Stradiuarii." In com- 
 FiG. 46.— /hole of Antonius mou with all old Italian instru- 
 
 Stadiuaxius. (1714.) jjjgjj^.g^ ^jjg g^^^^ y^^^ jg ^^Jj ^g^j^ 
 
 to] support the modern high tension of the strings, and nearly 
 all have to be rebarred. Stradivari made but few tenors, what 
 he did make being grand and glorious instruments. He made 
 many violoncello backs of poplar wood, some say because he 
 had run out of maple, but the date of these instruments (all 
 between 1698 — 1709) refutes such an argument. The elder 
 Chanot possessed a viplin by Stradivari which was guitar-shaped, 
 in fact like the Chanot violin {q.v. p. 114), and it is said that 
 from this instrument Savart and Chanot devolved their attempted 
 improvements in shape. j 
 
 Joseph Guarnerius (Cremona), 1690 — 1730, eldest son of 
 Andrew, than whom he was a better workman. At first copied 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL. 79 
 
 Stradiyarius and then his cousin Joseph del Jesii. The waists 
 of his instruments are narrow, the lower and upper bouts wide 
 in proportion, the curves so very graceful as to have served (as 
 some suppose) as models to the great Joseph del Jesfi himself 
 The // holes a mixture of Andrew Guarnerius and the Amati 
 and very like Gasparo da Salo's, whose idea he seems to have 
 worked, and improved upon. They are rather lower in the 
 belly and nearer the edge than is usual. Varnish very good, 
 rather thickly laid on. 
 
 Peter_ Guarnerius, 1690—1725, known as " Peter of Cre- 
 mona " in distinction to his nephew " Peter of Venice," second 
 son of Andrew. Very broad model, arching rather too high, // 
 holes very round at the ends and vertical (like Stainer). Inner 
 bouts rather weak, scroll very original, the eye prominent. 
 Purfling very neat, the corners much drawn out, varnish per- 
 fect, golden or pale red and very transparent. The bellies are 
 generally cut from an even wide-grained wood. 
 
 Laurence Guadagnini (Cremona), 1695 — 1735. This maker's 
 model, which was flattish, was broad and very bold in its con- 
 ception, his // holes varied in form, being sometimes like those 
 of Guarnerius del Jesi ; his scroll very good and original. 
 His fiddles have a beautiful mellow tone. Ticket, '' Lorenzo 
 Guadagnini, Cremona, Alumnus Stradiuarius. Fecit Anno 
 Domini 17—." 
 
 Jean Baptiste Guadagnini (Placentia), 1710 — 1750, probably 
 was a brother of Lorenzo, and with him pupil of Stradivarius, 
 whom he copied persistently, particularly in the form of his 
 scroll. His backs are very handsome, and generally "joined," 
 his bellies acoustically good, his varnish bright and highly trans- 
 parent. Ticket, "Joannes Baptista Guadagnini, Placentinus, 
 fecit Mediolani, 17 — ." 
 
 Dominic Montagnana (Cremona and Venice), 1700 — 1740, 
 pupil of Stradivari. A very excellent maker, indeed one of the 
 best, but many of his fiddles are labelled " Joseph Guarnerius del 
 Jesi" (whom he resembled in his // holes), which has tended 
 to eclipse his talent somewhat. His model is large, and all his 
 curves are rather gentler than those of his master, the inner 
 ones being particularly drawn out. The figure of his wood is 
 usually large, and his scroll is larger and more powerful than 
 that of Stradivari. His varnish is superb, arid deservedly ranked 
 among the best. Ticket, " Domenicus Mont&.gnana, Sub Signum 
 Cremonas, Venetiis, 17 — ." 
 
 Santo Seraphino (Venice), 1710 — 1748, to my mind the 
 neatest and most careful maker of the Italians. It is a pity he 
 did not strike out and apply his care to a model oif his own, 
 
80 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 instead of following a rather ugly Grerman one, a cross between 
 those of Stainer and Amati. {Gratior et pulehro veniens in 
 corpore virtus) His //holes (Fig. 46) and scroll well cut, but 
 of a poor model ; brilliant red varnish of a perfect quality, «which, 
 being sometimes too thick, gives his instruments an opaque 
 appearance. His instruments are unmistakably like one another 
 in style, though his model varied, the wood always showing the 
 grain in clear even stripes. He branded his instruments with 
 his initials S. S., in various places, particularly under the tail- 
 piece. He used a very large, well-engraved, highly ornamented 
 
 Fio. 46.— /hole of Sane- Tia. 47.— /hole of Carlo Fio. 48.— /hole of Joseph Guamerius 
 tus Seraphino. (1740.) Bergonzi. (1733.) delGesi. (1730.) Sdinton. 
 
 label, worded, " Sanctus Seraphin, Utinensis, Fecit Vjeiietijs, 
 Anno. 17—." \^ 
 
 Charles Bergonzi (Cremona), 1718 — 1755, the best pupil of 
 Anthony Stradivari. At first copied his great master closely 
 and well, and subsequently started a model of his own\ of fine 
 size and good thickness of wood, flat and even, the wood hand- 
 some, and the work excellent. The lower bouts being, rather 
 liroad, the inner bouts set rather at an angle, the upper bouts 
 larger than those of Stradivari, the scroll cut rather flat, but 
 very bold, though not so well proportioned and finished as 
 that of Stradivari; the eye of the scroll being rather pro- 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL. 81 
 
 minent, the whole instrument possessing a considerable indi- 
 viduality. His // holes (Fig. 47) are set lower in the belly 
 than those of his master; in form they are between those of 
 Stradivari and Gruamerius, and are set rather near the edge of 
 the fiddle. His varnish varies from amber, through pale, to 
 deep red, put on sometimes thickly, sometimes thinly. His 
 fiddles are sometimes confused with those of Gruamerius, but are 
 more Stradiuarian in character. His ticket runs, " Anno 17 — . 
 Carlo Bergonzi fece in Cremona." His son and pupil, Michael 
 Angelo Bergonzi, 1750 — 1780, was inferior to ms father as a 
 workman. 
 
 Franciscus and Omobono Stradivari, 1720 — 1743, were pupils 
 and sons of the great Stradivari, and worked together after the 
 death of their father. As workmen inferior to their father, they 
 worked up much of his refuse and unfinished material after his 
 death. Francis was a better luthier than his brother, and his 
 work, which shows his high tuition, is not without merit and 
 originality, differing much from his father in outline of hisy"hole. 
 The tope of his fiddles is very intense and good. 
 
 Joseph Anthony Guarnerius (Cremona), bom 1683, worked 
 1725 — 1745. The best workman of the family of Guarneri ; 
 
 snrnamed " del Gesi," from the device i u e be was in the 
 
 habit of placing on his labels. His work may be divided into 
 four periods. In the Jirst, his model varied, but he chiefly copied 
 Joseph (son of Andrew) ; the scroll rather mean, the wood 
 cut out at the shoulder, the yy holes long and marked. Second 
 period. — Cut his backs chiefly " on the quarter ; " the pattern 
 rather small, not too highly arched, gently sloping to the sides ; 
 the varnish very good ; the wood left rather thick, especially in 
 his backs ; the pattern on the whole not unHke Stradivari in 
 the rather drawn-out centre bouts and narrow waist. The // 
 holes were considerably curved, the scroll very bold and well 
 cut, the purfling often running through both pegs, and the 
 varnish of a rich golden brown. Third period. — The pattern 
 rather large and very original ; the wood cut on the quarter ; 
 the thicknesses perfectly proportioned, though sometimes a 
 trifle excessive in the centre of the back. His varnish during 
 this period was his best, and has been considered equal to 
 Stradivari's. The fiddles of this period are broader in the 
 waist, the inner bout long, but very elegant, the // holes long 
 and perpendicular (Fig. 48), the scroll perfect, and the varnish 
 of a lovely orange shade. His / holes at this time may be 
 described as the perfection of Gaspare da Sale's model. In his 
 fourth period, Joseph Guarnerius del Gesii seems to have cast 
 
82 violin-making: as it was and is. 
 
 away his high ideal and worked carelessly tq satisfy present 
 wants, so roughly and imperfectly finished are his later instru- 
 ments. It is said that many (known as " Prison fiddles," 
 "Drunken Josephs," etc.) were made in prison, with tools, 
 wood, and varnish brought him by the gaoler's daughter. 
 They are high built, the scroll stiflF, the ff holes too long and 
 clumsy, the wood and varnish alike inferior. In his better 
 days it has been said that he made a great many of his bellies 
 from one piece of wood, from a corresponding stain down each 
 side of the finger-board in all of them. I have seen many 
 "Josephs," but never such an one. He seems to have in a 
 great measure varied his thicknesses according to the acoustic 
 qualities of his wood, Paganini's celebrated violin {vide note ^, 
 p. 23) was a Joseph Guarnerius (1743). The work of Joseph 
 Guarnerius may be summed up in one old French couplet : — 
 
 " Quelques taches, quelqijes d6fauts 
 Ne d^parent point une belle." 
 
 l^jHis ticket runs : — - 
 
 " Joseph Guarnerius fecit, + 
 Cremonse, Anno 17 — ." | H S 
 
 Vincenzo Panormo (Palermo), boi-n 1740, died 1813. Very 
 perfect copyist of Stradivari, for whose fiddles his are often 
 mistaken. His work is very neat and well-executed, the scroll 
 and ff holes being particulaHy well cut. 
 
 Charles Ferdinand Landolfi (Milan), 1750. Model decidedly 
 original, with a stiff inner bout not unlike Joseph del Gesu, his 
 edges often deeply grooved, his // holes not in keeping with the 
 rest of his instrument ; his scroll rather mean, the varnish at 
 times excellent; He left a great many instruments unpurfled, 
 and otherwise in an unfinished state. His wood was handsome, 
 and his varnish very transparent ; he was the last maker who 
 used the glorious old Cremona varnish. His ticket runs, 
 " Carlo Ferdinand© Landolphi nella contradadi santa Margarita 
 al segno della Sirena. Milano 17 — ." 
 
 Lawrence Storioni (Cremona), 1780 — 1798. The last of the 
 old Italian makers, a clever but inelegant workman, was as 
 original and variable as Joseph del Gesii, whom he copied, the 
 outHne being often unsymmetrical, and the position of his// holes 
 constantly changing. The varnish a dark red Neapolitan, the 
 purfling narrow and roughly inlaid, the scroll stiff and incom- 
 plete, the wood acoustically good, but not handsome. 
 
 This brings us to the end of our space for Italian makers j. 
 it remains, therefore, to glance at the best-known makers of 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL. 83 
 
 other countries, who, howeyer, were, and are at best, but 
 mere copyists ; not indeed that I am, as too many connoisseurs 
 are, a bigoted laudator temporis acti. Far from it. It has been 
 said impartially (and also, I am sorry to say, for purposes of 
 advertisement), that fiddles are now being made in this country 
 and on the Continent, which in years to come will equal, if they 
 do not excel, the masterpieces of the old Italian fiddle-makers. 
 Though I do not go so far as the latter statement, I certainly 
 agree with the former, and consider that during the first half 
 of this century were made (and, were it not for the auri sacra 
 fames of the present day, still would be made) instruments 
 (mostly made by the following makers), which are, arid will be, 
 AveU worthy to replace the works of the Italian masters when 
 they, in their turn, succumb like everything else to inevitable 
 age (vide p. 20). 
 
 Nicholas Lupot (Paris), 1784 — 1824. Is cited as the best of 
 the French makers. He copied Stradivari almost exclusively, 
 though his copies of the other great masters are also excellent. 
 Used a very good varnish, which varied from light to dark red. 
 He supplied M. I'Abb^ Sibire with the information for "La 
 Chelonomie, on le parfait Luthier " (Paris, 1806), in which his 
 praises are sung to an absurd degree, the author ending with 
 the following verse : — 
 
 ■'o 
 
 " Du plus grand des Luthiers imitateur fiddle, 
 Lupot a recr66 le vemis prteieux ; 
 C'est de son coloris le ton harmonieux, 
 Et la oopie est le modfele." 
 
 Jean Baptiste Vuillaume (Paris), born 1799, died 1875, is said 
 to have been one of the most perfect copyists and imitators that 
 ever lived. His original model founded on that of Stradivari 
 shows extraordinary merit. 
 
 Barak Norman (London), 1688—1740. Originally a viol- 
 maker ; copied Maggini very much, especially in his double 
 purfling. High build, // holes decidedly German in style, 
 varnish very dark. 
 
 Benjamin Banks (Salisbuiy), born 1727, died 1795. Copied 
 Amati, and used a very excellent varnish. Left his wood 
 rather thick, so that his instruments have immensely improved 
 with age. His only weak point was his scroll, which seems 
 wanting in character. Many of his instruments are branded 
 with his initials, B. B,, in several places. Ticket, " Benjamin 
 Banks, fecit Salisbury." 
 
 Thomas Dodd (London). Best known by his very perfect 
 vamish, the secret of whose composition he kept to himself. 
 
84 VIOLIN-MAKING: AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 He did not make fiddles himself, but employed Fendt and 
 Lott, whose instruments he received "in the white," and 
 varnished with his own hand. The instruments of Fendt and 
 Lott are among the best of English manufacture, Lott being 
 chiefly famed for his double-basses. 
 
 William Forster (London), born 1739, died 1808, one of the 
 best English makers, copied the Amati school. His varnish 
 was exceptionally fine. 
 
 Eichard Dake (London), 1768. Copied Amati, his work 
 and -varnish, which was yellowish, being excellent, the pattern 
 long. Has been most copiously and ruthlessly copied and 
 imitated. His tenors were small and very broad ; some of his 
 instruments are poor, having merely been stained deep brown, 
 and then a coat of varnish laid on. 
 
 Peter Walmsley (London), about 1720—1760. One of the 
 best English makers, followed the Stainer model. He was in 
 the habit of artificially aging his instruments, consequently his 
 wood is often too thin to last well. His varnish was reddish, or 
 yellowish, brown ; he often drew lines round his instruments, 
 instead of inlaying purfle. 
 
 John Lott (London), 1830 — 1870. One of our most talented 
 makers, and perhaps our best native copyist. Marvellous tales 
 are told of his cunning in the matter of repairs, which has been 
 compared with that of J. B. Vuillaume himself. 
 
 William Ebsworth Hill (London), 1830. Now living. The 
 last surviving representative of the old English school. Works 
 out an original model from the masterpieces of Stradivari and 
 Guameri. 
 
 Georges Chanot (London), now living. Son of the cele- 
 brated Georges Chanot of Paris. Magnificent workman, and 
 marvellous copyist. Copies Stradivari, Guarneri, and Maggini. 
 Varnish light brown, and of magnificent consistency. Con- 
 sidered by many to be the finest fiddlemaker living, since his 
 father's death. 
 
 Edward Withers (London), 1860. Now living. Only pupil 
 of John Lott, whose style and varnish he has copied and 
 improved upon at times. Copies Stradivarius and Joseph del 
 Gesi. Varnish of a red gold colour. 
 
 Jacobs (Amsterdam), 1690 — 1740. So close and perfect a 
 copyist of Nicholas Amati that the two are often confounded. 
 Followed the " grand " pattern. His distinguishing marks are 
 his rather inferior scroll and whalebone purfling. Varnish, very 
 fine. 
 
 A word before we leave the consideration of the modem fiddle 
 trade, on the manufactories at Mirecourt; these turn out many 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL. 85 
 
 thousands of crude " noise boxes " annually, labelled, as a rule, 
 Antonius Stradivarius, Joseph Guarnerius, or Jacob Steiner 
 fecit. These are extraordinary for their quantity and cheapness. 
 M. Gallay, in his report on the Vienna Exhibition, noticing the 
 establishments of Thibouville-Lamy (who have a London house 
 in Charterhouse Street) quotes as follows the actual cost of the 
 manufacture of one of these fiddles. Wood for back 2d., wood 
 for belly 2d., manufacture of same l^d., wood for neck ^d., 
 making same lid., finger-board (stained) 2d., cutting l^d., 
 moulding back and belly 12^d., varnish XOd., fitting up, strings, 
 tail-piece, bridge, etc., l^d. — Total 4s. 2d. M. Gallay goes on 
 to say that he heard such a fiddle as this, chosen from a number 
 of similar ones and carefully mounted and strung and played, 
 the tone and results obtained from which at a concert in Vienna 
 were most satisfactory. 
 
 And here I must cease these memoranda, which for shortness I 
 have confined exclusively to the fiddle proper (to the exclusion 
 of the 'cello and double bass), apologising for their extreme brevity 
 by the fact that we must hurry on to the practical part of our 
 work. They are collected from the most reliable sources, arid 
 especially I desire here to record my best thanks to the collectors 
 and dealers who have kindly placed both their trade-stocks and 
 private collections of fiddles at my disposal for the purposes of 
 these notes. To all such as are interested by them, and would 
 care fot more historical and biographical detail, I recommend 
 Mr. Hart's book before referred to, as dealing most fully with 
 all matters connected with the old and new "fiddle-makers." 
 
 " There sat dame Mnsyke, with al her mynstralsy ; 
 Ab taboures, trumpettes, wyth pypys melody ous, 
 Sackbuttes, orgounes, and the recorder swetely, 
 Haipes, lutes, and croudes right delyoyous." 
 
 S, Hawts : Tlie Passe Tyme of Pleasure 
 (London, 1509). , 
 
CHAPTEE IV. 
 
 THE BOW. 
 
 Progressive History of the Bow. — The Corelli Bow. — The Crfimaillfere. — Tourte. — 
 The Modern Bow. — Dimensions. — Hairing and Eehairing. — Eosin and its 
 Action. — Folding Bow. — Vviillaume's Bow. — Withers. — Other Patents. — The 
 Great Bow-makers. 
 
 It ias been justly remarked that the History of the Violin is in 
 point of fact the history of the bow, and this is indeed the case, 
 for without the bow the fiddle (properly so called) cannot exist. 
 Without it the fiddle would cease to express every human 
 emotion, would cease to produce the continuous flow of melody 
 that instruments of this class alone of all stringed instruments are 
 capable of producing, and would, in fact, without this magic wand, 
 at whose touch its marvellous powers are called into being, 
 " become as the sounding guitar and tinkling banjo," and cease 
 to merit the charming comparison drawn in Macheath's song in 
 Gay's Beggar's Opera (vide note *, p. 10). At the same time, 
 if it is difficult to trace the progressive history of the Violin, 
 it is infinitely more so to trace that of the Bow, and for very 
 obvious reasons, for if in paintings and sculptures of the present 
 day artists do not pay much attention to the execution of so 
 ( apparently) subordinate a part of the subject (as is evidenced 
 by pictures and sculptures of our own day, in which though 
 often the representation of the fiddle is accurate, yet " the fiddle- 
 stick" is a very different concern from the bow of everyday 
 use), how much less, therefore, are the representations of past 
 centuries to be depended upon. 
 
 As to who invented the bow this is not the place to discuss ; 
 the invention of the bow being, in fact, the origin of the 
 vioKn, and as such already discussed in Chapter I. Of course 
 we cannot take as absolute gospel the testimony of P. B. 
 Zaccharia Tevo, who in his Musieo Testore, published at Milan 
 in 1706, asserts, " Safo poetessa invento Varco de crini di cavallo, 
 e fit la prima che lo suonase come si costuma oggidi.^' It is most 
 probable, however, that the Orientals were the first to use the 
 
THE BOW. 87 
 
 bow, as seen in its primitive form (Figs. 49 and 50), which 
 has continued among them even to the present day; as they 
 were, in the opmion of M. Fetis set forth further on, the first to 
 improve it by the addition of the nut. As to when and where the 
 actual word "bow," or its foreign equivalent "archet," was first 
 used, opinions have differed, though it seems to me absolutely 
 obvious that it is identical with the Latin arcus=bow, but some 
 ingenious etymologists have tried to derive it from the Greek 
 apxv='iominion, from the dominion which it exercises 
 over the violin, which seems to me to be, at iany rate, 
 very far-fetched. As to its actual invention as the 
 accessory, and in fact motive power of the violin, 
 the value of pictorial representations may be proved 
 by a glance at Figs. 51 — 60, which represent bows 
 only taken from the most reliable sources, from , 
 pictures, sculptures, etc., of every century, from 
 the eighth to the seventeenth. The first thing 
 jj that will strike you will be the great similarity S 
 I which exists between all of them, from the first g 
 I to the last, and also the close parallel which may ^ 
 I be drawn between any one of them and the | 
 a primitive modern bows represented in I'igs. 49 ° 
 3 and 50, which show two bows now in use § 
 jj among the Moors and the primitive Indians, s- 
 ^ which are indeed of the most simple and obvious w 
 M form in which the bow could exist. The con- t 
 ^ elusion we are brought to is consequently this : ^ 
 a either all representations of bows which have 
 ^ come down to us are unreliable, or, the bow, 
 instead of developing as the fiddle undoubtedly did, 
 remained in a state of primitive simplicity, and bore 
 till a comparatively recent date the same relation to 
 its companion the fiddle, as do the early specimens of 
 Delft ware and the exquisite Sevres specimens, which 
 recline side by side in the cabinets of the delightfully 
 incongruous nineteenth century drawing-room. If you 
 ask me to which of these conclusions I incline, I think; 
 the two deductions are to one another as three times two 
 are to twice three, and that a combination of the two would pro- 
 bably account for the present misty aspect of the past history of 
 the bow. Let us, however, dissect these figures and discuss in 
 detail the extent (if any) to which they are reliable. 
 
 Fig. 51 is from Riihlmann's Geschichie der Bogeninstrumente^ 
 
 ' J. Buhlmaxm, " GescMchte der Bogeninstrumente, etc., mit einem Atlas von 
 sdii. Tafeln " (Brunswick, 1882). 
 
VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 Fig. 61.— Bow of the Eiehtli Cen- 
 tury, from Herti6s " Costumes 
 Franfais." 
 
 who quotes it from Herb^'s Costumes Frangais ; Fig. 52 is from 
 the Abbot Gerbert's De Cantu et Afusicd Sacrd (St. Blasius, 
 1774), and is taken from the MS. of St. Blasius, of the ninth 
 
 century. It will be observed that this 
 shows a very respectable form, as does 
 also Fig. 53, which is reproduced from 
 Strutt."^ In Fig. 54, a, b, and d are 
 crwth bows, the two former from a MS. 
 at Neuberg, and the latter from the MS. from St. Martial de 
 Limoges, and forms part of Fig. 33. c. Fig. 54, is from an 
 enamelled plate, dug up at Soissons, on which we find two females 
 playing bow instruments — one 
 of them having a bow almost 
 identical with the ravanastron 
 bow, represented in Fig. 49, 
 and the other having the bow 
 here represented. A, Fig. 55, 
 is from the crwth player, repre- 
 sented in Fig, 35 ; b. Fig. 55, from a window in the Cathedral 
 of St. Denis, and c. Fig. 55, from Strutt in his work before 
 referred to, are, again, a very considerable advance in point of 
 shape. There is a figure of Neptune on a 
 capital in a MS. at Douai of this century, 
 holding a bow, which is absolutely and 
 identically the same as that represented 
 at c, Fig. 54 ; D, Fig. 55, is also from a. 
 sculpture at St. Denis, and its similarity 
 to A in the same figure will be at once remarked. 
 
 Fig. 62.— Bow of Ninth Century, from MS. of 
 St. Blasius, from Gerbert, '* De Cantu et 
 Musica Sacia," 1774. 
 
 Fig. 53.— Bow of the Tenth 
 Century ,fromCottonMS.Tib. 
 cvi., J. Strutt, " Sports and 
 Pastimes of the People of 
 England." (1866.) 
 
 Fig. 54. Bows of the Eleventh Centniy. A and B, from a Prayer-book in the Library of tha 
 
 Convent of Neuberg, near Vienna (Crwth bow). 0, from enamelled plate dug up near 
 Soissons (probably Thirteenth Century). D, from MS. in Library of St. Martial, 
 Limoges (Crwth bow). 
 
 In the bows of the thirteenth century (Fig. 56) we find 
 
 ' J. strutt, " Glig-Gamena Angel-lcod ; or, Sports and Pastimes of England" 
 (London, 18013. 
 
THE BOW. 
 
 89 
 
 ^"'bowT'^°Trfm,„' Wil^^5'^'i?'S'^•■ -*?,*i"" sculpture in Worcester Cathedral (Crwth 
 
 Fio. 56.— Bows 01 une Thirteenth Century. A, from acalptiire at Cathedral of Bouen. B, 
 from an Italian miniature (late) in the possession of J. B. Tnillaume. C, from A. Vidal, 
 " Lea Instruments a Archet," Paris, 1876. D, from picture by Cimabue in Pitti Palace, 
 Florence. 
 
 Via. S7.— Bows of the Fourteenth Oeutory. A, from MS. De Coussemaker, " Essai sur les 
 Instruments de Musique." B, from painting by Barnabas de Modena, 1374. C, from 
 " Liber Eegalis of Richard II." (Strati's "Manners and Customs," London. 1776). D, 
 from Potior, "Monuments Fran9ais." E, from sculpture on Ely Cathedral. F, frOmMS. 
 (Do Diversis Monochodis, etc.,) in Library at Ghent. G, from sculpture at Cologne 
 Cathedral. 
 
so VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 another stride towards perfection, A, Fig. 56, from a sculpture 
 in the Cathedral of Kouen, and D, Fig. 56, from a picture by 
 Cimabue, in the gallery of the Pitbi Palace at Florence, being 
 almost perfect, b. Fig. 56, is again rather elementary by com- 
 parison, and c, Fig. 56, from a figure of a jongleur, given by 
 M. Vidal, reminds us very much of Fig. 53, Strutt's Anglo- 
 Saxon bow. In Fig. 57 we get more improvements and 
 more retrogressions. A is from a MS. reproduced by M. de 
 Coussemaker, D from a sculpture in Potier's " Monuments 
 Frangais," B from a picture by Barnabas de Modena, e are from 
 Ely Cathedral ; and in them there is' too much want of detail for 
 them to be historically valuable to any great extent. We are in- 
 debted to Strutt again, in his " Liber Kegalis," for c. Fig. 57, 
 and to a Ghent MS. for f; these two are somewhat similar, and 
 are again rather a reversion to simplicity than an improvement. 
 In the fifteenth century the improvements in bow instruments 
 drew with them like improvements in the bow, and though in 
 Fig. 58 A, c, and d, which are from pictures, are elementary, 
 
 Jig. 68.— Bows of the Pifteenth Century. A, from Minstrel's Pillar, St. Mary's Chnroli, 
 Beverly. B, from Wood-carving in Choir, Church of St. Godehard, Hildesheim 
 (Trumpet Marine). C and D, from painting Taj Eemling. B, from Raphael's " Orown- 
 *ing of the Virgin," in the Vatican. 
 
 yet E and B are most interesting, as showing respectively the 
 violin and double-bass bow of the epoch, b, Fig. 58, the bow 
 of a trumpet marine, is from a MS. in the Monastery of 
 St. Grodehard, of Hildesheim ; and E we may consider trust- 
 worthy, being from a picture by Raphael, in the Vatican. In 
 the sixteenth century, which saw the actual introduction of the 
 violin, and when books began to be written on the instruments 
 "then in use, our evidence on the forms of the bow becomes 
 
THE BOW. 
 
 91 
 
 practically certain, though artistic representations of bows of 
 the most elementary description continued to be produced, just 
 as they are now. In Fig. 59, c and b (the latter especially) 
 may be considered trustworthy, being from illustrated works 
 on instrumental music. E, F, and g, the first and last par- 
 ticularly, may' be taken as artistically fanciful. F is from 
 a musical work, but the designator has evidently paid little 
 
 -^(& 
 
 Pig. 69. — Bows of the Srsteenth Century. A, from St. Cecilia, by Eaphael, at 
 Bologna. B and C, from M. Agricola, " Musica Instrmnentalis '' (Wittenterg), 
 1S45. D, from " Marriage at Oona of Galilee," Paul Veronese (at Versailles). B, 
 from engraving by Altdorfer in German Museum, Niimberg. F, from Gafurius, 
 " De Harmonia Musicorum Instrumentorum," 1518. G, from Potter. H, from 
 painting by Gerard Dow, Dresden Gallery. 
 
 attention to so minor a consideration as " the fiddlestick." 
 D is from Paul Veronese's well-known picture, the 
 " Marriage at Oana of Galilee," and as Paul was himself 
 a viol player, any representation of a musical instrument 
 by him we may accept as historic. The same remark 
 applies to H, which is from a picture by Gerard Dow in 
 the Dresden Gallery; for Gerard Dow's mother, we know, 
 played the viol da gamba, from her famous portrait by her son. 
 A, Fig. 59, we may also take as trustworthy, being from Raphael's 
 famous/picture of " St. Cecilia " at Bologna. 
 
 After this, the bow as we now have it, was practically intro- 
 duced, and our further representations thereof will be merely 
 
92 violin-making: as it was and is. 
 
 progressive, and not including the results of artists* imaginings. 
 With the figures we have before us, it remains, therefore, only 
 to separate fancy from fact as near as we can ; and this division I 
 think you may safely say will be as follows : Figs. 51, 52, and 53 
 we must take as they stand, but Fig. 52, it must be remembered, 
 is the work of a priest, reproduced from the work of another priest, 
 and we may, therefore, consider this figure as about right. In 
 Pig. 54, c is about the best form, and most credible, A being a 
 more elementary form, probably actually in use among the lower 
 class of fiddlers ; c is from a well designed work of art, and is, 
 therefore, most likely to be copied from existing specimens, but 
 there exists some doubt whether it should not properly be dated 
 thirteenth century. In the same way Fig. 53 gives probably a 
 correct idea of the bow used by the peasants and lower classes. 
 It is probable that up to comparatively recently the bows used 
 with the rebecs, or lower bow instruments, continued to be hardly 
 more than arcs, as depicted by Figs. 49 and 50, notwithstanding 
 the great improvements in the bow with which the higher classes 
 of viols were played. 
 
 In Fig. 55, A and D are probably artistic representations 
 of a bow, nearly related to our double-bass bow; one side being 
 probably represented flat; indeed, some authors have figured 
 D, Fig. 55, almost identically our contrabass bow, but I cannot 
 say for certain, as I have never noticed the original at St. Denis. 
 B and c may be taken as approximately correct delineations 
 of the viol bow, A and d being probably for the greater 
 viols and trumpet marine. In Fig. 56, c and B are artistically 
 elementary, but A and d especially may be considered faith- 
 ful representations. In Fig. 57, a, b, t>, and E represent the 
 actual, and c, r, G the fanciful element. D and G are, 
 however, probably near the actual gross-geig bow. In Fig. 
 58,, A, D and c representing fiction, B and E may be said to 
 represent fact, in the form of the double-bass and viol bows 
 of the period. In Fig. 59 we reach certain evidence, f and G 
 being the last relics (as far as we are concerned) of that artistic 
 imagination which always has, and always will stand in the way of 
 the antiquary who searches after truth. And so by progressive 
 stages we are brought to Figs. 60, 61, and 62, the last points in the 
 history of the bow. These are all absolutely faithful diagrams of 
 the existing bows taken from contemporary and reliable authors. 
 
 It is now that we see the nut minutely delineated for the 
 first time, though it must not be supposed that it was a recent 
 introduction. It is difficult to say where the nut was first intro- 
 duced. M. F6tis is of opinion that it owes its origin to the east, 
 and cites as evidence in his Antoine Stradivari (vide note ^, p. 37), 
 
THE BOW. 
 
 93 
 
 Fio. 60. — Bows of tlie Seventeentli Century. A, B, C, and D, from M. Hersennne, 
 "Traits d'Harmonie Universelle," 1627. E, P, from C. Simpson, "The 
 Division Viol," 1687. G, H, from M. Praetorius, " Theatrum Instnunen- 
 torum," 1620. 
 
 an Arabian MS. of the time of the first Caliphs, which 
 depicts a bow with a fixed nut. He quotes also a bow 
 of his own, made of cherry-wood at Bagdad, with a 
 properly constructed head and nut to receive the hair, 
 the nut fitting into a notch in the stick. 
 
 The nut we see in Fig. 60 is in all cases fixed ; B 
 represents perhaps the most ornate bow of the century, 
 and B and f are most interesting as coming from an instruction 
 
94 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 book for the viol da gamba,^ B, which shows the holding 
 of the bow, is of the actual size of the picture from which it 
 is reduced. G brings us apparently very near the modern 
 bow, but is too small to be very useful as a representation. 
 H introduces us again to the contrabass bow, and shows us 
 we were right to accept as reliable Raphael's representation, 
 A, Fig. 59. 
 
 It was in this century also that, it being found necessary to 
 moderate the tightness of the hair, the crimaillere was added to 
 the existing form of the bow. This is shown by Fig. 61, and 
 
 A 
 
 Fio. 61.— Bow of the Eighteenth Century, with Or^mailUre to tighten the hair. 
 
 was a strip of notched metal as at A, fixed to the back of the 
 stick. To the movable nut was added a band of metal which 
 could be hitched over any of these notches, and the tension of 
 the bow thereby regulated at will. 
 
 We now arrive at the eighteenth centurj', in which to the 
 violins of Stradivari were added the bows of Tourte. It is to 
 this latter, who lived at the commencement of the eighteenth cen- 
 tury, when, for the first time, Corelli and Vivaldi were showing 
 of what the violin was capable, that the invention of the nut 
 worked by a propelling and withdrawing screw is generally 
 attributed ; his bows were a great improvement on pre-existing 
 forms, being better proportioned, and made of lighter wood, not 
 to mention the elegant manner in which he was in the habit of 
 fluting his bows, throughout half, or the whole, of their length. 
 The head was generally long, pointed, and turned back, which 
 gave the bow a very graceful appearance, as in Fig. 62. 
 
 
 Fid. 62.— Bow by Tourte ain^ (with screw and movable nut). 
 
 The nut and head of the screw were generally of ivory. Mr. 
 Arthur Hill has perhaps the best collection of old bows in 
 England, for the bows of the old viols are much more scarce, 
 unfortunately, than the viols themselves. 
 
 Tourte's eldest son was much inferior to his father as a 
 workman ; it is his younger son, Francis Tourte, whose name 
 connected with a bow is like the name of Stradivari connected 
 with a violin. M. F6tis in his chapter on bows, at the end of 
 his Antoine Stradivari, has given a most interesting and valuable 
 
 ' ChriBtopher Simpson, " The Diyision Viol " (London, 1667). 
 
THE BOW. 95 
 
 account of this king of bow-makers, which, as translated by 
 Mr. John Bishop (of Cheltenham), is shortly as follows : — 
 
 "Francis Tourte, long known by the name of Tourte, junior, 
 was born in Paris in 1747, in St. Margaret's Street, and died in 
 April, 1835, aged eighty-eight years. Intended by his father for 
 the business of a clockmaker, he entered, when very young, into 
 a workshop, neglected every other study, and never knew tow 
 to read or write. Perhaps he was indebted to the trade which 
 he at first followed for the skill and delicacy of hand which he 
 afterwards displayed in the manufacture of bows. Disgusted 
 with his condition after having passed eight years in the 
 clockmaking workshops, because he did not there meet with 
 sufficient remuneration for his needs, he took to the business of 
 his father and brother. At this period the distinguished artists 
 resident in Paris were making progress towards the art of 
 singing on their instruments with the shades of expression of 
 which the great Italian vocalists had given the example; and 
 they all desired bows which should answer better to the effects 
 which they wished to produce, and which should possess at the 
 same time greater lightness, spring, and elasticity. Francis 
 Tourte made his first essays with wood from the staves of sugar 
 casks, with a view to determining the forms of the bow and to 
 acquire skill in working without making use of expensive 
 materials. He sold these early products of his manufacture for 
 twenty or thirty sous each (ten or fifteen pence). Being an 
 indefatigable investigator and fully sensible of the important 
 action of the bow in the production of tone, he subsequently 
 tried all kinds of wood which appeared to him proper to realize 
 his views ; but he was not long in discovering that Fernambuc 
 wood alone would yield the results which he sought to attain, 
 and that it alone combined stifiiiess with lightness. The period 
 of the first and important discoveries of Tourte extends from 
 1775 ito 1780. Unfortunately, the maritime wars of France 
 and England then presented a serious obstacle to the importa- 
 tion of Fernambuc wood on the Continent, and the price of 
 this valuable article used for dyeing rose to five shillings the 
 pound. Fernambuc wood intended for dyeing purposes is 
 exported in billets : that which is richest in colouring matter is 
 likewise the best for the manufacture of bows ; but it is rare to 
 find billets which are straight and only slightly defective,, for 
 the wood is nearly always knotty, cracked inside, and crooked 
 in every direction. Sometimes eight or ten tons of Fernambuc 
 wood scarcely present any pieces with a straight grain, and suit- 
 able for making good bow sticks. The rarity of this wood at the 
 period here mentioned explains the enormous price which Tourte 
 
96 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 asked for his bows ; he sold a bow, the nut of which was made 
 of tortoise-shell, the head inlaid with mother-of-pearl, and the 
 mounting of the nut and button of gold, for nearly £12. His 
 best bows mounted in silver with an ebony nut were sold at 
 aboqt £3 3s., and the ordinary unornamented bows fetched 
 about thirty shillings." 
 
 Tourte finally fixed the length of the violin bow between 29"134 
 and 29"528 inches, and fixed also the requisite height from the 
 stick of the head and nut, counteracting the weight of the head 
 by the ornamentations in silver, gold, etc., with which the nnt 
 of a bow is loaded. Tourte bent his bows by means of heat 
 to the required shape, and it is thus that all bows are shaped, 
 not cut out of a plank the shape which we see them, as many 
 violin players suppose, for the latter would cut the fibres of the 
 wood across instead of preserving them intact throughout the 
 length of the stick, as is essential to a good bow. It is most 
 necessary that the stick should be heated right through the 
 inner fibres before being bent, otherwise these inner fibres, being 
 unheated, would in time cause the outer and heated fibres to 
 resume their normal position. It is inattention to this point 
 that causes the rapid deterioration and straightening out of 
 apparently cheap bows. 
 
 Tourte paid as much attention to the hairing of his bows as 
 to their sticks. On this point F6tis says, " He preferred the 
 hair of France because it is larger and stronger than that of 
 other countries." The preparation to which he subjected it 
 consisted in scouring it with soap ; he then put it into bran 
 water, and lastly, after removing the heterogeneous particles 
 which had adhered to it, he plunged it into pure water, lightly 
 coloured with blue. His daughter was almost constantly em- 
 ployed in sorting the hairs, rejecting such of them as were not 
 perfectly cylindrical and equal throughout their length. This 
 IS a most delicate and necessary operation, for not more than one- 
 tenth of a given number of hairs aie fit for use, the greater 
 portion having one side flat, and presenting numerous inequali- 
 ties. At the period when Viotti arrived in Paris, the hairs of 
 the bow nearly always clustered together in a round mass, which 
 ■ impaired the quality of the tone. After making his observations 
 on this point, Tourte conceived the possibility of compelling 
 the hairs to preserve the appearance of a ribbon by pinching them 
 at the nut with a ferrule (c, Fig. 63), which he made first of tin, 
 and afterwards of silver. He subsequently invented " the slide," 
 i.e., the little plate of mother-of-pearl which covers the hair on 
 the face of the nut. He did not use quite as many hairs as 
 are now generally put into a bow, the number now being, an a 
 
THE BOW. 
 
 97 
 
 k 
 
 moaern form 
 Tourte, jun., 
 
 rule, between 150 and 200. At the end of Fetis' Antoine 
 Stradivari is given a most carefully and scientifically 
 worked-out determination of the true working pro- 
 portions of the Tourte bow, and how they may be 
 obtained. 
 
 Fig. 63 represents the 
 as finally determined by 
 tiretj, Figs. 64 
 and 65 repre- 
 sent the head 
 and nut, actual 
 size, and Fig. 
 66 one of the 
 wedge-boxes 
 enlarged. Fig. 
 64 represents 
 the nut and 
 screw as set on 
 the stick of the 
 bow. In the 
 nut is a small 
 box (represent- 
 ed by Fig. 66), 
 into which the 
 knot M of the 
 hair (Fig. 67) 
 is fixed by 
 means of the 
 wedge N. The 
 hair L being 
 brought out 
 and along the 
 front of the nut 
 E (Fig. 64), 
 the ornamental 
 plate H I J is 
 slid over it 
 alongamortised 
 groove. Tho 
 band K is then 
 
 Fig. 64.— Nat and Screw of Modern Bow, showing 
 method of fixing the hair. 
 
 pressed into its place and fixed by the pressure of the 
 thin wedge o, which being pressed in between the 
 tongue of the nut E and the hair L, keeps the latter 
 flat, firm, and fast. The entire nut E slides along the 
 stick A by the action of the screw b c ; the surface 
 
 7 
 
98 
 
 VIOLIN-MAKING: AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 which lies against the stick is cut angularly (as in G, Fig. 64), 
 the cutting G being often lined with a thin bent plate of 
 metal. The hair L leaving the nut E passes in a ribbon 
 about half an inch broad to the head, where it is in a like 
 manner fixed into a similar wedge-box (Fig. 66). The face 
 of the head is generally protected by means of a metal or ivory 
 plate (p, Fig. 65). The length of the bow is generally as near as 
 possible 29^ inches (from the button to the tip of P, Fig. 65); 
 the diameter of the stick is, at the screw (b. Fig. 64), |-inch, and 
 at the back of the head y\. The diameter of the head across the 
 plate (p, Fig. 65) is -j-Vj ^^^ ^^^ length of the head from top to 
 bottom of p is one inch.^ The hair with which the bows are fitted 
 (which is horse, and not, as some people imagine, yak) is sold 
 
 Fig. 66. — Wedge-box in head, and nut 
 of modem Xtbw f enlarged). 
 
 Fie. 66. — Head of Modem 
 Bow, showing method of 
 fixing the hair. 
 
 Fia. 67.— Knot at ends 
 ■of hair. 
 
 by the pound, and, as I noticed before, in discussing Tourte's 
 bow, it must be very carefully chosen and cleaned. It is also 
 customary to lap or cover the sticks of bows for a space of a 
 few inches above the nut with gold or silver thread or leather. 
 -This is doubtless a great convenience in holding the bow ; it 
 was for the same purpose that the elder Tourte, and some of the 
 old bow makers, used to flute their stick over half or throughout 
 their length, often in a most exquisite manner. 
 
 ' Mr. W. S. B. Woolliouae gave some intensely scientific "Notes on the 
 Suitable Proportions and Dimensions of a Violin Bow " to the Monthly 
 Musical Record for July 1875, which are most interesting, but I fear hardly 
 intelligible to the majority of bow-makers. He follows his remarks the next 
 month (August 1875) with a " Supplementary Note " on the Bows of James 
 Tubbs (vide p. 103). 
 
THE BOW. 99 
 
 To Hair, or Sehair a Bow. — If the latter, you must first 
 unhair it ; commence by cutting the hair off short at the nut, 
 then lifting the hair up pick the wedge N, Fig. 66, out of the 
 head wedge-box, and pull out the -knot M. Then take off the 
 band K, Fig. 64, first pulling out the wedge o. Draw oflf the 
 plate H I J, lift up the ends of the hair l, Fig. 67, pick the 
 wedge N, Fig. 66, out of the nut wedge-box, and pull out the 
 knot M. The stick is now clear of hair, wedges, and all, as if it 
 had never been haired, and you can now proceed to hair it. 
 The hair should either be kept in a large coil tied together 
 loosely at one end, or straight out, wrapped round with paper in 
 a drawer, the latter mode being the best. Lay out the bundle 
 of hair on the bench and place a heavy weight upon it. Then 
 take out enough for the bow, pulling it out from the bundle so 
 as not to entangle the rest. You will be able to judge the 
 quantity required by the eye after you have performed this opera- 
 tion once or twice. Take some waxed silk and tie round one end 
 as at M, Fig. 67, and cut off the ends of the hair just beyond it ; 
 hold these ends with a little stick of clear rosin in the flame of 
 a spirit lamp for a few moments, so that the melted rosin per- 
 meates the ends and knot M, so as to harden and secure it. 
 Take care not to burn too long and burn off the waxed silk doing 
 this, or you will have all your trouble over again. Now cut a 
 wedge (n in Figs. 64, 65, and 66), of such a size that it fixes the hair 
 tight into the wedge-box in the head, the top of the wedge being 
 just even with the plate p, so that Ihe hair comes from it flat over 
 the plate p. Put the knot M into the wedge-box, flatten out the 
 hair so that it starts from the head in a broad ribbon, and 
 lightly hammer in the wedge n so as to keep it thus, and as far 
 as the head is concerned the hair is fixed. Now very carefully 
 comb out the hair throughout its length with a fine comb, 
 and then coiling it up near the head, steep it for a few moments 
 in tepid water. Then hold it at the nut and re-comb it from 
 top to bottom over and over again, till it is quite free, flat, 
 and firm. The nut must be set, as in Fig. 64, with the eye 
 D in the middle of the groove cut in the stick to receive it, or 
 if anything rather towards the head. In this manner, holding 
 the band of hair in your fingers, and allowing sufficient at 
 the end for the knot to curl round the wedge in the box, make 
 a tie and rosin the cut ends as at Fig. 67 in the same way as 
 you did when preparing to set the other end in the head. Now 
 take the band K off b and slip it (right way up !) over the 
 hair, so that it can be brought back over the end of the nut 
 when the hair is fixed, and taking e off the stick by completely 
 unscrewing B, draw off the slide H i J, and fix the knot into 
 
100 violin-making: as it was and is. 
 
 the wedge-box as at Fig. 64, exactly as you fixed the other 
 end into the head. 
 
 Now replace the nut e on the stick, by means of the screw B, 
 and if you have nicely judged the length of the hair before 
 making the tie M, the hair will be quite slack when D is as far 
 lorward in the groove as possible, and per contra much too taut 
 when it is drawn as near as possible to b, the proper tension 
 of the hair being when D is in the centre of the groove as in 
 Fig. 64. However, if the bow can be made slack, and tightened 
 up by means of b, your work has been well done. Now finally 
 comb the hair from head to nut, replace the slide H i J, and 
 pull down the band K (which has been threaded loosely on the 
 hair before placing it in the wedge-box in the nut), and slip 
 it over j into its place. Now screwing the bow pretty tight, 
 take the smooth hack of the comb, and rub the surface of the 
 ribbon of hair hard from the head to nut and back a few times. 
 Then cut a little flat wedge o, or if necessary two, to slip in, and 
 fill up the space between the ebony of the nut inside, K, and the 
 under side of the hair, which will keep the ribbon of hair tight 
 and flat against J, and the flat side of k, and the operation of 
 hairing the bow is complete. When the hair is quite dry take 
 some very finely powdered rosin, and sprinkling it on a sheet 
 of paper, rub the hair on it so as to get well dusted and covered 
 with rosin ; this, as it were, gives it a start, after which it is- 
 easy to keep the bow rosined. 
 
 As I have said in the chapter on fittings and appliances (vide 
 post, p. 199), it is as well not to make changes in the kind of rosin 
 one uses, except when the bow is rehaired, from which time one 
 kind must be kept to, till the next re-hairing, and so on. It is a 
 great mistake to use too much rosin, as young beginners are often 
 apt to do ; it is only productive of a loud coarse tone ; and I 
 prefer, personally, to err on the side of too little rosin, rather 
 than to burden my bow and rasp my fiddle with too much. It 
 is astonishing how few violinists know anything about the 
 mechanical and scientific action of powdered rosin on tone pro- 
 duction. Many people when they see you applying rosin, think 
 you are " greasing your bow to make it go faster," and more 
 still, including performers themselves, think that rosin rendera 
 the surface of the hair smoother, instead of, as it really does,, 
 making it rough. They know that if no rosin is used, the bow 
 will make no sound, but voila tout: The true function of rosin 
 is as follows : It will have been noticed that whilst a string is 
 vibrating, the least touch of the finger will make it instantly 
 cease ; why, therefore, does not the continuous pressure of the bo^Y 
 militate against the production of sound ? Answer : because it 
 
THE BOW. 101 
 
 is not continuous, owing to the presence of the rosin. If the bow 
 were quite free from rosin, so long as it touched the string, or 
 were drawn across it, the contact would be perfect and con- 
 - tinuous, and as a natural result the existence of vibrations would 
 be rendered impossible. When, however, the smooth surface of 
 the horsehair is roughened by infinitesimal particles of rosin, the 
 bow does not touch the string with a continuous pressure, but 
 owing to the presence of the rosin, the string receives a constant, 
 though infinitesimally intermittent succession of shocks, which 
 renders the succession of vibrations so rapid as to appear con 
 tinuous. It would take too long to discuss the scientific principles 
 involved by this simple phenomenon, but the above exposition 
 will show that the bow and hair are both secondary in import- 
 ance, the true magical power of them both lying in the obscure 
 and unnoticed rosin. Wherever bow instruments are used, 
 rosin is an invariable adjunct. On primitive bow instruments, 
 such as the urheen of the Chinese, and the ravanastron of the 
 aboriginal Hindu, the rosin is always found in a little dirty 
 lump, stuck on the top of the cylinder bearing the skin, which 
 serves as the sound-board of those harmonious instruments. 
 In the urheen especially, which has but two strings, and whose 
 bow is worked behoeen them, the convenience of this primitive 
 arrangement is obvious, for with a couple of rubs the performer 
 •can rosin his bow during a half-bar's rest in his performance. 
 Paganini is said to have played exquisitely on his violin with a 
 rush, with a view to annihilating a self-confident Italian amateur, 
 who matched himself against the "Immortal Trickster." If 
 you gather a common rush, you will find that its surface is quite 
 rough enough to have the mechanical efifect of powdered rosin, 
 which accounts for the possibility of the above performance. 
 
 Like the violin, the bow has been subjected to manifold im- 
 provements, and has survived them all in its absolute simplicity, 
 as determined by Tourte. Amongst the most striking of these 
 is the folding bow, made to go with the folding violin, mentioned 
 in Chapter V. It comes in half with a joint and a ferrule, like a 
 fishing-rod, and, curiously enough, does not seem to be as seriously 
 affected by this eccentricihr of constructioUj as it might be ex- 
 pected to be. The late J. B. Vuillaume introduced steel bows, 
 but I have never come across any specimen of so ponderous 
 an eccentricity, other than the one in the South Kensington 
 Museum. One introduction,.however, of his which has survived, 
 is his self-hairing bow, which is still manufactured by Mr. George 
 Withers, and is reproduced by his permission in Fig. 68. The 
 head, it will be seen, has no face-plate (p, ¥ig. 65), and though 
 the nut and screw work in the usual manner, the nut is a plain 
 
102 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS 
 
 piece of ebony (i.e., it has no wedge-b'ox, slide, etc.). The hair for 
 these bows is sold in the right lengths, being terminated at each 
 end by small cylindrical pieces, which slip into two holes cut in 
 the head and nut, (as in the illustration), to receive them. It will 
 be observed that though absolutely identical in outward aspect 
 with the ordinary forms, not a particle of glue is employed at any 
 point of the bow, and those who have ever taken a fiddle and bow 
 through the Canal to India will fully appreciate the boon thus 
 conferred upon them. In M. Vuillaume's original form the hair 
 was fitted in a precisely similar manner, but the nut was glued fast 
 and immovably to the stick ; the hair was fitted to a smaller brazen 
 nut, which by means of the screw worked backwards and for- 
 wards inside the larger ebony one. The advantage claimed was 
 that the distance between the nut and head (and consequently 
 the length of the hair) never varied. 
 
 Mr. Bishop in his most valuable appendix to his translation of 
 " Otto on the Violin " (vide note ^, p. 20) (which, with his notes on 
 the text, constitute the great and sole value of the work) asserts 
 that the variations of the movable nut are calculated to affect the 
 tone of the performer. Mr. Bishop, of course, speaks ex cathedra ; 
 
 Fio. 68.— Self-hairing Bow. 
 
 but, personally, I do not consider the infinitesimal advance and 
 retreat of the nut, to suit various styles of playing, to be in 
 any way detrimental to execution or just intonation on the 
 instrument. 
 
 Bed horsehair has been recommended in preference to white, 
 .as "biting" better, consequently on the action of the dye ; but 
 this is a fallacy, as its only effect is to produce a coarseness of 
 tone. Dr. J. Nicholson, who invented a huge cumbrous form 
 of fiddle, so heavy in wood and construction that it could be 
 used for corking bottles much better than for " discoursing 
 dulcet melodye," introduced for the purpose of evoking its " three- 
 horse-power " tone, a huge bow, whose stick was half an inch 
 thick at the nut, and homM in the centre, which was fitted with 
 red hair, and made of some light wood, which makes them won- 
 derfully light in proportion to their size. These fiddles and bows 
 (specimens of which may be seen in M. Georges Chanot's shop 
 in Wardour Street) are curiosities in their way, but deadly in 
 other respects.' The celebrated bow-makers are not many in 
 
 ' A complete description of them, withyjiZi size diagrams, was printed for the 
 inventor under the title of " Designs and Plans for the Construction and 
 Arrangement of the New Model Violin " (London, 1880), large folio. 
 
THE BOW 103 
 
 number ; after Tourte, jun., the first of any importance was 
 Jacques Lafleur, of Paris (1760 — 1830). Bte was one of the 
 best makers, his work being often as good as Tourte's, with which 
 they are very frequently confused. After him came Frangois 
 Lupot, brother of Nicholas, the great Luthier of that name, who 
 devoted himself solely to the manufacture of bows, in which he 
 undoubtedly excelled. 
 
 In England our greatest maker M'as John Dodd, who has 
 justly been called the English Tourte. He lived and was buried 
 at Kew, living and working alone, for he never took an ap- 
 prentice, who might learn the secret of his art, for the divulgenoe 
 of which, it is said, he was once offered, and refused, £1,000. 
 His violoncello bows are the best, but his violin bows, though 
 sometimes a shade too short, are the best England has known of 
 native manufacture, and as such command high prices. Never- 
 theless, Dodd died in Richmond workhouse. He was followed 
 in the mastery of bow manufacture by Louis Panormo (the son 
 of the violin-maker Vincent Panormo), whose bows are much 
 esteemed by violinists. The only contemporary bow-maker with 
 any claims to celebrity is James Tubbs, who, if so disposed, can 
 be persuaded to make the most exquisite and scientific bows, on 
 his own terms. The bows of James Tubbs are even now much 
 sought after, and will, in time to come, be valuable from their 
 scarcity and sterling qualities (vide note ^, p. 98). 
 
 ' " Quelle est cet agent principal, qui tient en respect et soumet k ses ordres, 
 I'air, le bois et les cordes. Quelle est cette baguette magique, enohant^e, qui 
 semble & chaque commotion recrter I'ame. Quel est, en un mot, oe Soeptie 
 Dominateur, si non rArohet lui-m6me, qui dit, et le sou part. " 
 
 L'Abbe Sibiee, "Za ChelonomW' (Paris, 1806). 
 
t 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE VIOLIN, ITS VAGARIES AND ITS VARIEGATOES. 
 
 Perfection of the Existing Fonn.— Eaxthenware, Metal, Leather, Papier M^ch^ 
 and Eccentric Violins. — Trumpet Violin. — Pear-shaped Violin. — Hnlskamp's 
 Violin. — Polychord Violins. — Isoard's. — Dubois. — Vuillaume. — Hoensel. — 
 Hawkins. — Sinclair. — Wylde's Nagelgeige, or Nail-Violin. — Boxwood 
 Violin. — Howell. — Jacque's. — BelL — Eobertson. — Collins. — Howell. — 
 Mollenhauer. — Guitar-shaped Fiddles. — Galbusera. — F. Chanot. — Savart's 
 Trapezoid Violin. — Patent Repairs. 
 
 I HAVE often been asked by persons unacquainted with the 
 construction or full powers of the violin, " How is it one never 
 hears of improvements to the violin ? Pianos, and indeed all 
 other musical instruments, advance in perfection with the march 
 of progress, but the fiddle seems to stand still." This is perfectly 
 true; at least, it is necessary to search the most obscure sources 
 for notices of" improvements to the violin," — improvements only 
 in name and on advertisements, which live their short existences, 
 known only to the few who are brought into contact with the 
 inventor, and go out without leaving a trace behind. The reason 
 for this is not far to seek. The violin, called as it justly is " the 
 king of instruments," is perhaps the only human contrivance, 
 which, taken as a whole, may be pronounced to be — perfect. 
 If you will turn to page 125 you will find the following para- 
 graph : " Let us look at the tout-ensemble of a fiddle. What is 
 it ? It is a hollow box, from 13 to 14 inches in length ; at the 
 widest part, 8i inches, and at the narrowest 4g inches, broad. 
 It is about 2J inches deep at the deepest part, and weighs about 
 8g ounces. Beyond this we have a neck terminating in a scroll, 
 which, with pegs, finger-board, and tail-piece of ebony, bring the 
 weight up to about twenty ounces. The wondrous capabilities 
 and wonderful equilibrium of all the parts may be summed up 
 in one short sentence — it supports a tension on the strings of 
 68 lbs., and a vertical pressure on the bridge of 26 pounds. 
 
 This exquisite machine, standing apart in its mysterious 
 simplicity from the vulgar herd of instruments of melody and 
 harmony, is capable of expressing more by its unaided voice 
 than all the rest put together ; and when this has been said, 
 
THE VIOLIN, ITS TAGARIES AND ITS VAEIEGATOES. 105 
 
 are we not perfectly justified in ascribing to it the attribute of 
 perfection ? and is it extraordinary tbat any attempted improve- 
 ment only proves to be a deterioration, and that to this day we 
 say to the fiddle in the words of Cardinal Wolsey : — 
 
 " I charge thee, fling away ambition, 
 
 By that sin fell the angels " ? 
 
 In the year 1804, Ernst, the celebrated violinist and Concert- 
 director to the Prince of Saxe-Coburg-Grotha, who was also a 
 practical fiddle-maker ' and experimentalist, wrote as foUows ^ : 
 " After the numerous and repeated essays which I have made 
 in the construction of the violin for more than twenty years, I 
 have come to the conclusion that its form and manufacture as 
 they have come down to us from the best Italian masters, are 
 not susceptible of any improvement, especially as regards the 
 body of the instrument." It has very justly been remarked, 
 Plura faciunt homines e consuetudine guam e ratione, and as 
 though to contradict this maxim, and from a feeling of inde- 
 pendence, many daring innovations have been made (or rather 
 attempted), many of them the results of carefully-applied science, 
 and of the labours of intelligent and learned men ; as such, they 
 become most interesting to the violin-maker, and as such, it is 
 the intention of the present chapter to consider them. Crimine 
 ah uno disee omnes. First comes the list of instruments which 
 have been made of various and wildly unsuitable materials, 
 beginning with 
 
 JEarthemoare Violins. — There is a specimen of this vagary in 
 the Mus6e des Antiques, at Eouen, and another in Delft faience 
 in the Mus6e of the Conservatoire at Paris, which has been 
 played on (with a result easily anticipated) by Mons. Gr. Choquet, 
 the compiler of the catalogue of the museum, who describes it 
 as " neither 'powerful nor pleasant." ' 
 
 Metal Violins. — Copper, brass, and silver have all been used 
 for making fiddles, the tones of which may easily be imagined. 
 A notice of these may be found in the Allgemeine Musikalisehe 
 Zeitung, vol. vii., 1804, page 50. The silver violin which has 
 been on view in Mr. Davis's window in Green Street, Leicester 
 Square, longer than any living man can remember, is doubtless 
 a familiar object to many of my readers. 
 
 ' He was the master in fiddle-making of J. A. Otto, to whose " Treatise on 
 the Construction of theYiolin" reference has been made in these pages. 
 
 * Allgemeine MusiJialische Zeitv/ng, vol. vii., 1804, p. 49. 
 
 ' Many of my readers probably tnow " Champflemy's " (pseudonym of 
 Jules Fleury the novelist) delightful story, ■' Le Violon de Faience," exquisitely 
 "got up" in Edition de luxe by M. Dentu (Paris, 1877), which relates the 
 adventures of one of these china fiddles. 
 
106 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 Leather Violins. — There is one such to be seen in the museum 
 of the Conservatoire de Musique, in Paris, of the date of 1776 ; 
 and in the Gentleman's Magazine, vol. Ixxxiii., for the year 1813, 
 at page 312, we find mention of one Gavin Wilson, a bootmaker 
 of Edinburgh, who, having invented a process for hardening 
 leather for the construction of artificial limbs, etc., made there- 
 from a German flute and a violin, which are described as " not 
 inferior to any constructed of wood." 
 
 Papier-mdcM Violin. — M. Georges Chanot possesses one of 
 these among the curiosities which characterize his shop. It is 
 painted green and gold, and is as hideous and ghastly as any- 
 thing can be which bears any resemblance to a fiddle. 
 
 Many of my readers will doubtless be familiar with the enter- 
 prising mendicant who perambulates the country playing on 
 fiddles made of old meat tins and cigar boxes, which show a 
 very considerable ingenuity in their manufacture, but which it 
 would be obviously foreign to our purpose to describe in these 
 pages. In the same category come the fiddles one sees made 
 of broomsticks, and the various forms of sordini or mute violins, 
 whose noise-producing capabilities are reduced to a minimum 
 by various reductions and contortions of shape and size. 
 
 Next in order come the various eccentricities of shape, the 
 application of various complications to the beautiful simplicity 
 of the violin, and the various instruments which have from time 
 to time been introduced, bearing eccentric arrangements and 
 numbers of strings. 
 
 Trumpet Violin. — This was patented in 1854, in Germany, 
 by Ferdinand Hell, and in England by W. E. Newton (1854, 
 January 25th ; No. 186), and consisted in adapting a horn or a 
 trumpet to a violin, the mouthpiece opening into the body of 
 the instrument at the point where the neck joins it, the tube 
 running down the neck under the finger-board, and the bell, 
 or mouth, taking the place of the scroll. It is said not to have 
 very much damaged the tone of the violin, but it was very 
 hideous, as may be supposed. 
 
 The Pear-shaped Violin, of A. Engleder, was exhibited at 
 Munich in the same year (1854) . The corners were abolished, 
 the upper bouts contracted, and the lower bouts expanded, to 
 produce the desired result. They were, it need hardly be said, 
 a failure. 
 
 In 1862, at the London International Exhibition, oneHulskamp, 
 a German resident in New York, exhibited a fiddle, the tables 
 of which could, by a mechanism inside the instrument, worked 
 by a key, be submitted to a regular tension to suit that of the 
 strings. The back and belly were quite flat, which was con- 
 
ITS VAGARIES AND ITS VARIEGATORS. 107 
 
 sidered an improvement on the, score of expense in construction. 
 Instead of// holes, this fiddle had a round hole between the 
 bridge and finger-board. One foot of the bridge rested on the 
 belly, the other on a post set upon a rib glued to the back of 
 the fiddle, through a hole cut in the belly, so that the latter 
 was not touched by bridge or post. This last arrangement 
 seems to be based on the experiments of Savart, referred to on 
 page 150, and reminds one of the arrangement of the Welsh 
 crwth explained on p. 66 : the whole contrivance received good 
 opinions from some high authorities (including Joachim, Laub, 
 and Becker), but did not last longer than the generality of such 
 vagaries. 
 
 Five-stringed Violins, or rather combinations of the violin and 
 viola (i.e., tenors with a high E string added, or violins with a 
 low C string added), are frequently to be found among the 
 curiosities on a fiddle-dealer's walls. M. F. Chanot made many 
 of his guitar-shaped violins (those compendia of curious contriv- 
 ances !) to mount with five strings, the size being between that 
 of a tenor and a fiddle. About the year 1815, a German, named 
 Hillmer, introduced such a combination, and called it the 
 " Violalin ; " it was noticed in the Allgemeine Musikalische 
 Zeitung," 1840, p. 245. He had the audacity to call it an 
 invention, but of course, even if such a thing had not been 
 made over and over again already, it was only reverting to the 
 arrangement of the old violas, or viols, which were mounted 
 with five or six strings. 
 
 One Prinz, in a work written in 1649, tells us that Lord 
 Somerset invented a vioHn with eight strings, to which he 
 attributed extraordinary advantages. A M. Urban played on 
 such a fiddle at a concert at the Paris Conservatoire in 
 1830. 
 
 A rather curious instrument must have been the " Violon- 
 G6n6ral," invented by M. Vincenti, a Florentine lute-master, 
 during the first half of this century. It had eighteen strings, 
 and was played on with two bows, and derived its name from 
 the fact that, according to M. Vincenti, it combined the effects 
 of the violin, viola, violoncello, and violono. 
 
 A violin was presented to the AcadSmie des Sciences (also in 
 the first half of this century) by M. Isoard, the strings of which 
 passed through two blades. Instead of being played on with 
 a bow, the strings were vibrated at one end by means of a 
 current of' air, whilst they were stopped by the fingers at the 
 other. Its tones *ere said to resemble the French horn and 
 the bassoon ! 
 
 Wettengel (in his " Lehrbuch der Greigen und Bogenmacher- 
 
108 violin-making: as it was and is. 
 
 kunst," Weimar, 1869) mentions the Violon-tenor,^ invented by 
 the elder Dubois (a Parisian amateur), the four strings of which 
 were tuned an octave below those of a violin. The raison d'itre 
 of this instrument it is difficult to imagine, but as an idea it 
 is about as original as the Violalin of Herr Hillmer. It was 
 intended to supersede the viola, or act as an intisrmediary 
 between it and the violoncello. 
 
 J. B. Vuillaume introduced, in 1855, a new model for the 
 tenor, which was much broader and deeper, and consequently 
 more difficult to play than that in ordinary use. These 
 instruments were constructed on scientific principles, so that the 
 mass of contained air should give a note of 341"33 vibrations to 
 the second, giving the note F, which is the right scientific 
 proportion according to the discoveries of Felix Savart. They 
 were tried at the Brussels Conservatoire, and their tone was 
 found to be more like that of a violin, and twice as powerful as 
 that of an ordinary viola, but they did not come into universal 
 use for the reasons given above. 
 
 Violins with the upper and lower bouts of the same size, have 
 been constructed by more than one experimentalist. In 1808, 
 we find a record of such an one, with the bridge set in the 
 centre ; and in 1811, one Jean Antoine Hoensel, luthier and 
 chamber musician to M. le Due de Schoenburg, claimed attention 
 for a similar one, which he asserted to have been invented by 
 him in 1801. 
 
 In the year 1800 J. J. Hawkins took out a patent (No. 2446) 
 for a violin, which had no sides or back, but only a strong rib 
 running beneath the belly, on which was set the sound-post, 
 which pressed up on the belly by means of a spring. We are 
 told that the mere loudness of a fiddle was little impaired by 
 this ruinous proceeding, though even this is a matter for 
 considerable doubt ; at any rate, it is acknowledged that the 
 quality of tone was absolutely destroyed. It is said that he 
 committed the vandalism of mining a valuable Stradiuarius by 
 the application of his ridiculous contrivance. Fiat experimentum 
 in corpore vili, but spare the masterpieces of Cremona. 
 
 Mr. Davidson refers to the inventions of one Sinclair, a Scotch 
 maker, who, at the commencement of the century, produced 
 various triangular fiddles with arrangements of sympathetic 
 strings for increasing the sonority of the bowed strings by 
 consonant vibration, and also a structure with two sets of strings 
 one above the other, and so far distant as to allow either set to 
 be played upon by passing the bow between them. Of a similar 
 nature are the productions of other makers, who, having time to 
 experimentalize, have constructed violins with double strings 
 
THE VIOLIN, ITS VAGARIES AND ITS VAKIBGATORS. 
 
 109 
 
 (like a mandoline), tuned either in unison or octaves. A few- 
 years after the above, was born another Scottish vagary, which 
 was a double violin, having one back, belly, and sides, but two 
 Bfecks, bridges, tail-pieces, and sets of strings ; it has been 
 described as a loud, harsh-toned instrument, of little or no value; 
 excepting as a curiosity. 
 
 In the year 1740 a German musician, named Johann Wilde, 
 living in St. Petersburg, invented a curious instrument called 
 ,'a Nail- violin (in German, Nagelgdge, Nagelliarmonika, Eisen- 
 violine). Its invention seems to have been accidental, for it is 
 thus described by Mr. Carl Engel : " One evening, after return- 
 ing home from a concert, Wilde, in hanging his violin bow on a 
 nail accidentally produced a tone by drawing the hair of the bow 
 over the metal, whereupon he conceived the idea of constructing 
 a musical instrument of nails. And that he has succeeded in 
 producing a fine-toned, if not a practically recommendable 
 instrument, will probably be granted by all who draw the large 
 
 Pio. 69. — Nagelgeige or Eiseuvioline (Wilde). 
 
 black-haired bow over the iron pins. The bow is best made 
 with black hair, for white hair is softer, and does not 'bite' so 
 sv^ell for such an iron fiddle. It must also be plentifully sup- 
 lolied with rosin to make it bite well." It was held in the left 
 hand by a hole underneath. Mr. Engel gives a figure of it 
 which I reproduce, Fig. 69. In 1780 it was improved by the 
 addition of sympathetic strings, when Senal, an artist of Vienna, 
 'excelled upon it. The nails diminish in length as the notes get 
 )higher, and the chromatic nails are slightly bent. In 1791, one 
 : Trager produced an arrangement of it, worked by keys, called 
 ]Sagelclavier. It is interesting as a curiosity in the way of bow 
 instruments. 
 
 In the South Kensington Museiim, and figured and fully 
 described in the catalogue thereof, is a most curious violin, 
 made of boxwood, dated 1578. It is of a queer and cumbrous 
 shape, being in the form of a wedge, which narrows at the thick 
 end to a sort of neck, which is formed by a round hole to admit 
 
110 
 
 VIOLIN-MAKING: AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 the hand, the shift being thus rendered impossible. It is carved 
 all over with various rural and allegorical scenes, and, as may 
 be supposed, the tone is very poor. It is described by Hawkins 
 and Burney in their Histories of Music ; the latter describes it 
 as having no more tone than a mute or violin with a sordine. 
 " It is said to have been given to the Earl of Leicester by 
 Queen Elizabeth, and has both their coats of arms in silver on 
 the finger-board. It is, perhaps, one of the most interesting 
 
 fiddles (if it can be so called) in exist- 
 ence " {vide p. 5). 
 
 In 1835 Thomas Howell took out a 
 patent (No. 6964) for a new form of 
 violin, which is represented at Fig. 70. 
 Its object was, by shortening the upper 
 bouts and lengthening the fingerboard, 
 to facilitate playing in the upper shifts, 
 and obviating " that inelegance of action 
 which is so much complained of, even 
 in the most expert performers." The 
 back and belly were flat, the tail-piece 
 glued to the instrument, to be " out 
 of the way of the chin," and the sound- 
 holes reverted to the form in vogue in 
 the fifteenth century. 
 
 In 1856 a clergyman (the Rev. 
 Greorge Jacque) took out a patent (No. 
 1684) for adapting to the violin and 
 enclosing within it a series of sympa- 
 thetic strings, set obliquely across the 
 interior of the . instrument. They could 
 be taken out, tuned, and replaced by 
 an opening in the lower bouts. He- 
 thought in this way to increase the 
 sonority of the instrument ! 
 
 In 1858 one Henry Bell patented a 
 design (No. 2823) for applying a 
 flattened glass cylinder to the interior of a violin with the same 
 object. 
 
 In the same year (No. 2587) John Robertson patented a 
 device for increasing the tone of violins by grooving out the 
 soft part of the pine of the belly, so as to leave only the fibres 
 standing out. He thought that in this way the vibratory 
 surface would be increased, and the fiddle thereby improved. 
 
 In 1866 Henry Bell, the patentee of the last contrivance 
 but one, took out another patent (No. 2071) for increasing and 
 
 FiQ. 70.— Howell's Patent Violin. 
 (1835, No. 6964.) 
 
THE VIOLIN, ITS VAGARIES AND ITS VAEIEGATOES. Ill 
 
 improving the tone of fiddles by placing in them a sheet of 
 crystal or glass, with a hole through it to admit the sound-post. 
 It was about as successful as his first " improvement." 
 
 Fio. 71.— M. H. Collins' " Echolin " in plan and section. 
 
 In the year 1879 Michael Henry Collins, an American, took 
 out an English patent (No. 2118) for a fiddle, which he termed 
 an Echolin (Fig. 71). The body was quite circular, and inclosed 
 
112 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 inside a domed case A, which had a circular hole b in the 
 middle to admit the bridge, which rested on the circular belly, 
 and was formed like a violoncello bridge. Space forbids my 
 going into the theory of this instrument here ; it is repre- 
 sented in plan and in section in Fig. 71. The bass bar 
 was curved as at c, and the sound-post was replaced by a 
 heavy mechanism which hung to the left side of the belly as 
 at D. The neck had a protuberance B corresponding to the 
 shoulder in the ordinary form, and another opening F for the 
 high shifts. It was held by a chin rest Gf, and was fitted with 
 patent pegs, which are represented in Fig. 72. The diagram 
 explains itself. The string is tuned by turning A, an ordinary 
 thumb-piece ; when the string is tuned, the screw c is turned 
 by the milled head b, presses the plate D against the cheek of 
 the scroll b, and prevents the peg from slipping. 
 
 Two years later (1879, No. 3022) one Howell patented a 
 most curious instrument, the strings of which were set along 
 the side, the neck being formed by a long hole in the side to 
 admit the hand ; in its way it was interesting, and especially so 
 to acousticians, who could thus test the results of the vibrations 
 of the strings being transmitted longitudinally to the fibres of 
 the wood, instead of vertically. He patented several modifica- 
 tions of the instrument on the same principle. 
 
 Still more lately (1881, No. 621) E. R MoUenhauer, of New 
 York, obtained protection for a design for dividing the inside 
 of the fiddle into two chambers, by means of a fiddle-shaped 
 plank resting on a supplementary side-lining, set round the 
 centre of the ribs. He claimed by this means to increase the 
 sonority of the instrument. Comment is needless.' 
 
 Another interesting vagary is the Folding or Traveller's 
 Violin. The neck of this instrument, the body of which is long 
 and narrow, comes off with the finger-board, as do also the 
 bridge, tail-piece, and tail-pin, all of which, with a folding bow, 
 fit into a small rectangular case. As a curiosity, it is good, and 
 as a question of tone and convenience, it is not bad. At the 
 same time, it will go into a portmanteau, and is amusing and 
 handy on occasions when one does not want the fuss of carrying 
 a full-grown fiddle. 
 
 I have received from Hanover a most interesting curiosity in 
 the violin line. It is called the Loffelgeige (spoon-fiddle), and 
 
 ' Count Luigi Francesco Valdrighi devoted one of his " Musurgiana " (No. 9) 
 to the discussion of these fiddles, prompted thereto apparently by Mr. A. J. 
 Hipkins' article in Musical Opinion and Music Trades Review. It is entitled, 
 " Gli strumenti ad arco rinf orzati del Sig. E. MoUenhaver. Cenui Monografici " 
 (Modeua, 1881), and gives descriptions in brief of many vagaries such ^.s we 
 are now discussing. 
 
THE VIOLIN, ITS VAGARIES AND ITS VAEIEGATORS. 113 
 
 is more a joke among musicians than anything else. It is 
 formed of one solid piece of wood like a soup-ladle, and is 
 represented in front and side view in Fig. 73. The 
 bowl is scooped out, and decked, as it were, with a thin deal 
 sound-board, pierced with two small oval sound-holes. The 
 head is of a curious hook shape, and can boast of the same 
 advantages that were claimed for the reversed scroll of M. 
 Chanot, which is noticed below. An ordinary violin bridge is 
 mounted on the belly, to raise the strings just clear of the long 
 neck. It has no tail-piece, but the strings are attached to loops 
 of D string, which come from pegs set underneath the fiddle, 
 over a sort of rest made of tin, which protects the lower edge 
 of the bowl. Its tone is curious, as might be expected. 
 
 The latest thing of the sort I have 
 come across has been a fiddle of 
 Russian manufacture (on Mirecourt 
 principles of construction), which 
 is now being sold at about a guinea 
 in the music shops. This fiddle differs 
 from the ordinary form in that it has 
 no projecting edges, which is a great 
 mistake, for it is practically im- 
 possible under these circumstances 
 to take off the belly in case of need. 
 However, like the "Seraphine," 
 "^oleon," " Zephyrophone," and 
 other absurdly named eccentricities 
 of bran-new violin manufacture, they 
 are made I presume to find a 
 market among amateurs who like to 
 have something out of the common, ^'°- w.— LofEeigeige or spoon-flaaie. 
 at the expense of their own convenience and other people's ears. 
 
 Enough of these minor vagaries. If necessary, I could fill a 
 thick quarto with them. Such as they are, they are interesting 
 and beneficial as warnings ; it remains only to notice two intel- 
 ligent and scientific experiments (I will not insult them by 
 calling them vagaries). I allude to the guitar-shaped violins of 
 M. Frangois Ohanot, and the trapezoid violin of M. le Docteur 
 F61ix Savart, to whom the world of violins owes so much for his 
 valuable and devoted scientific researches into the forms and 
 qualities of the Cremonese and other violins. 
 
 Guitar-shaped Fiddles have been made in all countries and all 
 ages, since the invention of the fiddle proper in the sixteenth 
 century. M. Gallay, in his " Luthiers Italiens," mentions the 
 
 interesting fact that M. &. 
 
 Chanot (brother of the naval officer 
 
 S 
 
114 violin-making: as it was and is. 
 
 mentioned below) had once in his hands a violin by Stradivarius, 
 which was guitar-shaped, and had a flat belly. I have myself 
 seen such — the work of Peter Walmsley, Benjamin Banks, and 
 other of our native makers. It is a reversion to medisevalism, 
 which is, to say the least of it, feeble and unimportant. 
 
 In the year 1832 Carlo Antonio Galbusera, an Italian officer, 
 exhibited, in the Brera Palace at Milan, a violin of a guitar 
 shape, which he claimed to have invented, but which wa,s really 
 a reproduction of M. Chanot's essay. He prepared his wood by 
 chemical means, by which he claimed to get all the resinous 
 particles out of it. They were criticised and argued against by 
 M. Antolini in a pamphlet entitled, " Osservazzione su due 
 Violini esposti nelle sale dell' I. R. Palazzo di Brera " (Milan, 
 1832). 
 
 The most celebrated instruments having this form were the 
 violins of M. Francois Ohanot, a French naval ofiicer, and uncle 
 of M. G-eorges Chanot, of Wardour Street, at whose shop 
 several of these instruments of all types may be seen, M. 
 Chanot would seem to have commenced with the same line 
 of scientific consideration as did M. F61ix Savart in the constrac- 
 tion of his trapezoid violin, to which I shall presently allude. 
 
 These violins were very favourably pronounced upon by a 
 council of the Academy, appointed to consider their merits, and, 
 indeed, preferred to a masterpiece of Cremona with which they 
 were compared — the instruments being alternately played in an 
 adjoining room by M. Boucher, the eminent violinist. M. F6tis, 
 on the other hand, stigmatizes them as not worth ten francs 
 apiece, excepting as curiosities, and a musical critic in the 
 Allgemeine MusikaliscJie Zeitung, vol. xxxii., for February, 
 1820, finds considerable fault with their tone. However, for a 
 few years they found a market, being sold at 300 francs each, 
 and in late years M. Georges Chanot tells me they have realized 
 £10 to collectors. I am fortunate enough to possess a copy of 
 the " Rapport fait k 1' Academic des Beaux Arts dans la Stance du 
 3 Avril 1819 au nom de la Section de Musique sur les nouveaux 
 instruments d& musique (violons, altos, violoncelles et contre- 
 basses) suivant la facture brevet^e de M. Chanot, Officier au 
 corps du G6nie Maritime, ins6rfe au Moniteur du 22 AoAt 1817 " 
 (Paris, 1819), four pages 4to. On the back of the report, 
 which is headed " Institut de France, Acad^mie Royale des 
 Beaux Arts," is printed a statement that these instruments are 
 sold at No. 216, Rue St. Honord, Passage des Manres, at the 
 following prices, viz. — Violins 300 fr., Violas 300 fr.. Violon- 
 cellos 500 fr., followed by the prices of bows and cases for 
 these instruments. These violins may be seen, as I have said. 
 
THE TIOLIN, ITS VAGARIES AND ITS VAKIEGATOKS. 115 
 
 in Wardoxir Street; they are covered with a light-coloured 
 varnish, and specimens of both kinds, as represented in Figs. 
 74 and 75, may be seen. Their tone is poor and unsatisfactory. 
 
 Fio. 74. The Chanot Violin. 
 
 75. The Chanot Violin, with revereed 
 scroll and guitar string-attachment. 
 
 Fig. 79 represents the first form in which they were introduced 
 in 1817 ; it will be observed that the corner^ are abandoned, 
 which produces the guitar shape ; the edges do not overlap 
 
116 TIOLIN-MAKING : AS 1*1 WAS AND IS. 
 
 the sides, but end flush with them ill a rim of ivory, or hara 
 wood, like a guitar. The sound-holes are openings of the 
 same length as the // holes of the ordinary form, but, follow- 
 ing the curvature of the sides (to which they are set rather close), 
 they take the form of a segment of a circle. The reason assigned 
 for this was that in cutting the ordinary / form, a large number 
 of fibres had to be cut through, and were therefore no longer 
 affected by the vibrations of the bridge. The new form claimed 
 the merit of reducing these cut fibres to a minimum, and of thus 
 producing a maximum of long fibres. It had been determined 
 by experiment that the low notes of a fiddle were principally 
 produced by the long fibres, and the high notes by the short 
 fibres (and it is on this principle that the sound-post, by pressing 
 upon the belly against the bridge, divides the violin into two sets 
 of short fibres on the side on which the high notes are produced, 
 whilst on the other side, on which the low notes are produced, 
 the fibres are intact throughout the length of the instrument). 
 For when the fibres under the low strings were similarly divided 
 (by shifting the sound-post to the left foot of the bridge), the 
 low notes lost all their power. M. Chanot claimed for his violin 
 the merit, therefore, of having more long fibres to produce the 
 low notes, and more short ones to produce the high ones. The 
 bass bar is set as in Savart's fiddle, down the exact centre on the 
 join of the belly. Close to the tail-pin will be seen a screw, 
 which, passing through the tail-piece and pressing on the belly, 
 enabled the tail-piece to be raised, so as to lessen the angle 
 formed by the strings passing over the bridge, and reduce the 
 pressure on the belly at this point. A similar contrivance to 
 this was patented in England by one Olaggett, in 1788. Passing 
 through the back of his fiddle was a screw, which, acting on the 
 sound-post, enabled the pressure of this latter, against the belly, 
 to be regulated at will. M. Chanot at first proposed to place 
 frets upon the finger-board, but abandoned this design on the 
 suggestion of the Council. 
 
 Two years later (in 1819), M. Chanot discarded (as in Fig. 75) 
 the tail-piece and tail-pin, and the strings were fastened by pins 
 to two plates of wood, one glued outside and the other inside 
 the belly, like the string attachment of a guitar. The bar was 
 removed from the centre join, andshaped like an arc, the centre of 
 which was under the left foot of the bridge, and whose ends only 
 approached the centre join. The sound-post was set in front 
 of instead of behind the bridge. The volute of the scroll was 
 turned hack instead of forward, as is usual, to give greater 
 facility in manipulating the ends of the strings, especially that 
 of the A string, inside the peg-box. His memorial on the 
 
THE VIOLIN, ITS VAGARIES AND ITS VAEIEGATOES. 117 
 
 A^ktkkk^kk'.kKkkk^W.^v^-.k^i^;,4iU^^^U^;-...^^^.^'At.^v^-^^ <.<y:^^A^y^^ 
 
 subject was read to the Acad^mie des Sciences, on the 24th of 
 May, 1817. 
 
 A full description of it may be found in the " Description des* 
 Machines et Proc6d6s Sp6oifi6s dans les Brevets dlnvention^" 
 
118 violin-making: as it was and is. 
 
 tome XV., p. 161 (Paris, 1828). And a report of its trial before 
 the Council of the Academy may be found in the " Monitenr 
 Universel," 22 Aoftt, 1817. 
 
 Savart^s Trapezoid Violin or Box-fiddle was one of the most 
 celebrated and satisfactory experiments ever tried on the con- 
 struction of the instrument. He was led to its production by 
 a series of carefully conducted experiments, which went , to 
 prove — (1) that a plane surface vibrates much more readily than 
 an arched or curved one ; (2) that consequently there are points 
 on the surface of a violin of the ordinary form where the vibra- 
 tions are reduced to a minimum, or cease altogether j (3) that 
 the bouts, corner blocks, aiAff holes are the principal causes 
 and localities of this reduced vibration. He therefore constructed 
 a violin, the general aspect of which is shown in Fig. 76 A and B, 
 the tables of which were practically plane, as shown in B, 
 C, and E — i.e., they were plane on the inner surfaces, but very 
 slightly raised on the outer, to support the increased pressure of 
 the strings, caused by the extra height which it was found 
 necessary to give to the bridge to allow the play of the bow. 
 The cause of this trapezoid shape was not founded particularly 
 on any scientific reason, but that it being necessary to have a 
 certain contained mass of air, this shape was best adapted to 
 give the instrument a narrowness at the bridge, which would 
 allow the play of the bow, and yet have the same interior capacity 
 as if the sides were parallel but broader at this point. Arguing 
 that the sound-holes of an ordinary violin are cut y-shaped only, 
 so as to counteract the resistance the curved surface offers to the 
 vibrations, this necessity being absent in the Savart fiddle, he 
 cut his sound-holes straight, as shown in A and D, Fig. 76, on 
 the same principle as those of the Chanot fiddle — viz., that it is 
 expedient to cut as few fibres of the wood as possible ; and their 
 exact position in the belly and distance from each other, as 
 shown in D, Fig. 76, he determined by a series of practical 
 experiences. The bar he placed down the central joint of the 
 fiddle by an erroneous course of reasoning, thinking by this 
 means to equalize its influence over the entire surface, which 
 was, of course, a mistake. He also constructed, in some cases, 
 a bar, as shown in F, Fig. 76, only touching the belly at a point 
 below the bridge, which he found had the same effect as the 
 other form (shown in C, D, and E, Fig. 76), and was more durable 
 but more difficult to construct and fix to suit the instrument. He 
 gave to his sides (which were made of the same wood as the 
 back) a thickness of ^v: ™-3 s^nd, considering that the absence 
 of the curves would support this substance, and again, with this 
 thickness, he used no side-linings. His sound-post, it will be 
 
THE VIOLIN. ITS VAGARIES AND ITS VAEIEGATOES. 119 
 
 observed, was set behind the bridge, as in an ordinary violin, but 
 more to the right of the instrument. The tail-piece was suppressed 
 on the same principle as in the Chanot fiddle of 1819 (Fig. 75), 
 but, as he justly remarks, the full tug of the four strings on a 
 tender part of the belly being very detrimental to the instrument, 
 he carried them over a nut set at the bottom of the instrument 
 (b in A, D, and E, Fig. 76) to the tail-pin, which was set rather 
 below the centre of the lower side, as shown at c, in E, Fig. 76. 
 The merits of the new fiddle were duly considered by a 
 council of the Acad^mie des Sciences, composed of MM. Biot, 
 Charles, Hatty, and De Prony, to whom were added MM. Berton, 
 Catel, Le Sueur, and Cherub ini, members of the Academic des 
 Arts. The new fiddle was tested with another, a Cremona 
 master-piece, both being played alternately in an adjoining 
 room by M. Lefebvre, the eminent violinist, in exactly the 
 same way as the Chanot violin had been compared, and with 
 the same result — viz., that the new instrument was pronounced 
 equal, if not superior, to the work of the Italian master. It is 
 interesting to note how these councils of enthusiastic Frenchmen 
 were ready, apparently on all occasions, to rush into the arms 
 of any innovator and reward him in terms of the most fulsome 
 eulogy, but that the musical public on each occasion refused to 
 indorse their opinion and adopt the innovations. At the same 
 time the construction of Savart's " Box Fiddle," as it has con- 
 temptuously been called, was based on sound sense and scientific 
 principle ; and there is no doubt that a violin properly constructed 
 on the Savart model, though falling far short of a first-rate 
 fiddle of the ordinary kind, would be very much superior to the 
 common Mirecourt wholesale production, besides being very much 
 easier for an amateur to construct. This will be acknowledged 
 readily enough by any one who will take the trouble to compare 
 the diagrams that are supplied in Fig. 76 of Savart's Trapezoid 
 Violin with those of the ordinary form of the violin which are 
 given in subsequent chapters. It is well known that in carpentry 
 it is far more easy to execute rectangular work than it is to manage 
 rounded or curved work, and this pertains in an equal degree in 
 fiddle-making, as far as amateurs are concerned. The appearance 
 of the trapezoid fiddle, our readers will observe, is by no means 
 so attractive as that of the violin proper. 
 
 For the benefit of any persons sufficiently interested to con- 
 struct one of these trapezoid violins, I give the exact measure- 
 ments ' of its various parts, which are as follows ^ : — 
 
 ' The measurements in French inches are the more exact ; the sizes in English 
 represent their nearest English equivalents without considering high fractional 
 
 divisions. . ' •■ ^ ^^ -^,01. 
 
 * For f uU description of this instrument and report thereon, see J . Savart n 
 
120 
 
 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 Length of the body (D, E, and F, Fig. 76) . , 13 
 
 Breadth of upper end (D D in D, Fig. 76) . .3 
 
 Breadth of lower end (E B in D, Fig. 76) . .8 
 
 Height of bndge (f in C, Fig. 76) . . .1 
 
 Breadth of bridge (f in C, Fig. 76) . . .1 
 
 Length of sound holes (G G in D, Fig. 76) . .2 
 
 Breadth of sound holes . . . .0 
 
 Diameter of back and belly at edges . . 
 
 Diameter of back in centre . . . .0 
 
 Diameter of belly in centre . . .0 
 
 Height of blocks and sides . . . .0 
 
 Diameter of sides . . . . .0 
 
 Diameter of blocks . . . . . 
 
 Length of bass bar (A A,in D and E, Fig. 76) . 11 
 Breadth of bass bar at ends . . . 
 
 Breadth of bass bar in centre ( A in C, D, and E, Pig. 76) 
 Breadth of lower block, narrow side (H in D, Fig. 76) 1 
 Breadth of lower block, broad side (I in D, Fig. 76) 2 
 From nut to top of bridge . . . .12 
 
 Depth of bass bar at ends (A A in D and E, Fig. 76) 
 Depth of bass bar in centre (A in C, Fig. 76) . 
 
 Depth of bent bar throughout (j j j in F, Fig. 76). 
 
 French 
 inches 
 and lignes. 
 
 -- 
 
 n 
 
 4 
 6 
 6 
 7 
 3 
 1 
 
 2i 
 2| 
 15i 
 1 
 8 
 2 
 2 
 8 
 6 
 
 2 
 1 
 6 
 6 
 
 inches. 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 i 
 
 ii 
 If 
 
 = H' 
 
 These, therefore, are the principal alterations which have heen 
 attempted, a careful study of which only determines the would- 
 be fiddle maker, stare super vias aniiquas. 
 
 Patent Repairs have been the ruin of many splendid fiddles 
 in former years, though nowadays people are more careful of 
 trusting valuable instruments to the first quack who invents some 
 patent operation which will increase the value of any fiddle, 
 according to his own account, tenfold. One Maupertuis, in 
 an article, " Sur la Forme des Instruments de Musique," in 
 the Mimoires de VAcaddmie Royale des Sciences, 1724, p. 215, 
 declared that the tone of a fiddle is to be improved by breakino- 
 it to pieces and having it pieced together again by a good 
 workman. He argues thus :— that the violin ought to be made 
 up of fibres of different lengths, so as to have some of a size to 
 suit every note on the compass of a fiddle. An idea compli- 
 mentary to the musical powers of glue, but deadly in practice. 
 
 Other fiddle-dealers and owners are always tinkering up their 
 instruments by gluing in slabs of wood here, gouging out layers 
 there, shortening or lengthening the bass bar, and shifting the 
 bridge and sound-post about, till the violin, as it were, in very 
 indignation at such treatment, relapses into a sullen or confused 
 silence, until properly regulated by an artist of the trade. It 
 
 " M^moire sur la Construction des Instruments k cordes et 4 archet " (Paris 
 1819), and an excellent resume of this " M^moire " appears at p. 246 of No 40() 
 of the Penny Magazine for June 30th, 1838, entitled, " How to make a Chepo 
 Viobn." '^ 
 
THE VIOLIN, ITS VAGARIES AND ITS VAEIEGATORS. .131 
 
 is, as has been already pointed out, almost fatal to destroy, by 
 thinning the wood in old violins, the provision the conscientious 
 old makers laid up for time to expend its strength upon. It is 
 almost equally so to patch up a fiddle, which has been subjected 
 to this destruction, with new wood ; it stands to reason that the 
 vibrations must be very seriously impaired by a stratum of glue 
 and a slab of new wood, whose fibres do not coincide with the 
 rest of the instrument. The acme of short-sighted and destruc- 
 tive repair is reached in a case which occurred, according to 
 Mr. Davidson, at the beginning of this century. He mentions 
 the case of a Scotch amateur, who being possessed of a splen- 
 did Stradivari violin of the large pattern, had it cut down 
 smaller, mirahile dictu, at the suggestion of the celebrated J. P. 
 Salomon. The fiddle subsequently sold for £56. Letters patent 
 were granted to J. P. Grosjean, in 1837 (No. 7450), for coating 
 the surfaces of violins with glue and powdered glass, to improve 
 their tone, a practice about as intelligent as that of one 
 Weickert, of Halle, who, at the beginning of the century, 
 imagining that the loss of the resinous particles from the wood 
 of violins by reason of their age, (which is the great advantage 
 of age !) was detrimental to their quality, made a practice of 
 soaking violins in a mixture of rosin dissolved in pine oil, to 
 close the pores, an operation which, of course, caused complete 
 and irremediable damage. Similar experiments have been tried 
 to close the pores of the wood, (which it is most important to 
 have open,) with white of egg and other such matters, all of 
 which operations may be classed with the rest of the "patent 
 repairs " I have here enumerated, and on all of which comment 
 is needless. But they serve as warnings to the owners of 
 valuable instruments, not to entrust their fiddles to the hands of 
 musical quacks. If you think your violin wants anything doing 
 to it, go to one of the heads of the profession for advice ; a 
 respectable dealer or repairer will never do anything superfluous 
 to your fiddle for the sake of the job ; and the love of his art 
 will be subservient to his interest in his psofession. I cannot 
 do better than conclude this chapter with the highly epigrammatic 
 remark made by Mr. J. Pearce in his "Violins and Violin 
 Makers," " Beware of ignorance which assumes the mask of 
 knowledge, and of designing roguery which apes the appear- 
 ance of innocence." 
 
«IL VIOLINO." 
 
 Canto popolare Toscano. 
 
 Musica di L, GOKDIGIABI. 
 
 Oh 1 quante Tolte I'ho desiderato, 
 tTn damo aver che fosse sonatore, 
 
 Tin angelo del ciel me I'lia mandato, 
 lo lo ringrazio del gentil favore. 
 
 Quando il mulino di grano manchera, 
 Con il Tiolino se ne trovera, 
 Oh 1 quante volte I'ho desiderato 
 Tin damo aver che fosse sonator 
 TTn angelo del ciel me I'ha mandate, 
 Lo ringrazio del gentil favor 
 
 Bravo ! Caro 1 
 Oh 1 che bravo sonator 1 
 
PLATE III 
 
 *'. . 
 
 From a Photograph by Wm, Field (Putney). Vincent Brooks, Woodburytype. 
 
 VIOLIN BY ANDREAS AMATI, 
 
 One of 24 made by Andreas Amati for Charles IX. King of France. 
 
 (vide p. 73.) 
 
PAET II. 
 
FO'C'S'LE TARNS. 
 
 " And Tommy had a fiddle too, 
 And I don't know what there was he couldn't do 
 With yonder fiddle, the way it'd mock 
 Everything — it'd crow like a cock, 
 It'd hoot like a donkey, it'd moo like a cow ; 
 It'd cry like a baby, it'd grunt like a sow. 
 Or a thrush, or a pigeon, or a lark, or a linnet, 
 You'd really a-thought they were living in it. 
 Bat the twnes he was playiu' — that was the thing, 
 — Like squeezin' honey from the string ; 
 Like milkin' a fiddle — no jerks, no squeaks — 
 — And the tears upon the misthress' cheeks. 
 She'd often stop him and ask would he change 
 To a nice slow tune, and Tommy would range 
 Up and down the strings, and slither 
 Into the key ; then he'd feather 
 The bow very fine, and a sort o' hum 
 Like a bee round a flower, and out it'd come." 
 
 L. L. C. KoELLE, " Music in Song " (London), 1883 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE WOOD — THE MODEL. 
 
 The TioKn— The Woods used — Chemically prepared Woods— Tie Qualities of 
 the Woods— " Whole," " Half ," and "Slab" Backs— The Model— Method of 
 Copying an Old Model — Method of Drawing a Mathematical OutUne. 
 
 It is a matter of considerable astonishment to many persons 
 that the fiddle took its present familiar shape, apparently quite 
 suddenly in the sixteenth century, and, in spite of all attempts 
 to change it, and in spite of all experiments made with a view of 
 introducing other forms, has kept it ever since. It is the object 
 of the present and following chapters to explain, (1) Why this 
 form is the best ; and (2) How it is obtained. Many experi- 
 mentalists, many of them men of undoubted ability (among 
 whom are most noteworthy Chanot and Savart), have applied 
 their skill, science, and labour to the discovery of a model to 
 supersede that which has prevailed from Grasparo da Salo 
 (1555) to the present time ; and, as many of these innovations 
 have been most interesting to all, and especially instructive to 
 the fiddle-maker, I have made these scientific vagaries the 
 subject of a recent chapter (Chapter V., p. 104). At present, 
 I shall confine myself to pointing out the arrangement of the 
 seventy parts of a violin^ in the manner best calculated to charm 
 by its results the musical ear. And I shall point otit the 
 advantages of this generally accepted arrangement, more from a 
 theoretico-scientific point of view than from a purely mechanical 
 one, leaving this latter to its proper place, i,e., to be set down 
 in Part III., when we have acquired sufficient of the theory and 
 science of fiddle-making to be able to put our knowledge into 
 practice. 
 
 liet us look first at the tout ensemble of a fiddle. What is it ? 
 
 ' The seventy parts are made up as follows : Back, 2 ; Belly, 2 ; Blocks, 6 ; 
 Sides, 6 ; Linings, 12 ; Bass Bar, 1 ; Purfling, 24 ; Tail-piece rest, 1 ; Tail- 
 piece, 1 ; Tail-piece fastening, 1 ; Tail-pin, 1 ; Pegs, 4 ; Finger-board, 1 ; Bridge, 
 1 ; Nut, 1 ; Strings, 4 ; Sound Post, 1 ; Neck and Scroll, 1. The Back and 
 Belly are often formed of one piece only, and the purflings are often let in, in 
 36 instead of 24 pieces. The Neck also is frequently separate from the Scroll, 
 as will be hereafter seen. 
 
126 
 
 violin-making: as it was and is. 
 
 It is a hollow box, from 13 to 14 inches in length, at the widest 
 part 8| inches, and at the narrowest 41 inches broad. It is about 
 2^ inches deep at the deepest part, and weighs about 8J ounces 
 (avoirdupois).' Beyond this we have a neck, terminating in a 
 scroll, which, with pegs, finger-board, and tail-piece of ebony, 
 bring the weight up to about a pound. The wondrous capa- 
 bilities and wonderful equilibrium of all the parts may be 
 summed up in one short sentence — it supports a tension on the 
 strings of 68 Ibs.,^ and a vertical pressure on the bridge of 
 26 Ibs.s 
 
 Let me answer my own question, "Why is this form the best? " 
 The only atten^t I have ever seen made to answer this question 
 
 ' I here append the exact measurements of noted Stradiuarius instruments as 
 given by M. Vidal. I give them more as mere statistics than as guides for the 
 practical luthier in building a fiddle : — 
 
 t 
 1.-VI0LIN.* Ig% 2.-VI0LA.t 3.— VIOLONOELLO.t 
 
 MilU- , MiUi- MUli- 
 
 metres. in., metres, in. metres, ft. in. 
 
 Length of boay from base of 1 3-5=14 ' 410=16fV 760 = 2 6H 
 
 button to tail-pm S ^i ° "'' 
 
 Breadtli across upper bouts ..Q66^6tJ> '... 18B= 7!nr — ... 340 = 1 l^j 
 
 „ lower 206= 8ff ■■: 240= 9^^ - ... 440 = 1 6ii 
 
 inner- „ ...109= 4^ff ... 130= 6^^ ••■ ... 240 = ... 9^ 
 
 Length of inner bouts, from) ' 
 
 comer to comer perpen- VOTB — 3 ••. tra" "t ••• ... 170=... 6j^ 
 
 dicular) ) 
 
 ^ro?otc''h°S//ho?ls':!!.™}l»'='t - 220= 8U ... ... 400 = 1 3i 
 
 Height of sides, upper bouts... 030^ IT^ — 038— I^t ... ... ,118 = .. ^^ 
 
 inner „ ...030= 1 A ... 038= iH ... ... iig = "' ^ 
 
 lower „ ...031= H ... 039= lA ... __ 119 = ^^^411 
 Neck, from chin of scroll to K,„ — . s 
 
 baaeof button r ^^^ 
 
 Length of flnger-boara 2eo=10J 
 
 t Measurements taken tl^casurements taken' 
 
 ♦Measurements taken from "The from Stradiuarius Viola, 'S-om Stradiuarius 
 
 Vuillaume," or " La Messie," Stradi- date 1723, in the pos- 'Cello, belonging to M. 
 
 uar. session of M. le ViooMte Franchomme, the cele- 
 
 de Janz^. ... brated violoncellist. 
 
 * First string, 23 lbs. ; second string, 18|lbs. ; third string, 14 lbs. ; fourth 
 string, 12ilbB. In 1734 Tartini discovered the tension of the strings to be 63 lbs. 
 It must be remembered that in his day strings vrere thinner and bridges were 
 lower than they are now. L'AbbS Sibire, in 1806, estimated the tension at 
 64 lbs. In 1835 M. F6tis stated the tension to be 80 lbs., but this is excessive, 
 and is an error. 
 
 ' This weight has, of course, increased to this amount only with the rise of 
 pitch of the present century. L'Abb6 Sibire in " La Chelonomie " (jcide note \ 
 p. viii. Preface) estimates it (in the year 1806) at only 24 lbs. This indeed 
 was an increase on the pressure of the time of Stradiuarius, and in the time 
 of the Abb6 Sibire (1806) certain daring " restorers " (save the mark I) used' 
 to place transverse bars across the belly to support this increase. This, of 
 course, is never heard of now, being one of those vagaries invented for the 
 enrichment of what M. L'Abb6 rather quaintly calls "le luthier instrumen- 
 ticide.'" 
 
THE WOOD — THE MODEL. 127 
 
 explicitly, is that of Mr. T. Porter, whose little pamphlet ^ "How 
 to choose a Violin " is, I think, one of the most valuable 
 additions which have of late years been made to the literature 
 of the violin. First of all, the length of the violin, about 13 to 14 
 inches, is the best possible for the free play of the muscles of the 
 arm, and if it were longer, the tension required to stretch the 
 strings up to pitch would probably break them. The " upper 
 and lower bouts " are rounded so as to resist the strain on the 
 body of the instrument, to allow the hand to come up the 
 finger-board with ease in the high positions, and to take the 
 chin of the performer comfortably ; for this latter object the 
 edges are grooved round. The " centre bouts " curve inwards 
 to allow the passage of the bow from string to string, and to 
 enable the bow to put the first and fourth strings into vibration, 
 without having to make the bridge disastrously high {vide p. 161). 
 The "button" holds the "shoulder" of the "neck," so as to 
 help it to resist the strain which would pull it forward.^ The 
 " bulge " or " arching " of the back and belly resists the strain 
 of the strings and assists the escape of the tone through the 
 "//holes," which are of they" shape, as conducing to a maximum 
 vibration of the convexity of the belly. These are the reasons 
 why this form is the best. And what are the. results of this 
 arrangement? The results are notably three : — Power, Delicacy, 
 and Penetration. Power : for volume and sweetness are im- 
 parted to the inaudible vibrations of the string. Delicacy: 
 for the slightest touch of the bow draws forth a tone sweet and 
 true and pure. Penetration : for the tones of the instrument, 
 even when played pianissimo, carry further than ten times the 
 volume of mere noise. The object of the present and following 
 chapters is therefore to give the scientific rules which must 
 regulate the construction and arrangement of the various parts 
 of the instrument with a view to the production of this desired 
 result. 
 
 First of all, then, let us consider the materials : — 
 TJw Wood. — This is, of course, the first consideration when 
 setting about to make a fiddle. Ex quovis ligno non fit Mer- 
 curius ! And when I speak of the wood, I mean, of course, 
 that used for the back, belly, linings, blocks, neck, scroll, bar, 
 sound-post, and sides of the instrument, without regard to the 
 ebony or rosewood used for the pegs, nut, finger-board, tail- 
 piece, rest, and tail-pin."'' The wood most generally employed 
 for backs of fiddles is maple, though pear and sycamore are^also 
 
 • T. Porter, " How to choose a Violin, with Directions for Keeping the 
 Instrument in Order," etc. (London, n. d. [1879]- Pitman). 
 2 For explanations of these terms vide Fig. 39. 
 
128 VIOLIN-MAKING: AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 sometimes used, and the wood is cut either sur inaille (on the 
 quarter) or sur couche (on the layers). As to these modes of 
 cutting, we shall speak farther on (vide p. 133) ; it is the nature 
 and quality of the wood, on which so much depends, that we must 
 now consider. The wood most sought after for bellies is Swiss 
 or Tyrolese white pine, of a fine (not too close), even grain.^ 
 Both the maple and the pine (says M. F6tis, vide note ^, p. 37) 
 should be not only that of the trees growing on the south side 
 of the forest, exposed to the sun, but also only the wood of 
 the south side of the tree should be used. L'Abb^ Sibire^ goes 
 so far as to say that the wood must be taken at a certain 
 distance between the bark and heart of the tree, and between the 
 boughs and root, and should be cut in the months of December 
 or January. According to M. F6tis, in his notice of Anthony 
 Stradivari, the maple used by the old Italian makers came from 
 Croatia, Dalmatia, and even Turkey ; he goes on to say that 
 it wa& sent to Venice prepared for galley oars, and that the 
 Turks, always at war with the Venetians, took care to select 
 wood with the greatest number of waves in it, i.e., having the 
 curliest grain, in order that it might break the sooner ; that 
 it was from these parts of the wood, intended for the rowers, 
 that the Italian makers chose what suited them for the manu- 
 facture of violins. The maple and pine from the Cantons of 
 Schwytz and Lucerne are the best. M. le Docteur F^lix Savart,^ 
 indeed, considered this preference for Swiss and Tyrolese wood 
 to be mifounded, adding that he had made bellies of pine from 
 the Vosges, which was superior to the other sorts of pine when 
 very dry, and when it had not been rafted.* Simoutre (vide 
 note ^, p. 20) gives the following as the order of superiority 
 among pine- woods : first, that which comes from Silesia ; 
 secondly, that which comes from La Valteline, Les Grisons, 
 Le Simmenthal (in the Bernese Oberland), the Valley of the 
 Lac de Joux, and Les Brassus (Canton of Vaud) in Switzerland ; 
 and thirdly, that which comes from the southern slopes of the 
 Jura-Bernois. The best maple to be had for our purpose, is 
 that which grows on the southern slopes of the Carpathians, 
 
 ' L'Abb^ Sibire, Prince Youssoupof, and SaTart mention cedar as material for 
 the beUy, but this is an error, or, at any rate, only an experiment. 
 
 ^ L'Abb§ Sibire, " La Chelonomie, ou le parfait Luthier " (Paris, 1806). 
 2nd Edition (Brussels, 1823, vide note ', p. viii. Preface). 
 
 ^ F. Savart, " M^moire sur la construction des Instruments k cordes et a 
 archet " (Paris, 1819). 
 
 * The pine, when cut in the great forests of the Continent, is generally floated 
 Sown the rivers to its destination in large rafts, which process of transport 
 would naturally aSect it and retard its desiccation for purposes of violin- 
 mjiking. 
 
THE WOOD— THE MODEL. 129 
 
 and in some parts of the Eastern Alps. It is of the greatest 
 importance that the wood used in fiddle-making should be 
 thoroughly dry and well-seasoned, and for this purpose should 
 be laid fully exposed to the sun and air (but not to rain) 
 for some five or six years, at least, before it is used!^. If 
 the wood is not thoroughly dry before it is used, the chances 
 are that it will shrink or otherwise alter after the fiddle has 
 been made some time, and thus thicknesses properly appor- 
 tioned (as will be seen further on), at the time the violin leaves 
 the workshop, will, by the final drying of the wood, become out 
 of proportion to the instrument, and the original maker will 
 receive unmerited blame. Stradivari, like many of the other 
 great Cremona makers, had a kind of open shed or awning on 
 the roof of his house in Cremona, where his wood was stored on 
 rafters all ready for use, and this shed is still to be seen by 
 those visitors to Cremona who venture to explore the house of 
 the great luthier.^ It is well nigh established that no advantage 
 is derived from artificial preparation of the wood, though many 
 recipes for such an operation have been suggested, and, indeed, 
 recommended. There is no doubt that the earlier instruments 
 of Vuillaume were made of wood, baked and otherwise tampered 
 with, operations which certainly improved their immediate 
 appearance, but they could not last, and are now his worst 
 instruments. He himself very soon discarded all artificial pre- 
 paration. Mr. Bishop, in his translation of Otto's "Treatise 
 on the Violin " (a useful little work, whose value is quad- 
 rupled by the translator's valuable and intelligent notes, vide 
 note \ p. 20), mentions a process discovered in 1839 by one 
 Schlick, "for depriving wood of water, acid, resin, etc., by 
 which means he was enabled to make violins with a tone 
 scarcely distinguishable from that of the best old Italian 
 instruments." A bold assertion, truly! (Credat Judceus 
 Apella, non ego.) 
 
 Amongst others he mentions a process (noticed in the Bulletin : 
 Paris, 1822) in operation at Vienna for preparing wood intended 
 to make musical instruments of, by steaming it in a room or 
 chest 10 ft. by 5 ft., made of strong boards well joined. He 
 says, " This steam by .penetrating the pores of the wood softens 
 the veo-etable parts, and renders them susceptible of being 
 dissolved. The steam condensed in the chest forms, in the 
 lower part, a liquor, at first but slightly coloured, which gets 
 deeper as the operation proceeds ; at length it is quite clear, and 
 
 ' The Eev. H. E. Haweis in his most recent work, "My Musical Life" 
 (London, 1884), gives (on p. 314) a most delightful account of => visit to the 
 house of Stradivari in the Piazza San Domenico at Cremona. 
 
 9 
 
130 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 acquires a very decided acid taste. This is let off by a proper 
 pipe. The operation commonly lasts sixty hours. The wood is 
 afterwards taken out and dried in a stove, heated to 42° or 48° 
 E^aumur (=126^° or 140° Fahrenheit). The desiccation lasts 
 two or three days when the boards are half an inch thick ; but 
 if thicker several weeks, or even months, are necessary. This 
 wood acquires such a degree of dryness as to resist all the 
 variations of the atmosphere ; its colour increases in intensity, 
 particularly the wood of the walnut, cherry, or maple. It 
 becomes firmer and more sonorous, which is a great advantage 
 for musical instruments. Violins acquire the quality of the 
 esteemed old instruments, of which the true merit is due 
 perhaps to the slow desiccation which the wood composing them 
 has undergone." Mackintosh, in a pamphlet on the " Construc- 
 tion and Materials employed in the Manufacture of Violins " 
 (Dublin, 1837) remarks : — " I am borne out by traditionary 
 accounts in believing that the Cremona makers actually put 
 their wood through some process for the purpose, not only of 
 preserving, but of cleansing it, and making it, consequently, 
 a better conductor of sound." The same author, according to 
 Mr. Bishop, states that " the wood must be not only of firm and 
 regular texture, but have pores of a certain size and formation ; 
 and, above all, it is essential that it shall have attained not only 
 full maturity of growth, but shall have remained for some years 
 after being felled, in order to make it fit to go through a process, 
 by which the pores (for that is the great object to be arrived at) 
 may be rendered so perfectly dried and cleared as not after- 
 wards to be liable to close or alter their natural position, or 
 become crooked or irregular, as would h/ the inevitable conse- 
 quence if cut up immediately into thin pieces, as it is then liable 
 to shrink, which is also objectionable, as being injurious to the 
 pores. . . . When experimenting I have had recourse to 
 steaming, steeping, stoving, boiling, and baking the timber : 
 I have also used all kinds of spirits, caustics, and acids ; but all 
 these disorganized the pores and impaired the fibres of the 
 timber, which ought to be in a sound and perfect state." Mr. 
 Fleming (vide note ^, p. 23) claims an advantage from steeping 
 wood in the mother-liquor of salt works, as greatly increasing 
 the elasticity of pine, and he points out the fact that beneat£ 
 the pine forests of the Tyrol, whence the Italian masters got 
 their wood, there extend considerable salt mines, which, as he 
 justly remarks, had doubtless then, as they have doubtless now, 
 considerable beneficial effects upon the quality of the wood, 
 which they thus naturally impregnate, but it is also hopeless to 
 try to produce this natural effect by artificial means. 
 
THE WOOD — THE MODEL. 131 
 
 Abele, in his book " Die Violine," ^ assures us that there is 
 no proof in existence that the old Italians used any artificial 
 means for drying or preparing their wood. Notwithstanding all 
 that has been written on this point (which would fill a large 
 book), it seems that the wood, if carefully selected, is better if 
 left to nature, to mature and fit for our purposes. Apart from its 
 maturity the maple must be thoroughly sound, without knots or 
 cracks, the grain must run evenly and not in curves or waves. 
 (The reader will distinguish the difference between "grain," 
 and " figure " or " curl," of the wood.) It must be neither too 
 hard nor too soft : if the former, the vibrations will be sluggish 
 and the tone harsh ; if the latter, the tone will be dull and wofuUy 
 lack brillianc}'. Above all things, never dream of using a piece 
 of maple which the worms have touched ever so slightly ; for 
 sooner or later such ravages wiU either be continued or become 
 the seat of a thousand ills. M. Maugin, in his ' Manuel du 
 Luthier," ^ mentions a wood, called " azarole," as being used by the 
 Cremonese masters, but states that the wood is unknown to 
 him. So it was to me, until I read the following explanation of 
 the term in M. Simoutre's little brochure.' He says : — " Among 
 pine-woods, the species named Epicea, or red pine, knoion hy the 
 Italians under the name of Azarole, is the best." The same 
 author gives some interesting notes on the use of plane-wood 
 as a material for backs, stating that a plane-wood back causes 
 a soft and muffled tone in a violin, in distinction to the pure, 
 clear tone of the maple back. I have not verified this by trial, 
 but it is quite probable, owing to the greater density and tough- 
 ness of the plane-wood. 
 
 Lastly, never let the maple be spotted in any way; for the 
 sake of both appearance and sound the wood should be of a 
 uniform silvery cream colour under the planing-iron. The 
 pine should be quite white and brilliant like silk when split 
 open, avoiding anything like a reddish tinge, which indicates 
 a most unhealthy growth. The grain must not be too close 
 or too wide, and must be disposed evenly and straight from 
 top to bottom of the belly. The grain of the back should also 
 run from top to bottom of the instrument. One is often asked, 
 why the belly should not have the grain setting crossways, 
 and it is often argued that the best makers have sometimes 
 cut their backs so that the grain ran across them. In the 
 
 ' H. Abele, " Die Violine, ihre Geschiohte nnd ihr Ban " (Neuberg, a.d. 1864 ; 
 2nd Edition, 1874). 
 
 * Maugin et STaigne, " Nouveau Manuel Complet du Luthier " (Paris, 1869), 
 p. 9. 1st Edition by J. C. Maugin alone, " Manuel du Luthier " (Paris, 1834) 
 
 ' N. E. Simoutre, " Aux Amateurs du Violon. Historique, Construction, Re- 
 paration et ConserTation de cet instrument" (B&le, 1883). Vide note ', p. 8P. 
 
132 TIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND la. 
 
 first case experiment has proved to us that the vibrations are 
 transmitted along the fibres of wood quickest in this position 
 and under these circumstances, and in the second it will be 
 remarked that the tone of the Cremonese masterpieces is 
 always most brilliant when this perpendicular setting of the 
 grain has been adhered to. Care must be taken to select the 
 pine neither too hard nor too soft in texture, and without any 
 defect, knot, stain, or other fault. 
 
 Deal owes its great recommendation for bellies to its slight 
 density, elasticity, and vibratory powers. If a rod of steel, 
 another of glass, and another of deal be taken of identical 
 dimensions, they will, when similarly struck, produce the 
 same note ; therefore, of these three bodies deal is equal in 
 elasticity and immeasurably superior in lightness. Maple is 
 much more slow to vibrate than deal, and consequently a 
 fourth rod made of maple would give a lower note than that 
 made of deal ; and consequently the back of a violin (maple) 
 when struck, or vibrated alone with a bow, would yield a 
 lower note than the belly (deal), if the plates were of the 
 same thickness, but being made of different thicknesses, the 
 back, when finished, is about a tone higher than the belly 
 when finished by the cutting of the ff holes and the affixing 
 of the bass bar.'' And M. F6tis, in his " Notice of Anthony 
 Stradivari " * (a book much more instructive to the practical 
 luthier than its title would denote), fixes this difference of 
 sonority at exactly one tone, and M. Savart coincides in (though 
 he has sometimes been made to contradict) this statement, and 
 his numerous experiments went to prove that if by a reduction of 
 the thickness of the back it were made to coincide in intonation 
 with the belly, a feeble and unsatisfactory tone would charac- 
 terize the fiddle so formed. If the difference were less than a 
 tone, the tone of the instrument would be throbbing, and if 
 more than a tone an even more unsatisfactory result would be 
 
 ' Nearly every author who has written on this subject has declared that the 
 iack should be a tone lower than the belly. It is useless (as many of them 
 probably never actually made a fiddle) to persuade them that exactly the reverae 
 is the case. Mr. Davidson is the only author who ever reproduced M.- Savart's 
 right words on this point. All the others have made him say that the back 
 should be a tone lower : the verbatim report of his own words is in L^Institwt 
 (" Sciences mathdmatiques, physiques, et natureUes," Nos. 319, 321, 323, 327), 
 where he rightly states that the back should give a tone higher than the beUy. 
 It is extraordinary that such an error should have so long been an authority. 
 Mr. Bishop, indeed, seriously criticises and reproves the correction of his own 
 error, or rather the correct rendering of his own authority. Let any one make 
 a fiddle, and this wiU be proved to him more satisfactorily than by a volume 
 of " premeditated pleonasm " on the point. 
 
 ^ r. J. Ffetis, " Notice of A. Stradivari," translated by J. Bishop (London, 
 1864). Tide note ^ p. 37. 
 
THE WOOD — THE MODEL. 133 
 
 obtained. To ascertain the normal tone of a plate of wood, it 
 must be clamped firmly at a point where two nodal lines cross 
 one another,* and vibrated with a bow drawn along the edge. 
 The note it then renders is the lowest of which it is capable, 
 and is called "its normal tone." Some interesting experiments 
 of this kind have been made with some fragments of Stradi- 
 varius violins of various dates. Thus : — rods were made 7| inches 
 long, I inch broad, and ^ inch thick of maple and deal from one 
 of these fiddles which had been destroyed. Two rods of maple, 
 one plain, the other figured, dated respectively 1708 and 1717, 
 gave, when struck, identically the same note. Three rods of 
 deal, dated 1690, 1724, and 1730, gave identically another 
 higher note,^ and the coincidence of tone with the disparity of 
 dates and appearance must surely indicate that Stradivari had 
 a standard of acoustic intonation, and relation between back 
 and belly, to which he paid more attention than the mere 
 appearance of his fiddles. ( Vide F6tis' " Notice of A. Stradivari " 
 [note =*, p. 37], p. 78.) 
 
 Let it be noted that blocks or planks for fiddle-making 
 should not be cut with a saw, but split with the axe, as the 
 marks of the saw will hide any defects in the wood, which would 
 at once be revealed on the shining silky surface of a plank or 
 block split open by the axe, and besides this splitting with the 
 axe ensures the fibres being left whole and straight, and not 
 cut into as they are by the teeth of the saw. In Chapter III. 
 I made frequent use of the terms " whole," " half," or " slab " 
 backs, referring to the way in which the wood forming that part 
 of the instrument was cut, and I here give a woodcut of a 
 section of a tree trunk (Fig. 77) with cuttings to explain these 
 uffrms. As bellies are almost invariably joined, and very 
 'Vequently (nay, almost always) backs are cut in this manner, 
 X will shortly explain this figure before proceeding. It repre- 
 sents a trunk cut at D " on the layers " {sur eouche) for the 
 whole back, and at A "on the quarter" {sur maille) for the 
 half or joined back. The wedge A is squared at the thick end 
 
 ' I have tried to exclude such terms as these from this work, as being difficult 
 to undeiBtandj.and confusing. This one, however, I cannot avoid. If a plate 
 be strewed with sand and then vibrated with a bow, the sand arranges itself in 
 certain lines, called " nodal lines." It is at a point where two of these cross 
 one another that the plate must be clamped. As good a way as any is to place 
 a piece of cork near the edge of the bench, balance the plate on it, and hold 
 it firmly vidth the finger, pressing it on to the cork. The edge overhanging the 
 edge of the bench may then be vibrated vrith a well rosined bow. 
 
 '' The belly (deal) here also sounded higher than the back (maple). Parfai- 
 tement ! because the rods were identical in point of size and volume. In the 
 mass (i.e., the whole plates) the intonation of the back and belly is found to 
 vary correctly, the former being a tone higher than the latter. 
 
134 
 
 violin-making: as it was and is. 
 
 and redivided down the middle, as shown at B ; the two halves 
 are then joined at the broad ends in the manner shown at c. It 
 is often asked why backs and bellies are so often joined when it 
 would be simpler to construct them all in one piece. The 
 reason (setting aside the fact that this form of cutting is nearly 
 always far prettier than the " whole " or " slab " form) is, that 
 it is very seldom that you find a wedge of deal or maple good 
 for fiddle-making of sufficient breadth to make a fiddle back or 
 belly out of it without joining (i.e., in the " whole " form), and 
 it is better to have both halves of your tables acoustically good, 
 than to let the unsuitability of the wood of one side of the back 
 or belly counteract the good qualities of the other. " Slab " backs, 
 
 ^)^ 
 
 Fig. 77. — Diagram explaining methods of cutting wood for Violin-making. A, wedge cut 
 aurmaille. B, the wedge marked for Cutting. 0, the wedge out and joined. D, planks 
 cut aur couehi. 
 
 i.e., cut as at D Fig. 77, are of course always all in one piece. 
 The model, or outline, is then traced on the flat surface, cut out 
 with a fret-saw and file, and the work proceeds. At D is 
 shown the cutting for slab form ; the planks thus cut are 
 worked without any further preparation. A " whole " back is 
 so called when it is made out of the breadth of the wedge in 
 the manner laid down in another place. (Vide Part Ill.y 
 p. 285, Fig. 177.) As much depends upon the model you 
 cannot be too careful to draw an outline correct in every 
 particular, and for this purpose either copy some old master, 
 or trace an outline for yourself mathematically in the manner 
 to be hereinafter laid down. A word about storing wood to 
 mature. It is best to keep the maple stored in wedges, blocks 
 and strips for the back, neck, scroll, and sides ; the pine also 
 in wedges, for the belly ; in these forms they occupy but little 
 space, and are ready to hand when wanted. The maple for 
 
THE WOOD — THE MODEL. 
 
 135 
 
 the backs is cut into wedges 15 inches long, by 5 inches 
 broad, being If inch thick at the thick side, and | inch at the 
 thin side (b Fig. 77). The maple for the neck should be in 
 blocks (also slightly wedge-shaped) 10^ inches long, 2f inches 
 broad, the thick edge 2 inches deep, the thin 1^ inches, and that 
 destined to make the sides should be cut into strips 15^ inches 
 long, by If inches broad by, ^V inch thick. The pine for the 
 belly should be in wedges 15 inches long by 5 inches broad, If 
 inches thick at the thick side, and f inch thick on the thin side. 
 The object and convenience -.of keeping the woods in these 
 dimensions will become appa- 
 rent when we reach the prac- 
 tical part of our work. < 
 
 Tlie Model. — To copy an, 
 
 old master's model. Having 
 
 decided what fiddle you will 
 
 copy, very carefully remove 
 
 the belly of the instrument to 
 
 be reproduced. This is done 
 
 by applying a rather blunt 
 
 knife to the edges where the 
 
 belly is glued to the sides in 
 
 the manner described farther 
 
 on {vide p. 306). This done, 
 
 the belly or back is held down 
 
 on to the planks of deal and 
 
 sycamore prepared for the 
 
 belly and back of your fiddle, 
 
 and the outline sharply and 
 
 cleanly traced round it with 
 
 a sharp pencil or point. This 
 
 is a very certain, and the most 
 
 convenient way, if you happen 
 
 to have access to a good instrument in course of repair, but if 
 
 not, the following method is a very good one. Take a piece of 
 
 thin, stiff wood, rather longer than, and about one and a-half times 
 
 as broad as the violin you wish to copy, and cut a piece out of the 
 
 centre about two inches smaller than the approximate outline of 
 
 the said violin as at A in Fig. 78, which shows a guitar-shaped 
 
 cuttino-. If this be laid upon the fiddle it will lie flat round 
 
 the outline, the guitar-shaped opening receiving the bulge 
 
 or arching of the back, which would otherwise interfere 
 
 with the tracing. The outline may then be traced round 
 
 (as in the figure), and you will have an exact tracing of an 
 
 entire outline. To copy the rise or arching of the back or 
 
 Pig. 78.— Plank for tracing the outline of a fiddle 
 
136 
 
 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 belly, proceed as follows: Take a piece of wood, 2 inches 
 across, i an inch thick, and a little longer than the body of the 
 instrument you wish to copy. Place this edgeways on, and at 
 right angles toj the back or belly, holding it firmly, or wedging 
 it at the ends, so that it cannot see-saw on the rise in the middle. 
 Take a pair of compasses with a fine point or lead, and opening 
 them about an inchj place one point sideways on the back or 
 belly, so that the other point touches the piece of wood held at 
 right angles to it ; then draw the point touching the surface to be 
 copied, down the centre of that surface, so that the arm touching 
 the piece of wood will, by following the motion of the lower 
 arm, exactly reproduce on the lath thus held for the purpose, 
 the contour of the back and belly to be copied. Be very careful 
 that the wood is held, and the lower arm is drawn down the 
 exact centre of the surface being reproduced. Similar models 
 should be taken of the rise across (i) the broadest part of the 
 upper bouts, (ii) the narrowest part of the inner bouts, and (iii) 
 the broadest part of the lower bouts. 
 
 To trace an independent outline mathematically on a given, 
 graduated, perpendicular straight line, you must proceed as 
 follows. And I beg, before commencing the explanation of this 
 operation, which is illustrated by Fig. 79, to record my indebted- 
 ness to Mr. John Bishop, by whose courtesy I am enabled to 
 reproduce this diagram and descriptive letterpress from his 
 translation of Otto's work on the construction of the violin (vide 
 note \ p. 20) :— 
 
 Draw a perpendicular line down the middle of a sheet of 
 paper or of the flat side of the piece of wood intended for the 
 back, of the exact length required for the body of the instru- 
 ment (without the button b, Fig. 79), and divide it into 72 
 equal parts, as shown in the figure. This must be done with the 
 greatest accuracy, for on it depends the correctness of the whole. 
 
 Then intersect this perpendicular, by 20 horizontal lines at 
 the points named below. 
 
 Line (1) A at the point 8 
 
 Line (H) l at the point 33 
 
 ,, (2) B . „ 
 
 14 
 
 „ (12) M 
 
 >» 
 
 34 
 
 „ (3)C 
 
 16 
 
 „ (13) N 
 
 V 
 
 37 
 
 „ WD „ 
 
 20 
 
 „ (i+)o 
 
 If 
 
 39 
 
 „ (5)E „ 
 
 2H 
 
 ., (15) P 
 
 Jt 
 
 40 
 
 „ (6)F „ 
 
 22 
 
 „ (16) Q 
 
 )» 
 
 iii 
 
 „ (7)G „ 
 
 23 
 
 „ (17) H 
 
 It 
 
 48 
 
 „ (8)H „ 
 
 27 
 
 „ (18) S 
 
 »I 
 
 65 
 
 „ (9)1 
 
 28 
 
 „(I9)T 
 
 
 56 
 
 » (10) K „ 
 
 31 
 
 „ (20) V 
 
 » 
 
 65 
 
 This being done, open the compasses to an extent of 9 parts 
 of the perpendicular, and describe the two arcs a a from the 
 
THL WOOD — THE MODEL. 
 
 137 
 
 point b. Then place the compasses on the point 24, and opening 
 them to b, draw the curve aba. 
 
 Next set off 2 parts c, on each side of the perpendicular, on the 
 horizontal line c. Place the compasses on the point c, and opening 
 them, to a, draw the curves d d, from a to the horizontal line -A. 
 
 Pjq. 79. Method of drawing an ontline mathematically on a given graduated straight line- 
 
 Now set off one part e, on each side of the perpendicular on 
 the line b. Place the compasses on these points, and opening 
 them to the line A, where the curve d ends, draw tho curves / 
 from the line A to that of D. This completes the draught of 
 the upper portion of the instrument without the corners. 
 
138 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 For the middle or narrow portion proceed thus : — On the 
 horizontal line l set off 11^ parts from the perpendicular to the 
 point ^; and then 11 other parts, from g to h, from which latter 
 point draw the curve from the line L to that of p. 
 
 Next set off 23f parts on the line k, from the perpendicular 
 to k ; open the compasses to the point where the curve % inter- 
 sects the line m, and draw the curve from the line M 
 to that of H. The Httle angle formed by the curves 
 between the lines L and m, must be worked off so as 
 to bring the sides into proper shape. 
 
 The lower portion is obtained as follows : — Open the 
 compasses 1 1 parts, and describe the two arcs v v from 
 the point r r. Then place the compasses on the point 
 35, and opening them to r r, draw the curve v w v. 
 
 Next set off 6 parts x on each side of the per- 
 pendicular on the line s. Place the compasses on the 
 point X, and opening them to v, draw the curves ?/ y 
 from V to the line v. 
 
 Now set off 4 parts z on each side of the perpen- 
 dicular on the line t. Place the compasses on these 
 ' points, and opening them to the line v, where the curve 
 y ends, draw the curves a a from the line v to that of k.. 
 For the upper corners, set off 24^ parts on the line 
 G, from the perpendicular to o, and placing the com- 
 I passes on this point, open them to the line] d, where 
 the curve / ends, and draw the curve from the line B 
 to that of F. 
 
 Then on the line I set off 14f parts from the perpen- 
 dicular to m. Place the compasses on this point, and 
 opening them to line H where the curve ends, draw 
 the curve from the line H to s. 
 
 Now on the line E set off 22 parts from the perpen- 
 dicular to q. Place the compasses on this point, and 
 opening them to where the curve meets the line r, 
 draw the curve from the line f to s. Again place 
 the compasses on the > point 20, and opening them 
 16^ parts mark off the length of the corners s s. 
 
 For the lower corners set oft" 24 parts on the line (}• 
 from the perpendicular to b b, and, placing the com- 
 passes on this point, open them to the line E, where the curve 
 a a ends, and draw the curve from the line a to d d. 
 
 Then on the line N set off 16| parts from the perpendicular 
 to t Place the compasses on this point, and, opening them to 
 where the curve meets the line p, draw the curve from the last- 
 named line to d d. 
 
THE WOOD — ^THB MODEL. 139 
 
 Lastly, place the compasses on the point 49, and, opening 
 tliem 19f parts, mark off the length of tiie corners d d,dd. 
 
 This completes the entire model, and the belly can now be 
 marked from the back thus traced. 
 
 To obtain the proper rise or height for the back or belly, take 
 a thin piece of bard wood, about 2 inches broad, and a little 
 longer ilian the violin you propose to make (Fig. 79a), and mark 
 it in the middle at the point A, which must be three " parts " 
 (of the foregoing scale) distant from the edge, shown here by 
 the dotted line. Then, placing a large pair of compasses on the 
 point A, open them 216 parts, or three times the length of the 
 body of tiie instrument, and with this radius describe the arc 
 shown in the figure, which, by being sawed out, will serve as 
 a guide for the beight or rise required. 
 
 The small semicircular piece seen at the top of Fig, 79 is the 
 " button," which is part of the back, and made in one piece 
 with it, to which is glued the shoulder when the neck is fixed to 
 the body. 
 
 This method of tracing an outline (which has been given by 
 more than one author) is, though terribly complicated, the most 
 ingenious piece of mechanical drawing I have ever come across. 
 Nowadays any one can get access to a good outline, which 
 may be copied as before set down, but I have given the above 
 method as it is extremely interesting, and clever in con- 
 struction. 
 
 Vivebam in sylvis, et tunc sine voce cupressus 
 Mortna facta chelys, nunc ego vocem habeo, 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE BACK, BELLY, AND SIDES. 
 
 The Thicknesses of the Back and Belly — Copyists — The Sides — Mass of Air con- 
 tained in a Fiddle— Height of the Sides. 
 
 I HAVE described the models and the modes of tracing them ; 
 it remains, therefore, to notice the relative thicknesses of 
 the different parts of the back and belly of a properly propor- 
 toned jfiddle. Important as is the selection of wood acous- 
 tically good, it must be appreciated at once, that the tone 
 of the instrument depends quite as much on the wood being 
 properly cut and apportioned, as on the wood itself, for it stands 
 to reason, that however good the material may be, its intrinsic 
 merit must be absolutely nullified if it fall into the hands of an 
 unskilful workman. Of course, to lay down hard and fast rules 
 to fix the proper amount of wood to be left in an instrument, 
 either in the back or in the belly, would be quite impossible, for 
 it must necessarily vary with the quality of the wood : thus the 
 closer the grain and the harder the material, the thinner must it 
 be left ; and the proportions which would be perfect with one piece 
 of wood, might produce a very unsatisfactory result with another. 
 It is always, however, better to err on the side of excess 
 than of meanness, for the best authorities allow that an instru- 
 ment with plenty of wood left in it has a much finer tone than 
 one which has been chiselled down to a minimum of thickness ; 
 and again, instruments which have been spared the chisel in 
 their infancy (Haud inscius ac non incautus futuri .') have a 
 much better chance of maturing to perfection than weaker ones. 
 The great thing is to avoid extremes. If too thin, the tone of 
 the fiddle will be weak and feeble ; if too thick, the result will be 
 a sluggish, dull tone ; in fact, the elasticity of the deal, and the 
 rapidity with which it transmits sound, will be neutralized by 
 the quantity of it which has to be put into vibration. It is in 
 the adjustment and regulation of these thicknesses that the true 
 talent of the fiddle-maker asserts itself, or is conspicuous by its 
 absence. In high breasted models (like the German, for 
 
THE BACK, BELIiT, AND SIDKS. 
 
 141 
 
 instance) the consequently necessary thinning out of the wood 
 under the finger-board causes such a weakness at this point, 
 that the neck is very apt to be dragged forward by the strings, 
 the wood of the belly not being strong enough to resist me 
 pressure at this point, and good tone is rendered an impossibility. 
 
 Fio. 80.— Diagram of a well-seasonecl back, with thicknesses in fractions of an inch. 
 
 To obviate the difficulty of these variations in the quality of the 
 wood, and the obscurity which would be involved in a long 
 verbal description, and to serve as a guide for the amateur 
 fiddle-maker, I have obtained a back and belly from well-made 
 violins, which I have very carefully gauged all over, and made 
 
142 
 
 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 maps of (reproduced in Figs. 80 and 81), with imaginary Imes on 
 them, to denote where the thicknesses merge into one another, 
 .as far as it is possible to determine those boundaries ; and I 
 
 3 
 
 Fig. 81.— Diagram of a well-seasoned belly, with thicknesses in fractions of an inch. 
 
 present these two diagrams to my readers with every confi- 
 dence in their practical value. The thicknesses, as they merge 
 into one another, are indicated in fractions of an inch, and may 
 
U3 
 
 be taken as those of the average number of violins ; the denser 
 the wood, of course, the thinner it will be, but the proportions 
 remain the same. The margins beyond the purfling (which is 
 the extreme edge which ovarlaps the sides), and in Fig. 80 the 
 button at the top, have no influence on the vibration of the 
 plates, and are left to the discretion, art, or instinct of the 
 fiddle-maker; naturally, a good strong obtuse edge has a 
 tendency to strengthen the entire instrument. In Fig. 81 it 
 will be seen that the thicknesses are very uniform, in the semi- 
 circular pieces at the top and bottom, having the thickness 
 of 1^, the wood is merely left flat to fasten, on to the blocks, and 
 the little pieces left thicker (^) in each of these semicircles are 
 caused by the rise of the belly. The little triangular pieces in 
 the corners (in both figures) are left thick (j) for the same 
 purpose. In reality the thickest part of the belly (Fig. 81) 
 is, it will be seen, just over the sound-post, but it is only just 
 thicker (^) (as will be seen in the figure) than the surrounding 
 wood, and this slight increase covers a space of about a shilling.^ 
 
 Before dismissing this question of thicknesses, a word about 
 copies. Of these, there are two sorts : Firstly, the genuine 
 copy made by the skilful workman, who recognizes a high 
 original, and tries, not unsuccessfully, to obtain the same 
 results, by making his bran new fiddle exactly what the master- 
 pieces of the Amati, the Gruarneri, and Stradivari were, when 
 they were bran new, and leaving time to work its magical 
 improvements. Such were the instruments of Panormo, Lupot, 
 Vuillaume, and others. And, secondly, the vile imitation which 
 leaves the workshop dirty, damaged, and otherwise disfigured 
 by artificial age, produced in a few hours by the artful fiddle- 
 forger. These sham antiques can generally be told by the 
 abominable smell which characterizes their insides, and which is 
 the result of the acids, etc., used to prematurely age the modern 
 work. The first are left properly proportioned, and with their 
 proper age and parents recorded inside them ; the second, being 
 antedated some centuries, are thinned down to aid the deception, 
 and the time which should perfect, only destroys them. This 
 was the great fault of Peter Walmsley, and applies to the 
 forgeries, more or less artistic, which are turned out every year 
 by the wholesale fiddle trade. " The wholesale fiddle trade." 
 temporal mores ! 
 
 The Sides. — People are apt to imagine that the six strips of 
 maple wood which compose the sides of the violin have no 
 
 ' These are, of course, the thicknesses of an old and seasoned back and belly. 
 The thicknesses set down further on in the practical directions for ntim 
 instruments, it will be seen, vary slightly from these. 
 
144 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 influence on the tone, and consequently serve no other purpose 
 than to keep the whole structure together. It is true they do 
 not vibrate themselves, but they help in a great measure to 
 transmit the vibrations of the belly to the back ; and on their 
 proper measurement and height depends the volume of air 
 contained in the interior of the instrument ; and the import- 
 ance of this point cannot be better expressed than in the words 
 of M. Fetis, who says : ^ " The intensity of the sounds ren- 
 dered by the violin depends upon the mass of air contained 
 within it, which ought to be in a certain relation with the other 
 elements, a relation which it is here the question to determine. 
 By a series of ingenious experiments, made with an apparatus 
 which permitted the mass of air in a violin to be augmented or 
 diminished at pleasure,^ we are assured that if the strLogs are put 
 into vibration while the mass of air is at a medium, we obtain 
 sounds at once mellow and powerful ; if the volume of air be too 
 great, the low notes are weak and dull, and the high ones sharp 
 and thin ; if it be too little, the low notes are coarse, and those 
 of the first string lose their brilliancy. If we examine the sound 
 produced by the air in the body of the instrument, when the 
 tone rendered by the strings is most beautiful and intense, we 
 find that it keeps within certain limits, which depend on the 
 form and the other elements of the instrument. -In trying the 
 mass of air contained in several instruments of Stradivarius by 
 means of a wind conductor formed of a simple brass tube slightly 
 conical, and flat at its larger end, so as to leave only a little slit 
 for the escape of the air, it was found by placing the flat end of 
 this apparatus over one of the / holes, and blowing through the 
 other end, that the air always produced a sound corresponding 
 to 512 vibrations in a second, which was that of the Middle C 
 in the time of Stradivarius, but which in 1838 (when Savart 
 made his experiments) answered to B natural (a semi-tone 
 below). Through the excessive rise in the pitch for about the 
 last eighteen j-ears the sound produced by 512 vibrations is 
 now nearly in unison with B flat. All the excellent violins of 
 Stradivarius and Guarnerius have yielded the same result. This 
 then is another fact acquired for science : the air contained in 
 a violin should produce a sound equal to 512 vibrations in a 
 second, when set in motion by the apparatus of which we have 
 spoken. If the intonation of the air be higher, the low notes of 
 
 ' " Notice of Anthony Stradivari," p. 84 (vide note ', p. 37). 
 
 ^ This was a flat, square violin, with a chamber attached to it at right 
 angles, in which Worked a piston, which permitted the mass of air contained 
 in the instrument to be increased or diminished at pleasure. The strings were 
 vibrated whilst the piston was worked, and when they sounded best the mass 
 of ail was found to produce a note corresponding to 512 vibrations in a second. 
 
THE BACK, BELLY, AND SIDES. 145 
 
 the instrument are dry ; if lower, the notes of the first string 
 are sluggish and dull, and those of the fourth resemble the 
 notes of a tenor." M. F^tis goes on to say that though it is 
 not probable that Stradivari made such experiments as this, yet 
 his skilful hand, guided by his knowledge of his own work, 
 always enabled him, by the model or arching of his violin, the 
 outline, and the height of the sides, to produce an identical 
 interior capacity. 
 
 In the same way the body of air inside a violoncello must 
 be equally scientifically proportioned to the depth of the tone 
 it is destined to produce, and as the correct capacity would 
 too greatly enlarge the outline if made in the proportion of a 
 violin, the difficulty is obviated by giving to the instrument an 
 increased depth. Therefore it is a great pity that many writers 
 have loosely stated (doubtless with the best intentions) that 
 " the proportions of the fiddle, the tenor, the bass, and the 
 double-bass should be all identical with one another." The 
 late J. B. Vuillaume constructed some tenors the dimensions 
 of which were arranged so as to produce the quality of tone 
 of the violin, but they were found to be too cumbrous to be 
 of much practical value {vide p. 108). The measurements of 
 the sides of a violin, as nearly as it is possible to set them 
 down, are as follows : they should have a uniform thickness 
 of ^ of an inch at the most. M. Savart has remarked that 
 the lower the sides are, the thinner they must be, and he has 
 observed that when they are fairly strong they lend a certain 
 softness to the tone of the fiddle. In the lower bouts they 
 should be 1^ inches deep, diminishing gradually ^g- to the upper 
 bouts, where they should be l/^- broad. With an ordinary 
 elevation of the model and outline, the above dimensions will 
 produce the desired capacity of air inside the instrument, espe- 
 cially with the flatter models like those of Stradivarius and 
 Joseph del Jesii. When the outline is large, and the arching 
 high, the sides should be rather shallower, as in the instruments 
 of Paul Maggini. L'Abb^ Sibire, in "La Chelonomie," says 
 that if a violin be too small in model-dimensions the first string 
 will be brilliant, the second fair, the third tolerable, but the 
 fourth dull and harsh ; but that if, on tbe contrary, the model be 
 too voluminous, the first string will be weak, the second nasal, 
 the third very fuU but uncertain, the fourth soft, and hollow, 
 like a viola. These faults are more likely to be produced by 
 the rise or arching of the back and belly than the actual size of 
 the outline ; the most typical specimens of these two errors are 
 the almost fl^t instruments of Cuni, a little-known maker of the 
 eighteenth century, and the great tubby instruments of some of 
 
 10 
 
146 VIOLIN-MAKING: AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 the Klotz family, and of the German school generally. Some 
 of the old fiddle-makers lined the sides of their fiddles with 
 paper or cloth. Stradivari himself is said to have done this 
 sometimes, but the practice is entirely abandoned, as it does 
 not improve the stability of the sides, and certainly injures 
 the tone. 
 
 " Vissi nel bosco un di : poi caddi steso 
 Per dura scare : ma, se tacqui tauto 
 La divina dell' uomo arte m'ha reso 
 La Tita I ... e or canto 1 1 " 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE INTERIOK OF THE VIOLIN. 
 
 The Blocks — The Side Linings — The Sound Post — Its Measurement — Position in 
 the Fiddle — Functions of the Sound Post — Petizeau'e Sound Post — Hansel's 
 — Davidson's — The Bass Bar — Its Measurements — Position in the Fiddle — 
 The Old Bars — ^Vagaries attempted with the Bass Bar. 
 
 The Blocks. — These are the six pieces of wood which being 
 fixed at the top, bottom, and corners (f, Fig. 82) of a violin, 
 serve to strengtiien the whole structure, and thereby give a firm 
 base for the vibrations of the back and belly,^ and there is no 
 doubt that they perform a considerable duty in transmitting the 
 vibrations of liie belly to the back in the same way as the sound- 
 post and the sides. In some of the commonest and most inferior 
 fiddles which come into the market, the corner blocks and 
 side linings are altogether omitted. It is hardly necessary 
 to comment on the utter worthlessness of such instruments, 
 which, however, are now happily only to be found in toy 
 shops, or at the most inferior musical warehouses. The blocks 
 are made of pine, of an even and not too wide grain (which is 
 set perpendicularly to the back and belly), excepting in the 
 instruments of Stradivarius, who nearly always used willow 
 for his blocks, doubtless with the object of giving a greater 
 specific lightness to his instruments. The top and bottom blocks 
 should have a length of 2 inches, a breadth of -^^ inch, and a 
 height of course identical with that of the sides. The corner 
 blocks should just fill up the, corners (as in the figure), so as to 
 produce the guitar-shape that the interior of a violin would 
 present if the corners were removed. The greatest care must 
 be exercised, in fitting the blocks to a fiddle, to use the smallest 
 quantity of glue so as to fix them most closely, accurately, and 
 immovably to the sides, to avoid the catastrophe of their coming 
 loose. The tail-pin (o. Fig. 82) is fastened into a hole bored 
 through the middle of the breadth, rather below the middle of 
 the height of the bottom block. The neck fits into a chamber 
 cut through the upper bouts into the top block, as is hereafter 
 
 ' Fig. 82 represents the interior only of a violin, i.e., the tides are not 
 represented. 
 
148 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 laid down. la olden days the neck was often fixed to the back, 
 with a nail or screw, an expedient extremely deleterious to the 
 fiddle, and I have seen instruments in which the top block was 
 dispensed with altogather, the shoulder being extended into the 
 
 C 
 
 Fio. 82.— The Interior of the Violin. 
 
 body of the instrument sufficiently far to act as the top block 
 of the violin. 
 
 The Side Linings. — These are the twelve strips of wood which 
 run round the top and bottom of the sides (d d, Figs. 82 and 83), 
 and connect the blocks with one another. They are made of the 
 
THE. INTERIOR OF THE VIOLIN. 149 
 
 same wood as the blocks,^ which they touch, but do not run 
 into them (except in the cases of Stradivari and Guameri, who 
 used to prolong the linings of the centre bouts into the corner 
 blocks, as shown in Fig. 82, and hereinafter laid down, vide 
 Fig. 142). It is needless to say they run in the direction of the 
 grain of the wood of which they are made. As shown in the 
 section (Fig. 83), they are wedge-shaped, being ^V inch in 
 diameter, where they join the back or belly, and slant down 
 (or up) to a fine point. They are j% of an inch deep, and serve 
 the purpose of strengthening the sides when the back and belly 
 are glued on to them, for otherwise the extreme thinness of the 
 sides (^\) would not be enough to ensure the stability of the 
 juncture. The same remark applies as to fitting them very 
 closely and evenly to the sides, as to the fitting of the blocks. 
 
 The Sound Post, with the Bass Bar, constitutes the entire 
 nervous system of the fiddle, and on their proper construction and 
 position depends the tone of the in- 
 strument. By a wrong arrange- 
 ment of the sound post or bass bar, 
 what are termed " wolf-notes " are 
 produced, and when present, they 
 
 may generally be cured by the pro- j,,,. 83.-seotion of the vioii. across 
 per adjustment ot the bar or post. the/zhoies. 
 
 The sound post is a little roimd stick of fine, even-grained pine, 
 varying, of course, in length with the distance from each other 
 of the back and belly of the fiddle, both of which it must 
 just firmly touch. It must not be long enough to force the 
 back and belly apart ever so slightly, and must not be so 
 short as to fall down when the instrument receives a jerk, 
 or when the strings are let down. The violin, as I have said 
 before, must be so constructed as to be able to sustain the 
 pressure of the strings without giving way. If the sound post, 
 in addition to its most important duties (set out below), has to 
 bear a part in sustaining the belly, or if originally it is ciit too 
 long, the result will be a feeble tone ; for the sound post will in 
 this case check the vibrations of the belly, instead of communicat- , 
 ing them to the back. It has a diameter of \ inch, and its' ; 
 fibres must form a right angle with, that is, must be set across^"' 
 the fibres of the belly. Its diameter must be, to a certain extent, 
 adapted to the fiddle in which it is set, for if it is too slight the 
 tone will be thin, and if it is too thick the tone will be rendered 
 dull. Its exact position depends entirely upon the quality and 
 
 ' J. A. Otto says that the side linings are made of maple, hut this is an error. 
 They are always pine, unless the blocks are made of willow, in which case the 
 linings are made of the same wood. 
 
150 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 peculiarities of the fiddle, and must be carefully regulated by 
 an experienced workman, but it is almost invariably within 
 J inch behind the right foot of the bridge, as indicated at B, in 
 Figs. 82 and 83. A high-built instrument will require the sound 
 post nearer the bridge than a flatter model. It is the more 
 important to trust this work only to a skilled hand, for the only 
 access to it being through the right-hand /hole, an inexperienced 
 operator is very apt to destroy the appearance of this / hole, not 
 to mention injuries to the internal surfaces of the fiddle. A poor 
 violin is often improved by placing the post nearer the bridge, , 
 but a violin thus arranged requires very careful playing to 
 render the tone even. When, though even, the tone is rough 
 and harsh, the post must be moved back a little ; if the high 
 strings are weak and the lower ones harsh, the post must be 
 moved a little outwards towards the / hole ; if the low notes are 
 weak and the high ones shrill, it must be moved very slightly 
 towards the centre. Experiments have been tried, placing it 
 behind the left foot, but the pressure of the two left-hand strings 
 being lighter than that of the two high ones, it would not be so 
 much acted upon in this position, and again, following an 
 argument set out a little further on, it would cause the produc- 
 tion of short fibre vibrations where long ones are required, and 
 vice versa. So important, indeed, is the action of this little post 
 on the tone of the instrument, that the French term for it is 
 " Vdme " (the soul) ; without it the tone of a fiddle is harsh and 
 feeble, but with it the effect again becomes good. M. Savart 
 has made many most interesting experiments on the functions 
 and action of the sound post, amongst which were the following. ' 
 He removed the sound post from a violin, and applied it outside, 
 and on the top of the belly by means of two uprights on the 
 corner blocks, and a crossbar, between which and the belly the 
 sound post was set up. Again, fixing this arch to the back of 
 the instrument ; by cutting a hole in the back, he set the post 
 up against the belly, without touching the back at all. Again, 
 removing the sound post altogether, he applied a weight to the 
 belly, and in all these three experiments the same results were 
 produced, as if the sound post were there in its normal position. 
 In fact, the same effect is produced whether the post presses 
 against the belly outside by means of the arch, or the belly is 
 pressed against it by means of a clamp. It was based upon this 
 peculiarity that Hawkins in 1800 patented his violin, in which 
 the back and sides were replaced by a bar, and a spring in place 
 of the sound post, which produced the same effect (as far as 
 mere noise was concerned) as if the post had been still there. 
 This and similar vagaries have been mentioned in a previous 
 
THE INTERIOK OF THE VIOLIN. 151 
 
 chapter. The object of the sound post is not so much to com- 
 municate the vibrations of the belly to the back, as to render 
 the vibrations of the two plates similar (or normal), whilst it 
 communicates them. If, instead of being continuous, the 
 vibration of the string were instantaneous, like that of a 
 guitar, the sound post would only deaden the sound. It is 
 for this cause that the pizzicato note on a violin has no 
 resonance, unless the sound post be absent, when it is as full 
 as. a guitar note. 
 
 The sound post has, therefore, the same effect upon the belly 
 and back as the bow has on the strings ; it continues the vibra- 
 tions and keeps them regular with one another. The succession 
 of shocks given to the strings by the bow, are communicated to 
 the back by the sound post, and, being placed just behind the 
 right foot of the bridge, it holds it firmly there, whilst it allows 
 the vibrations of the left foot to be transmitted to the bass bar 
 beneath it, which directs the vibrations of the belly. To prove 
 this, if a hole be cut in the belly, so that the right foot of the 
 bridge rests on the top of the sound post without touching the 
 belly at all, the efiect of the post is not neutralized or destroyed, 
 and the left foot acts upon the bar as usual. Again, if in another 
 violin the wood is cut out from under the left foot, so that the 
 left foot cannot communicate with the belly, but is indepen- 
 dently supported, and to allow this the bar is shifted to the 
 middle of the belly, the sound post being in its normal position 
 with regard to the right foot of the bridge, the effect of the sound 
 post is produced, though the effect of the bar is neutralized. 
 
 These, then, are the fimctions of the sound post, and to make 
 it perform those functions properly, the greatest care should be 
 exercised in determining its position, and pressure on the back 
 and belly. It must, however, be borne in mind, that every time 
 the post is moved the equilibrium of the instrument is deranged, 
 and it will take some time to get accustomed to the change, and 
 as these changes are naturally deleterious to the fiddle, they 
 must be made as seldom as possible. As I have said before, the 
 mass of air contained in a fiddle ought to yield a certain note 
 (vide p. 144) ; if the post is too short, a lower note will be pro- 
 duced, and the upper notes of the violin will suffer ; if it is too 
 long, the contrary will happen. In fact, if your sound post is 
 too short, it will have the same effect as if the back and belly 
 had been worked too thin, and vice versd. It sometimes, 
 however, occurs, that when a sound post has beep^made of 
 unseasoned wood, it contracts after being set in a ffddle ; this, 
 if suspected, should be ascertained by relaxing all the strings, 
 when, if the sound post has shrunk, it will fall, and a nevr 
 
152 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 one must be put in, fulfilling the proper conditions. A few 
 years ago, M. Petizeau announced to the Academy of Sciences 
 in Paris that considerable advantages were to be derived from 
 the use of a hollow glass sound post, and in the Allgemeine 
 Musikalische Zeitung, for 1881 (p. 75), one John Anthony 
 Hansel, a luthier and musician, pronounces in favour of a 
 broad, flat, and thin sound post, though difficult to adjust, and 
 requiring great accuracy to ensure success. Mr. P. Davidson 
 claims especial merit for a sound post, which he calls "an 
 ancient form lately re-adopted," which is made as follows : 
 "Drill a longitudinal hole through a square, clean piece of 
 cedar wood, about ^ of an inch in diameter ; now drill a 
 number of holes crossways through two opposite sides, so as 
 to have a space of about ^ an inch between each ; then in the 
 other two sides of the square drill a number of holes of the 
 same size as the preceding, so as to pass through the middle 
 of the former spaces, in a direction thus crossways to the 
 others ; now reduce and cut the post to its proper rounded 
 dimensions, and fit it to the violin in the usual manner." This 
 operation is, of course, superfluous and ridiculous, but is 
 interesting as showing how complicated may become even so 
 simple a piece of mechanism as the sound post of a fiddle. 
 
 The Bass Bar or Sound Bar, which is the other great nervous 
 regulator of a fiddle, is the bar of fine soft even-grained pine, 
 about lOJ inches long, which extends along the belly of the fiddle 
 in a slightly oblique direction, underneath the left foot of the 
 bridge (a, Figs. 82 and 83). This obliquity of position is often 
 much exaggerated, on paper, in diagrams, and in the fiddle itself. 
 The right deviation, measured from the centre join of the belly, iS 
 as follows : at the top it is |4 '''' I ^^'^ from the centre join ; in 
 the centre, under the bridge it increases to \^ or f inch ; at the 
 bottom end it has increased the distance to -J-^ or | ; a total 
 deviation of -^-^ (= —^^ of an inch throughout its entire length. 
 These distances include the y'V, which is the diameter of the bar, 
 i.e., they are taken from the outer side of the bar to the centre, 
 and they are subject to slight alterations according to the model 
 of the viohn. Thus on a narrow fiddle they would be slightly 
 less, and on a broad one a trifle more. Its width at the edge 
 glued to the belly is ^ inch broad, the other edge is slightly 
 rounded. This last rounded edge is slightly undulated, and 
 the edge gJned to the belly throughout its entire length takes a 
 concavity regulated by the longitudinal arching of the belly. 
 Its depth is also, of course, similarly regulated, but is generally 
 in the best fiddles % inch in the centre or deepest part. It is set 
 quite at a right angle with the belly {vide Fig. 83). The would- 
 
THE INTEEIOR OF THE VIOLIN. 153 
 
 be anonymous author of " Luthomonographie " (vide note *, 
 p. viii. Preface), citing F61ix Savart and his trapezoid violin, 
 says that the bass bar should be placed down the centre join of 
 the belly, a statement based purely upon an argumentum ad 
 ignorantiam, which gives a fair notion of the practical value 
 of Prince Yousoupof's otherwise well-meaning " Essay." The 
 purely mechanical influence of the bass bar is interestingly illus- 
 trated by the following experiment taken from Mr. Davidson's 
 work on the violin. Having procured a piece of well-seasoned 
 and sonorous pine, a belly was formed out of it in the usual 
 manner, adopting the plan of thickness according to the method 
 used by Stradivarius. This plate, when thus finished (the /holes 
 not as yet cut), gave the note C. Subsequently the / holes were 
 cut of the usual size and pattern, when the sound was found to 
 be lowered half a tone, now being B. A bass bar having after- 
 wards been glued on, of a somewhat larger size than commonly 
 employed, the plate gave the note D, but the bar having been 
 reduced to its proper dimensions the sound was again lowered, 
 and now the belly gave the same tone as originally, C. We 
 can now easily perceive that the bar perfectly compensates for 
 the difference of tone, arising from tiie cutting of the / holes, 
 but at the same time we can raise or lower the tone very 
 considerably by altering the dimensions of the bar ; for the 
 stronger the bar the higher the tone, the sound lowering as the 
 bar is decreased in dimensions. 
 
 And this brings us to the fact that the original bass bars put in 
 by the Italian masters have all become too weak for the modern 
 high pitch, and consequently a bar of the dimensions given above 
 (about lOJ inches) must now be substituted for the original one ; 
 but this operation, if your fiddle is worth anything at all, must 
 only be performed by a first-class workman. The functions of the 
 bass bar are to transmit to the entire belly the vibrations com- 
 municated to it by the left foot of the bridge, and to prevent it 
 from entering into a series of segmental vibrations, and not, as 
 has so often been laid down, to strengthen the belly. As Otto 
 justly remarks, "A properly constructed fiddle ought to be 
 able to stand screwing up to pitch without giving way, in the 
 absence of either bass bar or sound post." Care must be 
 taken not to make the bass bar too long in proportion to the 
 instrument, or, instead of promoting, it will check the vibration, 
 and render the tone of the fiddle dull. The same care ought to 
 be taken in the selection of the wood of which the bar is made 
 as with the material for the belly, and for the same reason it 
 should be made of the pine, which yields the highest note when 
 struck or vibrated wi(h a bow, or by rubbing with the fingers. 
 
154 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 Perhaps no part of the violin has been more assailed by the 
 inventors of vagaries applied to the violin than the bass bar. 
 Everything that could be done to alter it has been done, and 
 called " an improvement," beginning with one Baud, a maker at 
 Versailles, in 1810, who introduced a violin without a bass bar 
 at all, because he considered that it " interfered " with the 
 vibrations.^ He therefore left the belly much thicker than 
 usual to compensate for the absence of the bar, bub (as might 
 be expected) the tone was seriously impaired. In 1852, an 
 American (William B. Tilton) patented a design by which a 
 second bar was fixed to the inside of a fiddle, extending between 
 the top and bottom blocks, which were cut sloping, so as not 
 to check the vibrations at these points. In 1867, Miremont 
 reproduced the same vagary, but without obtaining for it any 
 successful recognition. M. F6tis ^ mentions the arrangement 
 of a violin in 1855, with two bars, by M. Rambaux, of Paris : 
 one in the usual place, the other glued to the back, on which 
 was set the sound post. In his notice of it, M. F6tis says 
 that, though superfluous in the case of a first-rate fiddle, 
 inferior instruments were decidedly improved, especially on 
 the fourth string, by this arrangement. Dr. Stone and Mr. 
 Meeson's elliptical tension bars, which were exhibited to the 
 Musical Association in 1874, are described as "four strips of 
 white deal, curved to an elliptical figure, passing parallel from 
 end to end on the inside of the belly. Thus they intercept 
 the //holes, and remove a well-known cause of weakness, and 
 a break in the vibrating body." The highest eulogia were 
 heaped on this contrivance by the inventors, but it is certain 
 that, whilst spoiling a good fiddle, they would not improve a bad 
 one. A Mr. Walker introduced, a few years back, a new form 
 of bass bar, which was " cut on the slab, and had the grain 
 consequently running on the edge." It measured 10 inches 
 long, § broad, and \ thick. It was bent to the arching and 
 glued on the flat side in the usual place. This would probably 
 augment the quantity of sound produced, but the quality would 
 be seriously deteriorated. Some have suggested that no bass 
 bar ought to be necessary, but that the belly ought to be made 
 thicker, so as to support the strings and vifcrate as well. This 
 was the principle of Dr. Nicholson's violin Qnde p. 102) and 
 of M. Baud's violin, mentioned above, both of which demon- 
 strated the fallacy of the suggestion, for the increase of the 
 thickness effectually checked all possibility of vibration. 
 
 ' A full description of this invention, or rather vagary, will be found in" Biblio- 
 graphie Musicale de France et de I'Etranger," etc. (Paris, 1822 : Niogret),, p. 348. 
 
 " "Rapport sur les Instruments de Musique dans I'Bxposition Universelle da 
 Paris en 1855." 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE EXTERIOR OF THE VIOLIir. ^ 
 
 The// Holes— Method of Tracing— Their Object — Position in the Belly— Their 
 Capacity — The Neck and Scroll — Its Functions — Its Setting on the Fiddle 
 — Its Measurements — Method of Tracing — The Chanot Scroll — Old Necks — 
 The Bridge — ^Ancient Bridges — The Design and Material — Its Functions — 
 Setting to the Instrument — Otto's Bridge Regulators — Position on the Belly 
 — Porfling — Its Composition — Fitting — The Pegs — Their raison d'Hre— 
 Ornamentation — Ornamental Purfiing — Inlaying — Carved Heads— Painting 
 — Branding — Inlaid Fittings. 
 
 We have now discussed the interior construction and parts of 
 the violin ; it now remains, therefore, to consider those parts of 
 the instrument which meet the eye, and which, whilst serving 
 each its allotted purpose in the buflding-up of the perfect whole, 
 and in producing the perfect result, tend to give the fiddle that 
 graceful appearance and elegance of detail which at once strikes 
 the eye of the most casual observer. 
 
 The ff Holes or Sound Holes. — For the model or outlines of 
 these there exists no rule. As will be seen from the Figs. 40 to 
 48, from the earliest days of fiddle-making each maker of any 
 originality has designed, and to a great extent invariably kept 
 to, his own particular form of/ hole, so that the amateur or 
 beginner has only to devolve his own idea, or follow the pattern 
 of one of his great ancestors in fiddle-making. In striking out 
 a new outhne certain rules below set forth must be followed, for 
 the reasons there given, but before considering theyhole from 
 its scientific aspect, I will shortly enumerate a- couple of perfect 
 methods for copying the// holes of any given fiddle. (1) Having 
 got the instrument of which you desire to copy the /hole, place 
 over either of the // holes a piece of soft white paper. Then, 
 holding the paper firmly with one hand to prevent it slipping, 
 with an old dirty glove, or with the slightly dirtied finger of the 
 other hand, rub the paper just over the / hole strongly, and the 
 outline will appear on the paper, in the same manner as patterns 
 for fretwork, etc., are obtained with a heel-ball, I find that my 
 gloves, or my fingers when at work, are always dirty enough 
 for this purpose, (2) To obtain the exact outline an^i position 
 
156 VIOLIN-MAKING: AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 in the belly of any particular pair of // holes, as in Fig. 84 (or 
 Plate VI.), the following excellent method is given by MM. 
 Maugin et Maigne. Having detached the belly of the instrument 
 whose// holes you wish to reproduce in facsimile, take a piece 
 of strong parchment large enough to cover the portion of the 
 belly indicated in Fig. 84. Take any large piece of cloth, and 
 folding it several times place it on the table. Stretch the parch- 
 ment over this cushion, and press the belly upside down into thel 
 cushion covered with parchment, and with a finely-pointed pencil 
 draw the interior outlines of they/ holes and the exterior outline 
 of the belly, as shown in the figure, and there you have Fig. 84 
 complete. This parchment outline may either be kept in a 
 portfolio for future use, or transferred to a thin leaf of wood 
 (tV or ^V of an iiich thick), which is more durable and more 
 convenient to work with. The interior of the // holes and the 
 exterior of the outline are to be very carefully cut out, and 
 the centre line of the belly should be drawn down the model 
 exactly as in the original. A pair of 
 f f holes taken like this may be seen in 
 their actual size in Plate VI. 
 
 Now as regards the / / holes with 
 respect to their influence on the entire 
 fiddle and its tone. Of course, nothing 
 need be said about the exact position 
 of the J f holes in contra-facsimile to 
 one another ; if they were not set in 
 Fio. 84.— Method of tracing a the belly SO as to exactly balance one 
 pairof/zhoies. another, the setting of the bridge and 
 
 sound post would be reduced almost to an impossibihty, let alone 
 the ghastly effect on the appearance of the fiddle ! As M. F6tis 
 justly remarks, it would be a great mistake to suppose that the 
 position and form of the //holes are arbitrary. The /shape of 
 the sound hole is rendered necessary by the arching of the belly. 
 If this latter were plane the sound holes need only be straight and 
 parallel (as in the Savart trapezoid violin, vide Fig. 76). They 
 influence the entire system of vibrations of the belly, and thus' 
 govern the vibrations of the whole instrument. This has been 
 proved by experiment; i.e., if the //holes were cut in the Ictxik 
 of the fiddle it would be immediately muted, for the belly would 
 not have sufficient elasticity without them to vibrate and com- 
 municate its vibrations to the rest of the instrument. The 
 position of these yy" holes, their form, and the minutest details of 
 their cutting, are such essential points that no alteration what- 
 ever can be made in them without injuring the quality of the 
 tone, and for this reason, that the //holes influence to a 
 
THE EXTERIOR OF THE VIOLIN. 157 
 
 powerful degree the sound of the mass of air contained within 
 the body of the instrument. If they are too small, or if one be 
 covered up, the sound of the contained air becomes lower, if 
 they are cut too large it rises. The //holes must, therefore, be 
 regulated by the size of the fiddle, and the proportion of the// 
 holes must be so adjusted that the contained mass of air renders 
 the requisite 512 vibrations. If they be too large, or set too 
 near to one another, the tone of the violin becomes harsh and 
 shrill, and when too small, or s^too far apart, they make it 
 more woolly or viola-like. Savart has observed that the // 
 holes in some of the larger violins of Maggini are too large, 
 consequently that the note given by the mass of air in the 
 interior is heightened, and the tone is thereby impaired ; but 
 time has in a great measure repaired this defect, at any rate it 
 is one that I have never noticed. After all, what can be more 
 consummately graceful than they/ holes of Stradivari or Santo 
 Seraphin, and why should we try to improve upon them ? 
 
 The Neck (or Handle), and the Scroll (or Head). — On the 
 proper proportion of this part of the instrument depends its entire 
 " personal appearance," quite as much as on an elegant out- 
 line ; however graceful may be your fiddle, a weak or uncouth 
 scroll will utterly mar its symmetry, and besides this, it has 
 considerable influence on the tone of a fiddle, according to the 
 nature and quahty of the wood, which must be neither too hard 
 nor too soft, because it is one of the channels by which the 
 vibrations of the strings are conveyed to the body of the instru- 
 ment (the bridge being the other). This is proved by the 
 following experiment. If the bodi/ only of a violin, without the 
 neck, be held in a vice, and the strings, instead of being con- 
 nected with it by the neck and scroll, are stretched up to pitch 
 by pegs having no connection therewith, the tone will not bs so 
 powerful as if they were screwed up in a peg box communicat- 
 ing with the body. The difference is only slight, but enough to 
 prove that the neck does some of this part of the work. And 
 again, it has to bear the entire strain of the four strings united, 
 and if not of good seasoned wood, and properly proportioned, 
 this comparatively gigantic pull would twist it out of shape. 
 Great care must, therefore, be taken to make it in proper propor- 
 tions, angles, and curves, and above all to set it upon the violin 
 properly ; that is, that it be in a line with the centre join of the 
 instrument, that it be so fixed that the finger-board shall have 
 the proper rise proportioned to the instrument, and that when 
 you look at the fiddle edgeways, holding it perfectly upright, 
 the eye of the scroll is in a line with the edge of the back. If it 
 is set too far back, the bridge has to be made high to accommo- 
 
158 
 
 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 date it, and as a natural consequence the tone of the fiddle is 
 weak and poor ; on the other hand, if it is set too far forward, 
 the bridge has to be proportionately low, and the tone becomes 
 acute and metallic. Care must also be taken not to make it too 
 strong and massive at the place where it joins the body of the 
 instrument, or, acting as a clamp, it will deaden the tone. The 
 proper proportions, as shown in Fig. 85, are given below, as 
 taken from a very perfect neck and scroll kindly placed at my 
 service by Mr. W. E. Hill. It must be prefaced this is an 
 
 excellent average head, but, 
 of course, the measurements 
 will vary slightly in different 
 styles, and secondly, the neck 
 as now made is quite j inch 
 longer than the old makers 
 used to make it, and it is for 
 this reason that so many (in 
 fact, nearly all) old violins 
 have been re-necked. The 
 neck and scroll are cut from 
 a block of maple 9f to 10 in. 
 long by 2 in. deep by If in. 
 wide (all the following 
 measurements are in inches 
 and fractions of an inch), 
 and when finished ought so 
 to touch all these dimensions 
 at its most prortiinent parts 
 (front and back of scroll, 
 front and back of shoulder) 
 as to lie perfectly flat on a 
 smooth surface, if placed on 
 its face, back, or sides. The 
 following are the measure- 
 ments : A B, c D, E F, 2 in. ; 
 
 Fio. 85.— The Neck and Scroll. 
 side views. 
 
 Front and 
 
 RS, 9|m.; GH, l^m. ; L k, 
 rV in. ; 1 1, | in. ; K l, 4^ in. ; L s, 5f in.; e t, i| in. ; o n, | in. ; 
 Q p, ^4 in. The peg-box is J| in. deep on the line ON; ii. in. 
 deep on the line q p; and 3 in. long on the line p N. Looking 
 at the neckand scroll as in the front view, the measurements 
 are : v w/pSj ; X Y, | in. ; t u, IJ in. The peg-box is | in. 
 broad at cStTJie cheeks of the' "peg-box are ^ in. thick. The 
 summit pf fflg scroll^' is ^ in- broad. The base of the volute 
 c c , I m. broad. The eyes of the scroll, t, are ^in. in diameter. 
 From these exact measurements, and the figure, if carefully 
 
THE EXTERIOR OF THE VIOLIN. 150 
 
 followed, a most exquisite scroll may be traced (far better than 
 the figure, which merely illustrates the method). 
 
 To copy in facsimile the scroll of any given fiddle, the 
 following is the best plan. Take, as directed for copyitig // 
 holea, a cushion and piece of strong parchment, and arrange 
 them as there set down. Take the scroll you wish to copy, 
 and from which the pegs have been removed, and pressing it 
 into the cushion, draw a line round' it with a pencil from L to k 
 as nearly exactly as possible, and removing the scroll, correct it 
 as far as possible by the eye. Or, having cut a hole in a leaf of 
 wood just large enough to lay the volute into (so that the cheek 
 of the scroll, with the pegs removed, lies flat upon the plank), 
 lay the scroll upon the plank, and with a marking-point draw 
 the outline in the ordinary manner. Then draw upon it the 
 lines R L and c D, crossing each other exactly at a right angle 
 at T. From the point t where they meet, measure exactly, 
 with a pair of dividers, the breadth of the scroll on either side 
 of it (the point T will be indicated on the outline by the dent 
 which the eye makes in the paper or parchment). Then, in 
 the same manner, measure oif the distances from t of the 
 respective volutes at the four points where they touch the lines 
 R L, c D ; and thus, with the dividers constantly comparing your 
 drawing with the original, you will get an exact copy of the 
 profile of the scroll you wish to reproduce. The elevation is 
 traced and compared at the points b', c' o', t it, a' and z, in 
 exactly the same manner. The elder Chanot {vide p. 116) 
 introduced an alteration at this part of the fiddle by reversing 
 the scroll ; i.e., making the volute curl over backwards instead 
 of over towards the front of the violin (as in Fig. 75). His 
 reason for this was the difficulty there is in getting at the peg of 
 the A string inside the peg-box under the scroll, but as no fiddle- 
 case ought to be without a pair of fine tweezers to get at this end 
 with, and the innovation is intensely ugly, it never superseded 
 the well-known graceful form. The necks of old violins, as 
 originally affixed by the old Cremonese masters, were too short 
 for the present alteration in pitch ; a new neck must, therefore, 
 be adjusted when a fiddle turns up untouched since it left its 
 maker's hands. This must be done by a really first-rate work- 
 man, splicing the old head on to a new neck just below the 
 chin of the scroll; this may be done in a manner to defy 
 detection by an unpractised eye. It should be added that this 
 alteration in no way decreases the quality or value of an old 
 and valuable fiddle. 
 
 The Bridge. — As we saw in Chapter I. the bridge, as we now 
 see it, was an improvement introduced comparatively late in the 
 
160 
 
 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 history of bowed instruments, though, as I have said before, the 
 records from which we have to collect the history of the violin 
 — ^namely, pictures and sculptures — leaves much to be desired in 
 the matter of completeness of detail. The early bridges would, 
 however, appear to have been very rude, as will be seen by 
 turning to Figs. 18 and 22, and in the time of the viols not 
 much progress had been made. M. F6tis gives three figures of 
 bridges : Figs. 86, 87, and 88. Fig. 86 is a viol bridge to support 
 seven strings, and, as will be seen, is very elementary. Figs. 
 
 Era. 88.— Bridge of 7-Stringed Viol (F. J. F^tiS). Fia. 87.— Antique Violin Bridge. Antonina 
 
 Amati (F. J. Fdtis). 
 
 FiQ. 88.— Antique Violin Bridge. Nicolaus P Fra. 89.— Bridge of 6-Stringed Viol 
 
 Amati (F. J. F6tis). . ' (W. E. Hill). 
 
 87 and 88 are two old violin bridges of the time of the Amatis, 
 distinctly a^p;roximating the modern form, which design was 
 settled upon by Stradivarius, and has never since been altered. 
 Fig. 89 is from a curious old five-string treble viol, in the 
 possession of Mr. W. E. Hill. 
 
 It must not be imagined that the design (Fig. 90) thus fixed 
 upon by the greatest fiddle-maker the world has seen was 
 merely his idea of what was most pretty, though to this day 
 there are a great many violinists who are firmly under the im- 
 pression that the ornamental cutting of the bridge is merely a 
 
THE EXTEEIOK OF THE VIOLIN. 161 
 
 matter of taste. Very far from it ; for countless experiments 
 have been made with a view to altering the accepted design, 
 any deviation from which has proved injuriously to affect 
 the tone of any instrument to which it is applied. It is 
 difficult to imagine the reason of this ; how it is that a little 
 piece of maple, which merely serves to keep the strings off" 
 the finger-board, should have such a powerful effect on the 
 tone of the instrument to which it is not fastened in any 
 way, being merely kept in its place by the pressure of the 
 four strings. The first explanation of this influence must be 
 sought for in the fact that it is the principal channel by which 
 the vibrations of the strings pass, to the belly by way of the 
 bass bar, and to the back by way (in a lesser degree) of the 
 sound post. In consequence of these its important functions, 
 its proportions, and position on the belly must be very nicely 
 adjusted to the quality of the violin to which it is affixed. For 
 instance, if it be too thick, the vibrations of the strings will not 
 pass with sufficient rapidity to the belly. Its height must also 
 be most carefully adjusted to the 
 quality of the instrument, for if it is 
 too high, the tone will be dull and 
 sluggish, and if it is too low, a harsh, 
 piercing tone will be the result. As 
 it is of the greatest importance (as 
 will be discussed further on) that the 
 strings be supported at a proper 
 
 height from the end of the finger- Pia. 90.— The Modern VioIin Bridge. 
 
 board, and as it is of equal importance that the bridge be not 
 raised or lowered to maintain this distance, the height of the 
 finger-board must be suited to that of the bridge, not the height 
 of the bridge to that of the finger-board. Again; it was 
 noticed by M. Sibire in 1806 that at that time the Augmentation 
 of the height of the bridge ^-^ of an inch raised the pressure on 
 the strings by seven pounds, and this proportion has, of course, 
 increased with the since-raised pittjh. — 
 
 According to Otto, a good violin, whose wood has not been 
 worked too thin, will require a higher bridge, as the vibrations 
 are easier to produce, though the higher the bridge the more 
 perceptible become the faults of the fiddle ; and, on the other 
 hand, certain faults may, in some measure, be glossed over by a 
 low bridge, at the expense, however, of the power of the instru- 
 ment. In an earlier edition of the same work, the author con- 
 tends that the suitability X)f a bridge depends more upon its 
 weight than its height ; and mentions a somewhat ingenious 
 mode of discovering the precise weight of bridge which any 
 
 11 
 
162 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 instrument requires. He made six little wooden clips, like one- 
 pronged mutes, weighing respectively 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12 
 grains. Having found that any bridge was unsuitable to the 
 instrument to which it was applied, he tried on it successively 
 these little wooden weights, clipping them between the D and A 
 strings. Having found thus with which clip the result was best, 
 he weighed the clip and the bridge together and proceeded to 
 make a new bridge, the weight of the old one plus the satis- 
 factory clip. Of course the clips must only act as weights, and 
 not hold the bridge so as to act as mutes ; and I do not see how 
 the latter contingency can possibly be obviated. 
 
 The bridge must be made of spotted maple, neither too 
 hard nor too soft, the grain horizontal, and its proportions 
 should be, just half as thick at the top as at the feet. Care 
 must be taken to select a bridge made of wood which accords 
 with that of the fiddle in its consistency, grain, etc. The 
 greatest care must be taken that the feet of the bridge fit the 
 arching of the belly, where they rest, so as to leave no inter- 
 val beneath them, as such will render the tone hollow and 
 dull. The top of the bridge must only so far be rounded as to 
 prevent the bow touching two strings at once, unless required 
 to do so by the performer ; and, lastly, the four little grooves 
 made to receive the strings must be as shallow as possible con- 
 sistent with effectiveness. It has probably befallen all my 
 readers, at one time or another, to be worried by their strings 
 " sticking " — i.e., when the peg is turned, the string, instead of 
 rising in tone at once, "hangs fire," so to speak, and then 
 tightens (or loosens) with a jerk and a creak. This is in conse- 
 quence of the nicks on the bridge being too deep, and when it 
 occurs they must be made shallower by filing the sides of the 
 nick. The first string is particularly liable to be thus affected, 
 by reason of the extra work it has to do, and of its greater 
 tension and consequent pressure on the nick. It is good to 
 have a littlg shallow " extra " nick at the side of the principal 
 one, in which a new string is placed to be screwed up to pitch 
 before transferring it to the principal nick. This keeps the 
 principal nick shallow, and the noisy squeaking of the string, as 
 it is screwed up to pitch, is obviated. 
 
 As regards its position on the belly of the fiddle, its exact 
 position is just between the two nicks in the // holes (unless the 
 position of such nicks, or the // holes themselves be eccentric), 
 at an exactly equal distance from each, and the left foot must stand 
 exactly over the centre of the bass bar. The most extensive 
 and instructive experiments on the bridge are those of M. Savart. 
 As determining the necessity of the Stradivarian cutting, he 
 
THE EXTERIOR OF THK VIOLIN. 163 
 
 commenced by making a bridge quite plain, and without cuttings 
 in it at all, and the tone of the instrument was almost entirely 
 destroyed. On cutting feet in his bridge an improvement was 
 perceptible, which greatly increased as he made lateral incisions 
 in it ; and the tone gradually improved till it reached perfection, 
 as the bridge attained its present system of ornamentation 
 (Fig. 90). The feet of the bridge are particularly necessary in 
 determining its shape. The centre join of the belly is, in all 
 cases, what Savart calls " un nceud de vibrations ; " i.e., along the 
 centre join the vibrations are at a minimum, and it is con- 
 sequently from thence that they start (vide note ^, p. 133), and it 
 is of the utmost importance that this centre of vibration be not 
 interrupted or checked. Any change in the wood of the bridge 
 has similarly proved prejudicial to the tone of the instrument. 
 As we have seen before, the right foot of the bridge is com- 
 paratively rigid, whilst, the left foot vibrates the bar and belly; 
 therefore, if the right foot of the bridge be held (as by a mute), 
 the effect will not be nearly so perceptible as if the action of 
 the left foot were similarly impeded. The bridge has, like the 
 rest of the violin, been subjected, from time to time, to the 
 eccentricities of would-be improvers, such as fitting the top of 
 it with little wheels for the strings to run over, and so on ad 
 infinitum. In a later chapter I shall notice Zebrowski's patent 
 bridge, or rather combination of bridge and mute. 
 
 The Purjiing. — This is the last trace which is left us of the 
 extraordinary amount of ornamentation with which violins used 
 to be loaded, and which I shall shortly notice in its proper 
 place. It is composed, as a rule, of a strip of plane-tree, glued 
 between two strips of the same wood stained black, which 
 sandwich is exceedingly brittle, and difficult to bend into shape 
 and inlay, when bought (as it may be) ready made and glued 
 together. This difficulty is, to a great measure, obviated if the 
 three strips are inlaid separately as set down in Part III. It 
 is inlaid in four or six pieces : either, from corner to corner, or, 
 from the centre join, three on each side of the back, and the 
 same number on each side of the belly. It is the mark of a good 
 workman to make these joins at the corners and ends as imper- 
 ceptible as possible ; Stradivari, as will be seen on looking at 
 any one of his fiddles, excelled in this respect. Some makers 
 have used whalebone for this purpose to get over these diffi- 
 culties (Jacobs of Amsterdam) ; and others have merely 
 painted a line round their instruments (Peter Walmsley), and 
 this latter method is often still pursued with the commonest 
 class of instruments. Maggini and his copyists have made use 
 of double rows, and curls and designs executed in purfling (as 
 
164 
 
 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 in Fig. 91), but this has been said to injure the tone of a fiddle, 
 and certainly, to my mind, whilst it can do no good, it does not 
 improve the appearance of an instrument. The usuai diameter 
 for the purfling is about Jg- inch, and it is set at a distance of 
 j\ of an inch from the edge of the fiddle. Its only real use 
 (which has preserved it after the relinquishment of profuse 
 ornamentation) is, that it serves to preserve the edges of the 
 instrument from splintering, by, as it were, binding the fibres' 
 together as with a border. 
 
 The Pegs, or Points.— These are the little round dots of wood 
 that are not unusually seen at the top and at the bottom of the 
 backs and bellies of old and new violins. As many violinists are 
 
 wholly at a loss to account for 
 the raison d'etre of their presence 
 there at all, it may be well here 
 to go into the origin and motive 
 of their existence. In the first 
 place, thej"^ are not absolutely 
 necessary at all (as is proved by 
 the large mass of violins bearing 
 no trace of this superfluity), 
 but many of the Cremonese 
 masters used them, and, when 
 present, they are accounted for 
 as follows : — When the back (or 
 belly) is ready to fix on to the 
 sides or ribs, it was not unusual to 
 commence by setting it on them 
 and making it fast by thrusting 
 a bradawl through the back (or 
 belly) at top or bottom (or in 
 both places), into the end blocks, 
 so as to keep it fast at these 
 
 Fig. 91.— OrnamentaUy inlaid Purfling. points whilst yOU prOCCed tO fit 
 
 the sides to the table all round and set on the screws. When this 
 is done, and the bradawl is removed, it leaves a hole, which is 
 then filled up with a peg, made and fixed in manner set down 
 in Part III. The pegs of Stradivari, as we shall see in a future 
 chapter, were always placed as shown at A in Fig. 92, and as in 
 making copies of great masters it is necessary to attend to this, 
 particular instructions for their application will be given in due 
 course ; though, as will be seen, the more scientific use of cramps 
 to secure the tables at these points is the invariable practice of 
 the best modern makers. 
 
 Ornamentation. — The ornamentation of fiddles is practically 
 
THE EXTERIOR OF THE VIOLIN. 
 
 165 
 
 obsolete, as I have just remarked, but in former times the very 
 best makers ornamented their fiddles occasionally. Before the 
 days of the violin, of course nearly all viols were ornamented in 
 some way, and after their extinction violins could not quite get 
 rid of this superfluous chai-m, which has come down to us in the 
 shape of eccentric purflings. Maggini was especially fond of a 
 fantastic arrangement and reduplication of tbe purfling, of which 
 Fig. 91 is a specimen, and nearer home it was a favourite peculia- 
 
 rity of Barak Norman, our last native viol-maker. The practice 
 of using a simple ornamental purfling (or rather two rows with 
 a design worked between them) has been followed by the highest 
 members of the fraternity of fiddle-makers. Fig. 93 is an orna- 
 mental purfling copied from a violin of Stradivarius, the one that 
 is figured by Mr. Hart from the Plowden collection.* Another 
 mode of ornamentation once very much in vogue, but now 
 entirely obsolete, is the practice of inlaying. The instruments 
 were inlaid with views, medallions, crests, or fancy designs. 
 Fig. 94 is a fiddle of the Maggini 
 model, very finely inlaid, which also 
 presents another form of ornamenta- 
 tion, namely, the sculptured scroll 
 or head. This was another relique 
 of the viols, which nearly always 
 had sculptured heads. Jacob Steiner 
 was the most frequent adopter of this form of ornament ; and 
 his followers of the German school have very freely reproduced 
 this peculiarity of their great master, his favourite form being 
 the lion's head, but he not unfrequently seems to have executed 
 human and other heads, probably reproductions of the crests ol 
 the patrons for whom the instruments were made. There exist 
 also instruments with carved heads by Stradivari ; they are 
 
 ' G. Hart, " The Violin, its Famous Makers and their Imitators " (London, 
 1875), 4to and 8vo, Plate 18, p. 230. (Popular Edition, 1880, 8to, and 2nd 
 (Enlarged) Edition of the original, 1884.) 
 
 Fig. 93.— Ornamental Purfling of 
 Stradivarius. 
 
166 
 
 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 beautifully executed, but are inestimably rare. Appwrent ran 
 nantes in gurgite vasto ! I have before noticed the principal 
 makers of violins abroad and at home, and have alluded to the 
 peculiarities!, of form, *tc., by which the instruments of these 
 
 makers are distinguished, but I 
 have said but little about their 
 ornamentation with painting, 
 branding, etc. With regard to 
 the former mode of ornamenta- 
 tion, I have already noticed the 
 twenty-four violins of Andreas 
 Amati, one of which has furnished 
 us with the plates II. and III., 
 and which aye described on page 
 73. Another specimen, made in 
 1620 by Nicholas Amati, was shown 
 in the special Exhibition of Ancient 
 Musical Instruments, held at South 
 Kensington in- the year 1872. It 
 was a viola (No. 136), lent by Mr. 
 W. L. Adye, veiy beautifully 
 illuminated on the back, and re- 
 produced in the illustrated cata- 
 logue of that exhibition. (Vide 
 note, p. 24.) It is not uncommon 
 to find very old violins painted 
 with medallidns and other similar 
 ornamentation. Some makers, 
 notably Benjamin Banks, of 
 Salisbury,, and Santo Seraphin, 
 have embellished their instruments 
 by branding them with their 
 initials or other devices. The 
 favourite spots for this kind of 
 initialling seem to have been under 
 the tail-piece, on the rib close to 
 the tail-pin, and under the finger- 
 board. Lastly, the most (and 
 only) modern form of embellish- 
 ment is the practice of fitting up 
 instruments with inlaid accessories, such as tail-piece, pegs, and 
 finger-board — the first most usually, the second sometimes, the 
 third seldom. The first are so familiar in the show-cases of any 
 violin-dealer that they need no description ; the second are not so 
 much used : but undoubtedly a small gold stud or small plate let 
 
 Fie.M.— Violin with Inlaid Back and 
 Carved Head.' 
 
THE EXTERIOR OF TUB VIOLIN. 167 
 
 into the peg is not at all amiss with very old or firsi^class new 
 instruments ; the finger-board is seldom ornamented in any way, 
 but at one time it was not at all uncommon to inlay it with fancy 
 designs of various sorts, and particularly with little pearl spots, 
 where the notes are formed, sometimes with a complete scale up 
 to the highest E. The same remarks apply to all these (except- 
 ing as aforesaid) — namely, that they are a mistake : apart from 
 the fact that they do not improve the look of a clumsy fiddle, 
 and certainly mar a good one ; these inlaid slabs of pearl, silver, 
 and ivory are very apt to come loose and jar unpleasantly, and 
 are generally more bother than they are worth. Mr. Hart has 
 a tail-piece and set of pegs made of boxwood, very beautifully 
 carved by the late J. B. Vuillaume. The former bears in 
 relief a carving of the Orpheus of Maffei, reproduced by Gallay, 
 and referred to in Chapter I. (page 35). And lastly, one remark 
 applies to all the forms of ornamentation above mentioned — 
 namely, that except as curiosities they are not a success. De 
 gustibus non est disputandum, but what can be wanted more thaja 
 the plain line of purfling, which merely emphasizes the graceful 
 outline of a well-made fiddle ? What carved, head was ever more 
 graceful or pleasing than a perfectly cut scroll ? What art can 
 inlay a design so perfect and aesthetic as the natural waves of. a 
 handsome slab of figured maple ? and is it not a sin to cover-up, 
 these beauties with a coat of paint ? Branding doesnot do much, 
 harm, but is unnecessary, for the original work of'a firs)>r3,te 
 maker requires not his name burnt into it to identify it,. and is 
 a practice which only serves as something else for the unscru- 
 pulous to copy, and for the charlatan to insist upon. Perhaps 
 the most celebrated ornamented violin whose fame has reached 
 us of the latter days, is Ole Bull's celebrated Gaspare da Salo. 
 Its head, finger-board, bridge, and tail-piece, we are told, were 
 magnificently cai'ved by the illustrious Benvenuto Cellini. An 
 accurate description of Ole Bull and his Gaspare, with excellent 
 representations of both, were given in Ifo. 368 of Harper's 
 Magazine: January, 1881 (No. 2, vol. i. English Edition: 
 Sampson Low &■ Co.), by an intimate friend of the great 
 master. 
 
 " La Lutherie n'est pas seulement un metier, c'est uu art." 
 
 L'ABBfi SIBIKB, " La Clielonomie " (Paris, 1806). 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE VAENISH. 
 
 Charles Eeade on the Old Varnishes— Old Eeoipes— Alexis the Piedmontese, 1550 
 — Moravanti of Bologna, 1564— Anda, 1663— Zahn, 1685— C. Morley, 1692 
 — Bonanni of Eome, 1713— Qualities required by Violin Varnish— Amber 
 Varnishes— Spirit Varnishes— Application — Sizing — Tests for Purity of 
 Ingredients — Coloration of Varnish— Composition— Time for making Var- 
 nishes — Recipes. 
 
 We have now reached the point at which our fiddle is completed 
 " in the white " : there only remains, therefore, before proceed- 
 ing to fit it up and string it, to discuss the question of Varnish. 
 So much has been written on the subject of the " Lost Cremona 
 Varnish," with such infinitesimal result, that it would be worse 
 than useless to start a new theory to solve an apparently insoluble 
 difficulty. Mr. C. Reade, in a letter in the Pall Mall Gazette, 
 of August 31st, 1872,^ has shortly epitomised all that is known 
 of this lost but glorious compound, and his remarks on the 
 subject are, in the abstract, as follows : — 
 
 " It comes to this, then," says he, " that the varnish of 
 Cremona, as acted on by time and usage, has an inimitable 
 beauty ; and we pay a high price for it in second-class makers, 
 and an enormous price for it in a fine Stradiuarius or Joseph 
 Guarnerius. No wonder,, then, that many violin-makers have 
 tried hard to discover the secret of this varnish, many chemists 
 have given days and nights of anxious study to it. More than 
 once, even in my time, hopes have run high, but only to fall 
 again. Some have even cried, ' Eureka ! ' to the public ; but 
 the moment others looked at their discovery, and compared it 
 with the real thing, ' inextinguishable laughter shook the skies.' 
 At last, despair has succeeded to all that energetic study, and 
 
 ' These most interesting and valuable letters were (owing to the medium of 
 their publication) not nearly so widely spread amongst the musical world as they 
 eught to have been. In the year 1873, Mr. G. H. M. Muntz, of Birchfield, 
 reprinted them in the form of an ornate little pamphlet, entitled, " A Lost Art 
 Bevived ; Cremona Violins and Varnish, by Charles Eeade ; " it was printed by 
 J. Bellows, at the Steam Press, Eastgate, Gloucester ; but only a small number 
 were printed, and the circulation was necessarily limited 
 
THE VARNISH. 169 
 
 the varnish of Cremona is sullenly given up as a lost art. I 
 have heard and read a great deal about it, and I think I can 
 state the principal theories briefly but intelligibly. 
 
 " 1. It used to be stoutly maintained that the basis was amber ; 
 that these old Italians had the art of fusing amber without 
 impairing its transparency : once fused by dry heat, it could 
 be boiled into a varnish with oil and spirit of turpentine, and 
 combined with transparent yet lasting , colours. To convince 
 me, they used to rub the worn part of a Cremona with their 
 sleeves, and then put the fiddle to their noses, and smell 
 amber. Then I, burning with the love of knowledge, used to 
 rub the fiddle very hard, and whip it to my nose, and not smell 
 amber. But that might arise, in some measure, from there not 
 being any amber there to smell.^ (N.B. These amber-seeking 
 worthies never rubbed the coloured varnish on an old violin. 
 Yet their theory had placed amber there.) 
 
 " 2. That time does it all ; that the violins of Stradivari were 
 raw, crude things at starting, and the varnish rather opaque. 
 
 " 3. Two or three had the courage to say it was spirit-varnish, 
 and alleged in proof that if you drop a drop of alcohol on a 
 Stradivari, it tears the varnish off as it runs. 
 
 " 4. The far more prevalent notion was, that it is an oil 
 varnish, in support of which they pointed to the rich appearance 
 of what they call the bare wood, and contrasted the miserable, 
 hungry appearance of the wood in all old violins known to be 
 spirit varnished (for instance, Nicholas Gragliano of Naples, and 
 Jean Baptiste Guadagnini of Piacenza, Italian makers con- 
 temporary with Joseph del Gesi). 
 
 " 5. That the secret has been lost by adulteration. The old 
 Cremonese and Venetians got pure and sovereign gums that 
 have retired from commerce. 
 
 " Now as to theory No. 1. Surely amber is too dear a gum 
 and too impracticable for two hundred fiddle-makers to have 
 used it in Italy.^ Till fused by dry heat, it is no more soluble in 
 varnish than quartz is ; and who can fuse it ? Copal is inclined 
 to melt, but amber to burn, catch fire, do anything but melt. 
 Put the two gums to a lighted candle, you will then appreciate 
 the difference. I have tried more than one chemist in the fusing 
 of amber ; it came out of their hands a dark brown, opaque 
 
 ' This " rubbing " test has been in great favour with many experimentaUsts. 
 A fiddle by the " brothers Amatl " is said to have given ofE a smell o£ mastio 
 and linseed oil ; and instruments by Joseph Guamerius (filius Audreae), and by 
 Joseph " del Gesii," submitted to the same test, suggested to the seekers after 
 the mystery the presence of benzoin, as well as of mastio and linseed oil 1 
 
 ' It must be borne in mind that amber is much cheaper and commoner in 
 Italy and the Tyrol than in the northern countries of Europe. 
 
170 VIOLIN MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 substance, rather burnt than fused. When really fused, it is a 
 dark olive-green, as clear as crystal. Yet I never knew but one 
 man who could bring it to this, and he had special machinery 
 invented by himself for it ; in spite of which he nearly burnt 
 down his house at it one day.^ I believe the whole amber theory 
 comes out of a verbal equivoque. The varnish of the Amati was 
 called amber to mark its rich colour, and your a priori reasoners 
 went off on that, forgetting that amber must be an inch thick 
 to exhibit the colour amber. By such reasoning as this, Mr. 
 Davidson, in a book of great general merit, is misled so far as 
 to put down powdered glass for an ingredient in Cremona 
 varnish. Mark the logic. Glass in a sheet is transparent ; so 
 if you reduce it to powder, it will add transparency to varnish. 
 Imposed on by this chimera, he actually puts powdered glass, an 
 opaque and insoluble sediment, into four recipes for Cremona 
 varnish.^ But the theories, 2, 3, 4, 5, have all a good deal of 
 truth in them ; their fault is that they are too narrow, and too 
 blind to the truth of each other. In this, as in every scientific 
 inquiry, the true solution is that which reconciles all the truths 
 that seem at variance. 
 
 "The way to discover a lost art, once practised with variations 
 by a hundred people, is to examine very closely the most brilliant 
 specimen, the most chara.cteristic specimen, and, indeed, the most 
 extravagant specimen — if you can find one. I took that way, and 
 I found in the chippiest varnish of Stradiuarius, viz., his dark 
 red varnish, the key to all the varnish of Cremona, red or 
 yellow. (N.B. — The yellow varnish always beat me dead, till I 
 got to it by this ddtour.) Look at this dark red varnish, and 
 use your eyes. "What do you see ? A red varnish, which chips 
 very readily off what people call the hare wood. But never 
 mind what these echoes of echoes call it. What is it ? It is 
 not bare wood. Bare wood turns a dirty brown with age ; this 
 is a rich and lovely yellow. By its colour, and by its glassy 
 gloss, and by disbelieving what echoes say, and trusting only to 
 
 ' Thie was the late John Lott (jcide Chapter III., p. 84). 
 
 ^ The use of powdered glass has by many authors been held up to derision, 
 and rightly too, if it is to be understood as an ingredient of the varnish ; but 
 though some short-sighted plagiarists may have copied into their works recipes 
 including powdered glass as a pa/rt of the varnish, if you could find the 
 ongmals from which they derived their information, you would probably find 
 that they included powdered glass with good intent, expecting from it merely 
 ameoJiameal action in the preparation of the varnish, not a cliemical influence on 
 the nature of the completed article. Thus M. Eugene Mailand (vide note p. 186) 
 recommends the use of a stratum of coarsely powdered glass at the bottom 
 of the phial in which the resins, etc., are mixed, to prevent the resins from 
 ad/ienng to the bottom of the vessel, never dreaming that any one would take 
 him to be recommending the glass as "adding transparency to the varnish." 
 
THE VARNISH. 171 
 
 our own eyes, we may see at a glance that it is not bare wood, 
 but highly-varnished wood. This varnish is evidently oil, and 
 contains a gum. Allowing for the tendency of oil to run into 
 the wood, I should say Jour coats of oil varnish ; and this they 
 call the bare wood. We have now discovered the first process 
 — a clear oil varnish, laid on the white wood with some trans- 
 parent gum, not high-coloured. Now proceed a step farther. 
 The red and chippy varnish, what is that ? ' Oh ! that is a 
 varnish of the same quality, but another colour,' say the theorists 
 No. 4. 'How do yon know?' say I. 'It is self-evident; 
 would a man begin with oil varnish, and then go into spirit 
 varnish?' is their reply. Now observe, this is not humble 
 observation, only rational preconception. But if discovery has 
 an enemy in the human mind, that enemy is preconception. 
 Let us, then, trust only to humble observation. Here is clear 
 varnish, without the ghost of a chip in its nature ; and upon it 
 is another, a red varnish, which is all chip. Does that look as 
 if the two varnishes were homogeneous ? Is chip precisely the 
 same thing as no chip ? If homogeneous, there would be 
 chemical affinity between the two. But this extreme readiness 
 of the red varnish to chip away from the clear marks a defect 
 of chemical affinity between the two. Why, if you were to 
 put your thumb-nail against that red varnish, a small piece 
 would come away directly. This is not so in any known case 
 of oil upon oil. Take old Forster, for instance : he begins with 
 clear oil varnish ; then on that he puts a distinct oil varnish, 
 with the colour and transparency of pea-soup. You will not 
 get his pea-soup to chip off his clear varnish in a hurry, except 
 where the top varnish must go in a played bass. Everywhere 
 else his pea-soup sticks tight to his clear varnish, being oil upon 
 oil. 
 
 " Now take a perfectly distinct line of observation. In 
 varnishes, oil is a diluent of colour. It is not in the power of 
 man to charge an oil varnish with colour so highly as this top red 
 varnish is charged. And it must be remembered that the clear 
 varnish below has filled all the pores of the wood ; therefore 
 the diluent cannot escape into the wood, and so leave the colour 
 undiluted. If that red varnish was ever oil varnish, every 
 particle of the oil must still be there. But this is impossible, 
 when you consider the extreme thinness of the film which con- 
 stitutes the upper or red layer. This, then, is how Anthony 
 Stradivari varnished the instruments such as the one we are 
 considering. He began with three or four coats of oil varnish, 
 containing some common gum. He then laid on several coats 
 of red varnish, made by simply dissolving some fine red 
 
172 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 unadulterated gum in spirit ; the spirit evaporated, and left pure 
 gum lying on a rich oil varnish, from which it chips by its dry 
 nature and its utter want of chemical affinity to the substratum. 
 This solution of the process will apply to almost every Cremona 
 varnish. The beauty, therefore, of varnish lies in the fact that 
 it is a pure glossy oil varnish, which serves as a foil to a divine 
 unadulterated gum, which is left as a pure film on it by th& 
 evaporation of the spirit in which it was dissolved. The first 
 is a colourless oil varnish, which sinks into and shows up the 
 figure of the wood ; the second is a heterogeneous spirit varnish,, 
 which serves to give the glory of colour, with its light and 
 shade, which is the great and transcendent beauty of a Cremona 
 violin. Gum-lac, which for forty years has been the mainstay 
 of violin-makers, must never be used, not one atom of it. That 
 vile flinty gum killed varnish at Naples and Piacenza a hundred 
 and forty years ago, as it kills varnish now. Old Cremona 
 shunned it, and whoever employs a grain of it commits wilful 
 suicide as a Cremonese varnisher. It will not wear ; it will not 
 chip ; it is in every respect the opposite of the Cremona gums. 
 Avoid it utterly, or fail hopelessly, as all varnishers have failed 
 since that fatal gum came in. The deep red varnish of Cremona 
 is pure dragon's blood ; not the cake, the stick, the filthy trash,, 
 which, in this sinful and adulterating generation, is retailed 
 under that name, but the tear of dragon's blood, little lumps, 
 deeper in colour than a carbuncle, clear as crystal, and fiery as 
 a ruby. The yellow varnish is the unadulterated tear of another 
 gum [Gamboge], retailed in a cake like dragon's blood, and as 
 great a fraud, as presented to you in commerce ; for the yellow 
 and for the red gum, grope the city far eastwards. The orange 
 varnish of Peter Guarnerius and Stradivarius is only a mixture 
 of these two genuine gums." 
 
 For this long extract from Mr. C. Reade's letter, copied prac- 
 tically verbatim, I must crave the reader's pardon ; but as it i& 
 perhaps (to my mind certainly) the most intelligent, practical, 
 and scientific solution of the fiddle-builder's greatest difficulty,, 
 presented to a limited number of people by a great connoisseur, 
 and by one eminently quahfied to give an opinion, it is far more 
 honest and satisfactory to give the writer's own words, than to 
 adapt it (as so many " bookmakers " unblushingly do) to my 
 own phraseology, and call it original observation. ("Palmam 
 qui meruit, ferat.") 
 
 So much, therefore, for the modus operandi of the old Cremona 
 varnishers as far as we can say. What were the component 
 parts of their varnish, it were very difficult, nay, impossible, to 
 determine, for it must be borne in mind that a period of close 
 
THE VAKNISH. 173 
 
 apon two hundred years lias elapsed since it was last applied as 
 we see it — a time quite long enough to oxidize the gums, 
 resins, and their diluents beyond the reach of the most careful 
 quantitative or qualitative analysis, besides which, the costliness 
 of the operation of depriving a Cremona masterpiece of its 
 greatest beauty, would place it for beyond the reach of the 
 most enthusiastic experimentalist. This varnish had an existence 
 extending only from about 1550 to about 1750, at the end of 
 which time it would seem to have vanished as completely and 
 mysteriously as it appeared, superseded by the new spirit and 
 lac varnishes which possibly seemed better then, but as they have 
 turned out, were very much worse, for the purposes of the violin- 
 varnisher. All the data we have to go upon are the printed works 
 of some few individuals, who have written pamphlets on the 
 various varnishes in common use for various purposes, and it 
 is not unreasonable to suppose that the varnish used by the 
 luthiers or fiddle-makers, was, , to a certain extent, familiar to 
 them ; again, the reading and proper construction of these 
 formulae is rendered more difficult by the fact that many of the 
 gums, resins, and solvents mentioned, no longer exist under the 
 names by which they were then known,* and some would seem 
 almost entirely to have disappeared. I will now recapitulate a 
 few of the most likely formulse enumerated in these ancient 
 brochures.^ The first I have been able to obtain is a treatise 
 called " Secrets of the Arts," first published in 1550, by one 
 Alexis, a Piedmontese.' He gives the following recipes: — 
 
 1. Place some powdered benzoin (a) in a phial and cover it 
 with two or three fingers' depth of pure spirits of wine, and 
 leave it thus for two or three days. Into this { phial of spirits, 
 put five or six threads of safiron (b) whole, or roughly broken 
 up. With this you may varnish anything a golden colour, 
 which will glitter and last for years. 
 
 2. Take white resin (vide note *) 1 lb., plum tree gum 2 ozs., 
 Venetian turpentine (c) 1 oz., linseed oil 2 ozs. ; break up the 
 resin and melt it. Dissolve the gum in common oil and pour 
 it into the resin, then add the turpentine and oil, and placing it 
 on a light fire, let it thoroughly mix ; remove and keep for 
 use ; apply slightly warmed. This is a good picture varnish. 
 
 ' Under this head would come a kind of copal, known variously as " Indian 
 copal," "dammar," and" gum animi," which flows from a Sumatran tree called 
 Vateria Indica, which was, in former times, known as "white amber," or 
 " white resin," or " white incense," which names were also given to a mixture 
 of oil and Grecian wax, sometimes used as a varnish. 
 
 ^ As the names of many of these gums, etc., may be unfamiliar to my readers, I 
 have placed an Appendix, descriptive of them, at the end of the book (Appen- 
 dix A.), and the reference letters in the text refer thereto. 
 
 ' D. Alexii Pedemontani de Secretia Libri Septem. (Basle, 1603.) 
 
174 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 3. A quickly drying varnish. Take frankincense (d) and 
 juniper gum, powder them and mix them finely. Take some 
 Venetian turpentine, melt it in a little vessel, and add gradually, 
 mixing thoroughly, the aforesaid powders. Filter through cloth 
 and preserve ; apply warm, and it will dry very rapidly. 
 
 4. Take gum-mastic (e) 2 ozs., Venetian turpentine 1 oz., 
 melt the mastic on a light fire, adding the turpentine, let it 
 boil for some time, mixing them continuously, but not long 
 enough for the varnish to become too thick. Put it away out 
 of the dust. To use it, warm it in the sun and lay it on with 
 the hand. 
 
 5. Boil 3 lbs. of linseed oil till it scorches a feather put into 
 it, then add 8 ozs. juniper gum and 4 ozs. aloes hepatica (/), and 
 thoroughly mix them ; filter through cloth, and before using, 
 warm in the sun. 
 
 6. Gum-mastic 2 ozs., gum-juniper 2 ozs., linseed oil 3 ozs., 
 spirits of wine 3 ozs., boil in a closed vessel for an hour. 
 
 The author cites as colouring matters, sandal wood {g), 
 dragon's blood (A), madder (i) steeped in tartaric acid, log-wood 
 (j), Brazil wood (k), all dissolved in potassa lye, and alum, and 
 boiled. Also saffron (6), cinnabar (Z), and orpiment (m). He 
 says, " Linseed oil will dissolve mineral and vegetable colours, 
 but kills others." 
 
 Fioravanti in a brochure called "The Universal Mirror of 
 Arts and Sciences," published at Bologna in 1564, gives the 
 four following formulse : — 
 
 1. Linseed oil 4 parts, spirits of turpentine 2 pts., aloes 1 pt., 
 juniper gum 1 pt. 
 
 2. Powder, benzoin, juniper gum, and gum-mastic, and dis- 
 solve in spirits of wine. This varnish dries at once. 
 
 3. Linseed oil 1 pt., white resin (vide note \ p. 173) 3 pts., 
 boil together, and colour as you will. 
 
 4. Linseed oil 1 pt., resin 2 pts., pine resin J pt, boil till it 
 thickens. Juniper gum must never be added to the linseed oil 
 till it boils, or else it will be burnt. The oil should be boiled 
 tiU it scorches a feather dipped into it. 
 
 He gives the same directions as Alexis, as to colours, and 
 the solvent powers of linseed oil. 
 
 Beyond these two authors, formulse become rather scarce, 
 being chiefly brought from China. All these last, and the 
 coming, formulse are not to be taken as invented at the dates 
 given, for they are from works in the nature of Encyclopaedias, 
 and consequently post-dated. 
 
 A priest of the name of Anda, in a pamphlet entitled " Recueil 
 abr6g6 des Secrets Merveilleux," published in 1663, gives the 
 
THE VAKNISH. 175 
 
 following recipe : — Oil of turpentine 2 ozs., turpentine 1 oz., 
 juniper gum ^ dram ; to be mixed over a slow fire. 
 
 One, Zahn, in 1685, in " Oculus Artificialis," vol. iii., p. 166, 
 gives two recipes : — 
 
 1. Elemi (w), anime (o), white incense, and tender copal (p), 
 2 drams each ; powder and dissolve in acetic acid in a glass 
 vessel, adding 2 drams of gum tragacanth (q) and 4 drams 
 crystallized sugar ; dry off this mixture and powder finely. 
 Take 1 lb. of oil of lavender (r) or turpentine and 6 ozs. Cyprian 
 turpentine (s), and boil them on a water bath. When the 
 turpentine is well dissolved add the powder and mix thoroughly ; 
 boil for three hours. 
 
 2. Oil of lavender 2 ozs., gum-mastic 1 oz., gum-juniper 1 oz., 
 turpentine ^ oz. ; powder the mastic and juniper, and boil the 
 oil, then add the turpentine, and when dissolved add the powders 
 and mix thoroughly. 
 
 The Rev. Christopher Morley in 1692, in " Collectansea 
 Chinicsea Lydensia," gives under the name of "Italian varnish," 
 the following recipe : — 
 
 Take 8 ozs. turpentine and boil on a fire till it evaporates 
 down to 1 oz. ; powder when cold, and dissolve in warm oil ■ of 
 turpentine. Filter through a cloth before use. 
 
 And, lastly, a Jesuit, named Bonanni, in his "Traits des 
 Vernis," published at Rome in 1713, gives a list of substances 
 used, in which he includes — 1, Grum-lac in sticks, tears, or 
 tablets (<) ; 2, Sandarac (m) or juniper gum;^ 3, Spanish or 
 American copal, hard and soft ; 4, Amber (v) ; 5, Asphalte (w); 
 6, Calabrian resin or pitch ; 7, A little-known gum which 
 flows from the wild olive-tree, resembling red scammonium. 
 
 Besides these he mentions as gums not used for varnishes, 
 elemi, anime, arabic («), pear-tree, cherry -tree, azarole-tree (vide 
 p. 131), and other tree gums. He also alludes to gamboge (^), 
 incense, myrrh («), oppoponax (a a), ammonia, oils, such as 
 turpentine, copaiba (b b), etc. It will be observed that he omits 
 benzoin, and mistakes when he classes amongst useless gums 
 elemi and anime, which (especially the former) are much used for 
 violin varnishes on account of their tender qualities, otherwise his 
 list is practically one of the modern ingredients of varnishes for all 
 
 ' Sandaiach, or rather what is sold as such, is a mixture of the resin described 
 in note li. Appendix A, with dammar and hard Indian copal, the place of the 
 African sandarach being sometimes taken by true gum juniper. These gums are 
 insoluble (or nearly so) in alcohol, and consequently the sandarach (or pounce 
 of the shops) is useless to the violin-maker. True sandarach is the pure gum of 
 the common jumper, and appears in the form of long yellowish dusty tears, and 
 such you must see that you get. And for this reason I have always in this 
 chapter made use of the term gum juniper in preference to the better known 
 term sandarach. 
 
176 violin-making: as it was and is. 
 
 purposes. He gives many formul£&, the bases of which are pnnci 
 pally mastic, juniper gum, copal, linseed oil, and oil of lavender. 
 It would be easy to multiply these old formulae, but space 
 forbids it; the foregoing are doubtless the most important 
 and useful of them, as giving us a good idea of what materials 
 the old Cremona varnishers had at hand ; their varnishes, of 
 course, had to be most carefully suited to their peculiar require- 
 ments, and properly to ascertain this it is necessary to find 
 (a) what part it plays in the construction of a fiddle, and (6) 
 what qualities it must consequently necessarily possess. L'Abb^ 
 Sibire in "La Ohelonomie" thus sums up its raisond'itre: — 
 " II faut que ces p^tes, parfaitement d^lay^es, plus 16g^res que 
 massives, nourrissent les mat^riaux sans masquer leur vertu, et 
 adoucissent les sons sans les obstruer. Ce ne serait pas la peine 
 d'avoir pris tant de precautions avec le compas \du violon\, pour 
 les annuler avec les drogues, ifimaillez tant qu'il vous plaira, 
 mais n'assourdissez pas. Quand je vous commande un violon, 
 je souhaite qu'il soit joh, mais j'entends qu'il soit bon ; et mon 
 oreille, indign^e et jalouse, ne vous pardonnerait pas d'avoir, a 
 ses d^pens, travaiM pour mes yeux." 
 
 Before beginning to consider the matter we must get rid 
 of all notion of colouring the wood before varnishing, or staining 
 it with acids and other corrosives to give the appearance of 
 age and all such inventions of the Evil one, which acids sink 
 right into the unprotected wood as into blotting-paper, and 
 invading the innermost heart of the fiddle, where they have no 
 business to be, destroy its most sovereign qualities without 
 performing any of the proper functions of varnish. Its first 
 and great function is, of course, the preservation of the wood ; 
 without it no fiddle could attain an age of more than a very few 
 years, and the tone would lose sweetness and power after a very 
 short existence of harmony. On its nature also a great deal 
 depends : it must be tender, in a manner soft ; that is, it 
 must yield to the movements of the wood, and not encase the 
 fiddle like a film of rigid glass. It is well known that in hot 
 weather the wood expands, and in cold weather contracts on a 
 violin, imperceptibly perhaps, but none the less actually, and 
 the nature and quality of the varnish must be such as to allow 
 of its following these movements of the wood to which it is 
 applied, without checking them in any way, as it certainly would 
 if it were too hard. It is this that gives the oil varnishes such a 
 vast superiority over spirit varnishes, though the former are more 
 diflficult to compound and apply, and take weeks, months (nay, 
 years), to dry properly. Gum-lac has this same hardening effect 
 upon varnishes, though it has been most freely and disastrously 
 
THE VARNISH. 177 
 
 used. In the repipes given below I have specially excluded all 
 such, and all spirit varnishes! To obtain this suppleness, the 
 gums must be dissolved in some liquid not highly volatile like 
 spirit, but one which mixes with them in substance permanently, 
 to counteract their own extreme friability. Such are the essences 
 of lavender, rosemary, and turpentine, combined with linseed 
 oil. 
 
 If these conditions are borne in mind, a glance at the above 
 formulEe will show that they are all adapted for application to 
 musical instruments in a greater or lesser degree, though most of 
 them would require, at any rate, diluting. For instance, among 
 those of Alexis, the Piedmontese, No. 1 is hardly more than a 
 stain, and would require the addition of gum mastic and juniper 
 to give it consistency. No. 2 would be tender, but too heavy ; 
 the same remark applies to Nos, 3 and 4 ; they all require 
 diluting with essence of turpentine, and so on throughout. A 
 moment's consideration of each will suggest the dilution or 
 alteration required to make it useful for the purposes of the 
 fiddle-maker. Again, by a looseness of diction the old masters 
 have been cited as covering their fiddles with an " oil-varnish," 
 without stating whether the oil employed were an oil properly 
 so called (as linseed oil and the like) or an essential oil (such as 
 oil of turpentine). It has appeared in the foregoing remarks 
 that the old varnishers used to begin by boiling their oils to an 
 extent sufficient to render them siccative, and tnen after cooling 
 they mixed in the necessary powders, having re-heated the oil to 
 a lesser degree, otherwise the high temperature necessary to boil 
 the oil would bum the delicate resins and gums which they 
 employed. And in this they differed from the manner in which 
 the hard glassy spirit varnishes of to-day are made. 
 
 M. Savart has made the extraordinary mistake of preferring 
 a hard spirit varnish of gum-lac, but it is difficult to imagine by 
 what circuitous route he can have arrived at such an erroneous 
 conclusion. It has been said that Stradivarius and his predeces- 
 sors varnished with amber, but strong evidence against this is 
 brought by the fact, that the secret of dissolving amber and 
 hard copal was not known until 1744, when letters patent for 
 the discovery were granted to one Martin. His operation was 
 to fuse amber and hard copal by dry heat, and dissolve it in 
 boiling oil, which was diluted with an essence raised to the same 
 heat before it was added. This operation was, indeed, invented 
 in 1737, but as this was the year in which Stradivarius died, he 
 could never have used it, much less his predecessors, as stated 
 by Otto, and besides, a varnish so compounded would be much 
 too hard to use on violins for the reasons before stated. 
 
 12 
 
178 VICLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 It was towards the decline of the Cremona violin manufacture 
 that gum-lac was introduced, and with it J. B. Guadagnmi 
 spoilt the tone of many of his instruments. It is impossible to 
 impress the fact too ' strongly, that the vehicle in which the 
 resins are dissolved must be, and remain soft, so as to keep soft 
 the resins, which by themselves are naturally hard ; and conse- 
 quently any varnish from which the diluent has completely dried 
 out must of necessity become hard and glassy, and chip off. On 
 the other hand, if the varnish be too soft, and. in fact, remain 
 tacky, it will in time cake, and destroy the tone of the fiddle. 
 The "hard spirit varnishes might be improved by oil of turpen- 
 tine, castor-seed, lavender, etc. ; but surely it is better to use 
 these at once than use them merely to counteract faults in an 
 inferior composition. It is impossible to say how the old 
 Inthiers dissolved the highly-coloured resins which tint their 
 deeper coloured varnishes ; but the means of dissolving the 
 most delicate gums has already been discussed, and certain it is 
 that nowadays varnishes of the highest colour can be prepared 
 without a vestige of cloud or sediment ; and such recipes are 
 given below. 
 
 The author of " How to Choose a Violin " (vide note *, p. 127) 
 makes the following most pertinent remark : — " It is certain 
 that the varnish used by the old Cremona makers was superior 
 to any now existing : it was more pliant, or it would have 
 impaired the tone : it was adhesive, or long use would have 
 parted it from the wood. Yet writers err who assign to the 
 varnish the cause of the wonderful tone of Cremona violins. Their 
 beauty and value are in their construction. No varnish could 
 make an inferior instrument sound well, while a superior one 
 would still be good, even if ill varnished." This is one of the 
 wisest remarks of this marvellously wise little book, and I quote 
 it that my readers may bear it in mind whilst they read this 
 chapter. 
 
 It has been a much-debated question whether wood ought to 
 be sized, and to my mind there can be no question about it. It 
 seems to me certain that the old Italian makers sized their wood 
 in some waj' before applying the varnish, and this accounts for 
 the yellow substratum noticed where the varnish has worn off, 
 alluded to by Mr. C. Reade, in the extract quoted at the 
 beginning of this chapter, where he distinctly describes this 
 operation of sizing with one kind of varnish, and then varnish- 
 ing, in the ordinary acceptation of the term, with another, rather 
 different in its nature — ^in fact, as he says, heterogeneous. The 
 use, or rather necessity, of this operation is at once apparent 
 when we consider the following facts. The nature of the wood 
 
THE VAKNISH. 179 
 
 being porous or spongy, it would absorb the first two or three 
 coats of varnish, and, in fact, be sized by the varnish itself, and 
 the vehicle being absorbed, and leaving behind its resinous and 
 colouring particles on the surface, these last would dry rapidly, 
 and lose the elasticity which they should acquire by the presence 
 of their softening diluent. Also the instrument would want a 
 larger number of coats of varnish, the lower ones of which, when 
 the upper had worn away, would be hard and friable, and the 
 very quantity of varnish necessary to be applied would infallibly 
 destroy the power and brilliancy of the tone for a great number 
 of years ; in fact, the filling up of the pores with varnish 
 would entirely counteract the advantages derived from a com- 
 plete desiccation of the wood, the result of years of preservation. 
 Fiddles must not be sized with common " size," like furniture, 
 but with quickly-evaporating washes, composed of some such 
 gums as gamboge or aloes, dissolved in spirits of wine to produce 
 the familiar yellow ground (vide p. 294). Such a size only pene- 
 trates very slightly into the wood, and leaves the resinous 
 ingredients on the surface in a state of infinitesimal subdivision, 
 which forms no check on the movements and vibrations of the 
 wood. It is thus, doubtless, that the old Cremonese workmen 
 prepared their fiddles before varnishing them, when this yellow 
 tint is observable ; and when not, the wash used was probably 
 juniper gum dissolved in alcohol. However, the yeTlow size 
 seems to be the best, and is to be made as follows : — 1, Gam- 
 boge, finely powdered, 20 grammes ; spirits of wine, 100 cubic 
 centimetres ; or 2, gamboge, 10 grs. ; aloes, 8 grs. ; spirits 
 of wine, 100 cubic centimetres. Place the spirits in a vessel 
 with half the powdered resins, and let them dissolve for eight or 
 ten days, periodically stirring them, then filter out the insoluble 
 gummy particles through a cloth, and into the filtered portion 
 put the rest of the resins, and repeat the process. It is better 
 to do this in two operations, as the liquid is thereby more 
 saturated and better coloured ; and it is also better and .safer to 
 do it thus than by means of heat. The second recipe is the best 
 as being more tender. One coat is sufficient, if well and evenly 
 laid on. It is better to use alcohol than water for this solution, 
 as it is a more complete solvent of the resins, and evaporates 
 with greater rapidity. You must be careful to have your alcohol 
 absolutely pure, or your troubles will be greatly increased. You 
 can test alcohol by letting a few drops evaporate in your hand, 
 when, if it has been mixed with any essential oil, the latter may 
 be detected by the smell left behind. If it has been adulterated 
 with wood spirit it is impossible to detect it, but this admixture 
 does not spoil the alcohol for our purposes. It is not much use 
 
180 VIOLIN- MAKING : AS IT "WAS AND IS. 
 
 to test alcohol with areometers or hydrometers, for by a careful 
 addition of sugar the feloniously disposed can always increase 
 its specific gravity at will. However, when pure it ought to 
 register 76 on the government scale, at a temperature of 
 60° Fahr. (or 16° Cent.) The essential oils must also be quite 
 free from adulteration ; if they are mixed with turpentine, this 
 latter may be discovered by rubbing the oil smartly in the palm 
 Df the hand, which will expose the turpentine by its smell. If 
 the essential oil has been adulterated by any fixed oil it may be 
 discovered by letting fall a drop on a piece of paper and warm- 
 ing it, when, instead of entirely evaporating, it will leave a 
 transparent spot on the paper. If it is adulterated with alcohol, 
 place a little in a graduated tube with a little water. The two 
 will keep separate and the bulk of the oil may still be registered, 
 but on shaking it up, the water dissolves the alcohol out of the 
 essential oil, and the latter becomes smaller in bulk than before. 
 If on shaking up the oil smartly in a bottle it becomes 
 milky or opalescent, it indicates the presence of water as an 
 adulterant. If the essence be distilled in a small retort, any 
 resin or fixed oil which may have been mixed -with it will be 
 separated. By all these methods, therefore, you may test the 
 purity of your materials before commencing operations. And 
 this brings us to the colouring of varnishes, which is a much 
 more difficult matter than one would suppose, for many essences, 
 such as essence of turpentine, lavender, rosemary, etc., will not 
 (or only very slightly) act as solvents of coloured resins, or will 
 only hold them in suspension, which would be fatal to the trans- 
 parency of the varnish. Such resins (which include gamboge, 
 dragon's blood, etc.) are, however, soluble in spirits of wine ; 
 and in the following manner they may be used to colour the* 
 essences before-mentioned : — 
 
 Let the colour-resin be dissolved in alcohol, and the solution 
 may be poured into the essence without losing its clearness. 
 Now, the boiling or evaporating point of alcohol being much 
 lower than that of the essence, the mixture may be kept above 
 the boiling point of the alcohol and below that of the essence, 
 and thus the alcohol will evaporate, and leave behind it the 
 colouring matter stationary in the essence, which is thus, as it 
 were, deceived into holding the colour in clear solution. Any 
 colour resin may thus be incorporated with any essence (except 
 that of turpentine), which may then be used in the composition 
 of a varnish; but it must be borne in mind that all the 
 materials employed must be absolutely pure ; and their purity 
 must be ascertained by the means given above. As the best 
 essence wherewith to incorporate the colour is that of turpen- 
 
THE VARNISH. 181 
 
 tine, and essence of turpentine in its clear, pure, recently- 
 distilled state will not mix with alcohol, a slightly different 
 mode of procedure must be followed — namely, the essence must 
 be exposed to the air in an uncorked phial, and periodically 
 stirred before adding the alcoholic solution, so as to mix it with 
 the oxygen of the air. It must remain exposed until a few 
 drqps taken from the exposed essence mix readily with a similar 
 quantity of alcohol ; the exposure required to oxidize the essence 
 wiU seldom exceed two months. The resins employed for giving 
 a red tint to varnishes are those of the Pterocarpus indicus 
 which imparts an orange colour ; the Pterocarpus santalinus, 
 which gives a darker red ; and dragon's blood, which gives 
 the deepest scarlet. The woods or the resins must be powdered 
 fine, and steeped in alcohol for some eight or ten days, and then 
 filtered off for use. The best essence is that of turpentine, 
 combining, as it does, properties at once tender and siccative. 
 After it come in order, rosemary and lavender, of which the 
 former is the better. 
 
 All operations requiring heat should be performed on a water 
 bath, the nature of which is too well known to require explana- 
 tion here, and the compositor of varnishes should always have 
 close at hand a wet cloth and a pail of water, in case the 
 compound should catch fire ; but this contingency seldom 
 happens if the inner vessel be not filled to more than half 
 its capacity. The alcoholic solution of the colouring resin 
 should first be evaporated to half its bulk, to obviate the 
 essence being too freely diluted by its addition. When cold, 
 this saturated solution may be added to the essence of turpen- 
 tine, which has been oxidized as before described, and the 
 two boiled together, being most careful to keep it below the 
 boiling point of the essence; in this way the alcohol will be 
 entirely dissipated. It may be occasionally stirred with a 
 wooden stick to hasten it, and instead of letting the alcoholic 
 solution cool, it will have fiie same effect if the essence be heated 
 to a like temperature before the alcoholic solution is added. 
 When all the alcohol has passed off, which will be seen when 
 bubbles cease to be evolved, let the mixture remain on the 
 water bath for a few minutes, to drive off any water which may 
 be left there by the alcohol, but it must not be left long enough 
 for the essence to commence to evaporate, or the colouring 
 matter will be precipitated in proportion as the liquid diminishes. 
 Of course, the above directions are given for the preparation of 
 small quantities of varnish ; if large quantities were constantly 
 being made, it would be worth while to regain the alcohol 
 hereby dissipated by means of special apparatus, which it is 
 
182 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 needless here to describe. It is always better to perform these 
 operations in the summer, for in winter oils and essences have a 
 tendency to alter in their nature and consistency from either 
 cold or absorption. 
 
 From the beginning of July to the end of September is the 
 best time to prepare varnishes. The three red resins mentioned 
 above, pass through many shades of colour, and may be lightened 
 with gamboge, and darkened with asphalte or dragon's blood ; 
 but these tone-modifiers must not be used in sufficient quantity 
 to alter the nature of the varnish. For instance, gamboge 
 dissolves more readily in essential oil (especially that of 
 turpentine) than the sandal woods which have to be added 
 by means of the alcoholic solution ; so to lighten an essence 
 coloured with sandal wood the gamboge must not be added 
 direct to the solution, or, by reason of its greater afiinity, 
 the essence might precipitate the sandal wood in favour of 
 the gamboge. This latter, therefore, must be added by means 
 of an alcoholic solution, and the alcohol evaporated off as 
 described above. Dragon's blood, however, is not so readily 
 precipitated from the essence ; therefore this may more safely 
 be added directly to the essence without the intervention of 
 the alcoholic solution. It is best to finish the colouring of 
 the essence before commencing to compound the rest f the 
 varnish. Finally, it is necessary to state that the essence of 
 turpentine has been dealt with hitherto as being the best, 
 for reasons given above ; essence of rosemary may also be 
 used, and is easier to deal with, but not so good in the final 
 result. The alcoholic solution of sandal wood is apt to oxidize 
 and deepen in tint on exposure to the air, though an essential 
 solution does not present this peculiarity to so marked a degree, 
 all its solutions, however, are powerfully acted upon by alkalies 
 of all kinds. 
 
 In conclusion of this somewhat lengthy subject, there remains 
 only to formulate the final operations necessary for the comple- 
 tion of the varnish. The resins appropriate to our use divide 
 into two classes, the hard and the soft. The hard comprise 
 copal, amber, and gum-lac, and the soft are subdivided into 
 two other classes, viz., dry, such as juniper gum, gum-mastic, 
 and dammar ; and elastic, such as benzoin, elemi, anime, and 
 turpentine. The first, or hard kinds, would be unsuitable used 
 alone, for they would check the vibrations of the instrument and 
 chip off on the slightest provocation ; the second, or dry kind, 
 counteract this chipping tendency of the hard kinds, but used 
 alone would powder off; the third, or elastic kinds, are not solid 
 enough to use alone, besides, by their heavy glutinous character. 
 
THE VARNISH. 183 
 
 rendering the tone of the fiddle woolly and viola-like, but they 
 impart elasticity to the hard kinds, and consistency to the dry 
 kinds, when mixed with them. The art, therefore, of making 
 varnish lies in so combining these three classes that eaoh 
 conveys its good qualities and counteracts the bad ones of the 
 other two. In spirit varnishes the dry and elastic kinds must 
 be mixed, to ensure tenderness and solidity, for the alcohol 
 evaporating leaves the resins as they are, on the wood, and if the 
 soft resins unduly preponderate they will remain tacky for a 
 long time. The most wearable resin is mastic, but as it is not 
 wholly soluble in pure alcohol, it must be added last of all the 
 ingredients, when the insoluble parts mingling with the other 
 constituents obviate this difficulty. It is easy, therefore, to see 
 that formulae for varnishes can be varied ad infinitum according to 
 requirements. Thus taking as a basis 100 cc. (cubic centimetres) 
 of alcohol, to produce a terrifically hard varnish, we would use 
 gum-lac 20 grammes, juniper gum 8 gr., elemi 4 gr. For a good 
 wearing, and at the same time, tender varnish, juniper gum 
 20 gr., mastic 10 gr., elemi 4 gr., or juniper gum 25 gr., mastic 
 6 gr., Venetian turpentine 10 gr. (turpentine must always be 
 added to a spirit varnish last). It must be remembered (and it is 
 shown in these three formulse) that alcohol will only dissolve 
 one-third of its weight of resins. A good formula for spirit 
 varnish is that of Watin, who prescribes juniper gum 125 gr., 
 gum-lac (in tears) 62 gr. 50 centi-grammes, mastic 62 gr. 50 c, 
 elemi 31 gr. 25 c, Venetian turpentine 62 gr. 50 c, alcohol 
 1 litre (= 1000 cc). This would yet be too hard a varnish, 
 but Watin was (erroneously to my mind) in favour of this 
 quality, and it must be remembered that he was hardly a fiddle- 
 maker. The best spirit varnish for our purpose is composed as 
 follows : — Juniper gum 80 gr., mastic lOU gr., elemi 30 gr., 
 concentrated essence of turpentine,^ 60 cc, castor oil 50 cc, 
 alcohol 1 litre. Before the addition of the resins the spirit must 
 be coloured, as described above. If a thick varnish (of which 
 one coat will be sufficient) is required, the resins may be pro- 
 portionately increased, but not the turpentine or castor oil, for 
 they would make the varnish sticky if overdone. 
 
 However good this may be as a spirit varnish, and however 
 convenient to work with, it is, and must be inferior to an oil 
 varnish, for the latter is at the same time more tender, and more 
 solid, for it continues its softening and binding presence, whereas 
 the alcohol becomes promptly dissipated. It is always better to 
 compound varnishes without heat than with it ; for the former 
 
 ' By concentrated, I mean evaporated to one-tenth part of its bulk. Turpen- 
 tine is here indicated, but as elsewhere stated rosemary might also be used. 
 
184 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 is only a matter of time, and the latter is liable to carbonize or 
 otherwise alter the constituents ; and, secondly, there is no 
 denying that all the substances used are highly inflammable, and 
 without exceedingly careful handling, considerable danger to 
 life and property ensues if heat is used in a laboratory not 
 specially constructed for the purpose. It will be seen that the 
 materials ready to our hand now, are the same (with the excep- 
 tion of some useless ones, such as frankincense, etc.) as were 
 enumerated in the old recipes. In our favour we can cite, that, 
 when unadulterated, resins are to be had purer than they were 
 then,^ and the operations of concentrating essences, and fusing 
 the hard gums, then unknown, are now fully understood. It 
 has been explained that we must relinquish the use of the four 
 hard resins, and also benzoin, because by swelling it renders the 
 varnish gummy ; and juniper-gum, because it requires so much 
 heat, and tender copal (or dammar) is just as good, and much 
 easier to work with. 
 
 We are reduced, therefore, to 1, mastic (in tears), which is 
 the most tender and -w^earable of all resins ; 2, tender copal 
 (= brittle dammar), which by its dryness counteracts the more 
 elastic resins, and renders the varnish more siccative ; 3, 
 Venetian turpentine, which we avoid, as rendering the varnish 
 tacky; 4, elemi, and 5, anime, both very soft and elastic 
 gums. Camphor is sometimes mentioned as having been used, 
 but it has a tendency to kill colour. The formula left us as 
 the best, becomes therefore, mastic 10 gr., tender copal 5 gr., 
 essence (coloured at will as described) 100 cc. To this is added 
 finally 5 cc. of linseed oil, not boiled, but the older the better. 
 jMore than this quantity might be used, but with the effect of 
 lessening the siccative properties of the varnish. The above 
 formula may be prepared as follows : — Place the 100 cc. of 
 coloured essence in a glass vessel, and into it put the mastic, 
 which will take from twenty-four to thirty-six hours to dissolve. 
 When quite dissolved add the copal, which will take a like time. 
 Periodically shake the bottle. Then finally mix in the oil. 
 Put this fluid away in a dark, cool place, in a stoppered bottle, 
 for ten days or a fortnight, to let it settle ; then filter (through 
 filter paper for choice), and keep the varnish six or eight months 
 before using it. In this varnish elemi, anime, and turpentine 
 are left out, the linseed oil taking their place in contributing 
 the tenderness to the varnish. The resins appear to bear a 
 small proportion to the essence, but it must be remembered that 
 
 ' It has been suggested that in these very adulterations, the natures of which 
 we cannot now ascertain, lay the " secret of the Cremona varnish," a hypothesis 
 which, to say the least of it, is exceedingly improbable. 
 
THE VARNISH. 185 
 
 the colouring matter will have already, to a certain extent, 
 charged it, and it is better to have the varnish thin, and varnish 
 often, than to have it thick and lay it on blotchy. When the 
 essence is tinted with dragon's blood, it is better even to reduce 
 the weight of resins proportionately to 12 gr. instead of 15, as 
 above. Such a consistency will not require warming before use, 
 as is necessary if the varnish be too thick. 
 
 When varnishing, you will discover the absolute necessity 
 of having your wood thoroughly dry and well seasoned. If 
 it is not, the varnish, instead of preserving the wood, will 
 hasten its decay by preventing it from drying properly. It 
 must be borne in mind, that to lay on varnish evenly is very 
 diflScult, for every stroke of the brush tells, on the porous 
 surface of the wood. Of a really well compounded, thin, 
 and transparent varnish, the re(jpisite depth of colour and 
 thickness of varnish is not generally reached till the twelfth 
 to the fifteenth coat, and each coat must be thoroughly 
 dry before another is applied, or else the varnish will chip 
 and powder off; it saves a good deal of trouble to wait a 
 week or more between each coat, on the principle of "more 
 haste worse speed." If after a few coats you find the colour 
 is deep enough, instead of continuing you may finish with 
 one coat of the following transparent varnish — mastic 20 
 gr., copal (= brittle dammar) 10 gr., essence (new and pure) 
 100 cc, linseed oil 12 cc. The essence must be the same as 
 that used in the first or coloured varnish. It is possible to 
 varnish with one or two thick coats, but it is neither so satisfac- 
 tory nor so good. Varnishing should always be done on a dry, 
 warm day, in some place out of a draught, or the operation will 
 become much more difficult : the full particulars of the operation 
 being elsewhere laid down (vide p. 294). 
 
 To recapitulate the foregoing rather protracted details, the 
 operations to be performed are, in brief, as follows: — (1), Steep 
 100 gr, of sandal-wood (or 80 of dragon's blood) powdered, in 
 1 litre of alcohol, set it in the sun or some warm place for ten 
 days, shaking it periodically. Then filter through a cloth, and 
 repeat the process with another 100 (or 80) gr., in the same 
 litre of alcohol. To lighten the colour, use an alcoholic solution 
 of gamboge; to darken it, use similarly asphalte or dragon's 
 blood. Always use deep, large vessels, and never fill them 
 more than half full at a time. (2) Now take 300 cc. of this 
 coloured alcohol in a graduated vessel, and reduce it, by 
 evaporation on a water-bath, to half its bulk. Then pour into 
 it 200 cc. of essence and volatilize the alcohol as before described, 
 after which you will find you have 200 cc. of coloured essence. 
 
186 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT "WAS AND IS. 
 
 (3) When this is cold add your resins, shaking periodically as 
 before described. Leave the liquid to settle for a fortnight, then 
 filter through paper and preserve. 
 
 Thus far it has seemed necessary to enter into the minutiae of 
 the rather distinct art of varnishing, and 1 hope that these notes, 
 gathered from the most reliable sources and from personal 
 experiences, may, at any rate, serve as guides for the experi- 
 ments and practice of the would-be Cremona varnisher. To 
 any one more particularly interested in the subject, I beg to 
 recommend the work of M. Eugfene Mailand, to whose " D6cou- 
 verte des Anciens Vernis Italiens " I am indebted for much 
 valuable information contained in the foregoing pages.* 
 
 The violin is now theoretically finished, i.e., we nave scienti- 
 fically discussed all its parts, and have only to add the fittings 
 and strings (which will be the subject of the next two chapters), 
 before playing on our fiddle. The reader will by this time 
 have fully appreciated the host of trifles to which deference 
 must be paid, for if not, hcB nugce in seria ducent mala. Their 
 importance must not be judged by their number (which alone 
 is calculated to impress the unlearned), but by the immense 
 influence every trivial part has on the combined whole ; non 
 numero hcec judicantur, sed pondere. 
 
 ' E. Mailand, " D^converte des Anciens Vernis Italiens, Employes pour les 
 Instruments i Cordes et a Arcliet " (Paris, 1869), Second Edition, 1874. 
 
 Nelle selve io vivea cipresso muto 
 
 Or, morto, ho voce, pol che me f6r liuia. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 FITTINGS AND APPLIANCES. 
 
 The Pegs— Material— Fitting— Machine Heads— Patent Pegs— The Nut— The 
 Finger-Board — Cutting — Material — Spohr'sFinger- Board — Other Vagaries- 
 The Tail- Piece — Material — Spohr's Tail- Piece — ^VuiUaume's Sourdine Fedale — 
 ZebrowsM's— The Tail-Pin— The Best— Chin-Kests—Hm's—Chanot's— The 
 Mute — HiU's — Eosiu — Its Preparation — Gauges — Tuning Forks — String 
 Boxes — Minor Accessories— Fiddle Cases. 
 
 The Fittings. — Having completed our Violin by varnisliing it, 
 the next step to be considered is the fittings. These, taken as 
 a class, may be said to consist of the pegs, the nut, the finger- 
 board, the tail-piece, the rest, and the tail-pin, as necessary to 
 the existence of, and fastened on to, the violin when in use, in 
 manner hereinafter appearing. Beyond this, other miscellanea, 
 which might more properly be called "appurtenances," exist, 
 and consist of chin-rests, mutes, and other accessories, which 
 have a local habitation in the pockets of a well-organised fiddle- 
 case. It has been the tendency very frequently to consider 
 these fittings either too important or too unimportant, the results 
 being, in the former case, to produce complications which end in 
 agony and vexation of spirit and a reversion to simplicity, and, 
 in the latter^ to produce endless worry and difficulty. The true 
 secret of a well-fitted violin is to have all these things, good in 
 themselves, simple in construction and application, and properly 
 and scientifically applied to the instrument, and how to produce 
 this result is the object of the present chapter. Besides noticing 
 them and their arrangement, I shall also advert to some of 
 the patent fittings, which have begun and ended their useless 
 existence unknown, and, in fact, though years old, my readers 
 may probably hear of them for the first time through the 
 medium of these pages. 
 
 To take all things in their order, we begin with the pegs 
 (d. Fig. 39). These are made of boxwood, ebony, or rose- 
 wood ; in their simplest form they are represented in Fig. 95 
 (a and b). All forms are, however, liable to ornamentations, 
 which have been noticed in Chapter IX., and are represented 
 
188 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 in their most ordinary design at c in the same figure. Of the 
 three components named boxwood is the most inferior, being 
 hard and unyielding, which causes the pegs to stick ; the most 
 convenient are made of rosewood, which, being springy and soft, 
 are easily fitted, and turn in the holes for tuning purposes with 
 an ease and firmness which commends itself at once to amateurs, 
 and especially to ladies, who should always use them, as they 
 reduce the operation of tuning from a tiresome and lengthy 
 to an easy and instantaneous one. Their only disadvantage 
 is that they wear out sooner than ebony pegs, which, if really 
 thoroughly well fitted, eclipse all others both for ease in 
 tuning, wear, and appearance. But the fitting must be done by 
 some one thoroughly experienced in violin fitting, for a badly- 
 fitted peg is an abomination. It is also most important and 
 essential to the convenience of the player that the pegs should 
 be so set in the head, that each string can pass from the peg to 
 the nut, quite clear of the other three pegs. Otherwise one 
 string will rub over the peg of another, and each time one is 
 
 ABC 
 
 Pia. 95.— Violin Pegs. • Fig. 96.— Machine-Head for Violin. 
 
 tuned the other will be thrown out, which immensely increases 
 the difficulty of tuning the instrument. Such a defect in an 
 instrument can, however, be remedied by having the old holes 
 filled up and new ones bored by an intelligent workman, but 
 this operation certainly does not improve the appearance of the 
 head. Full instructions will be given for fitting pegs in a future 
 chapter. The best size is ly inch long, the stem tapering from 
 f of an inch to f^ of an inch. Pegs have been made also of 
 rhinoceros horn, ivory, and other fancy substances, but after 
 a short trial they have been pronounced utterly unsatisfactory,) 
 and rejected. Fig. 96 represents a machine head ; these certainly 
 carry the palm, so far as ease in tuning is concerned, but they 
 soon wear out, and if they become loose anywhere a jar is 
 produced, calculated to qualify the possessor for election to the 
 first vacant post of county lunatic. Patent pegs are all much 
 of a muchness. Fig. 97 represents one of these, the invention 
 of Mr. Joseph Wallis, and has, at any rate, the merit of 
 complicated ingenuity to recommend it. A is a metal stem ; B 
 a meW screw, passing through an ordinary peg-head c, and 
 
FITTINGS AND APPLIANCES. 
 
 189 
 
 fitting on to the end of A ; D d are two metal discs lying 
 against the cheek of the scroll. When the peg has been 
 adjusted in the ordinary manner, it may be rendered immovable, 
 by turning the screw b by means of the key E. It is not, however, 
 by any means a new idea, the 
 
 same principle having been in 
 vented and patented before, 
 both for guitars and violins. 
 The principle is in itself wrong, 
 the action of the screw being 
 to compress the cheeks of the 
 scroll, which is highly un- 
 desirable ; for in the first place 
 old and dry wood will not 
 stand it, and in the second 
 place it is necessary, in apply- 
 ing them, to fill up the old 
 holes and bore new ones, a 
 process absolutely scouted by 
 owners of valuable fiddles with 
 their heads in the original 
 condition. Owners of such 
 will often rather put up with 
 the inconvenience of one 
 string rubbing over the other 
 pegs inside the box, rather 
 than have the head altered. 
 
 Pig. 97.— Wallis's Patent Peg. 
 
 In 1876 a patent was taken out (No. 4525) by Wm. H. Cooke, 
 for applying the 'xatchet system to ordinary pegs in a manner 
 which, in fact, was merely a complicated machine head, the 
 machine screw pegs turning ordinary ones. Another very fairly 
 
 good peg patented in 1876 by 
 M. H. Collins (No 2118) was 
 introduced by him in connection 
 with his patent and eccentric 
 violin. It will be found figured 
 (Fig. 72) and described under the 
 head of vagaries in Chapter V., 
 page 111. The best patent peg yet 
 introduced is (to make use of an 
 " Irishism ") not a patent at all ; 
 it simply consists in having the peg boles made a little larger, as 
 in Fig. 98, and having them fitted with an ebony collar A, which 
 so much increases the surface of resistance offered to the 
 shaft of the peg (by projecting beyond the cheeks of the scroll) 
 
 Fig. 98. — Patent Peg to ensure Firmnees. 
 
190 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 that slipping becomes practically unknown. Mr. Stuttafbrd has 
 introduced a peg for the A string to obviate the difficulty always 
 experienced in getting at this string consequent on its being 
 covered by the volute of the scroll (vide M. Chanot's violin, 
 p. 115). A screw runs down the stem of the peg from the end 
 of the thumb piece, which presses upon the string as soon as 
 it is put through the hole in the peg, and holds it tight, so 
 that the peg ean be turned at once without the trouble of 
 pulling out the end with tweezers, and doubling it under the 
 string to fix it. A good idea, but likely to weaken the peg, 
 and get out of order. 
 
 The Nut (s, Fig. 39) is the small piece of ebony \ inch high, 
 j\in diameter, | long, which intervenes between the peg-box 
 and the finger-board, and over the hard cross-grain of which the 
 strings pass (on small gi'ooves cut in it), to the bridge clear of 
 the finger-board, its elevation above which is only -^^ under the 
 first, and -j^ under the fourth string. 
 
 The Finger-board (e. Fig. 39) is the most important of the 
 fittings of the violin ; its most ordinary and correct measure- 
 ment being 10| inches long, the breadth tapering from If inch 
 at the bridge, to | inch at the nut. Its thickness so long as it 
 is glued to the neck, is -j^ inch, from which point it tapers to 
 j^g- inch. At its broad end it is 2^| inches (just under 2| inches) 
 from the bridge. Its distance below the strings at its broad end 
 must be very nicely adjusted, the correct distances being about : — 
 below the E, -^ inch ; below the A, W inch ; below the D, 
 ^ inch ; below the G, -^ inch. The cutting of the bridge must 
 follow the contour of the finger-board, but not its height, for the 
 finger-board must be raised or lowered by cutting away the 
 wood of the neck at either end, rather than that the bridge be 
 made to suit the finger-board. (See on this point Chapter IX., 
 par. " The Bridge," p. 161.) 
 
 Of course the finger-board must be rounded to coincide with 
 the ordinary cutting of a bridge. If the finger-board be not 
 rounded enough, the E and G strings will be too close to it, and 
 the A and D too far away, if the bridge be properly cut ; if it be 
 too round, the opposite will be the result, and in high shifts the 
 bow will be apt to strike three strings at once. At the same time 
 at the broad end of the finger-board the G string is furthest from 
 it, and the E is the closest (i.e., about \ inch), for the vibrations 
 «f the G string being the largest they must have most room, on 
 which principle the distance between the strings and the finger- 
 board decreases, as the open note is pitched higher, till the 
 minimum is reached under the B string. The bridge and 
 finger-board must each oblige one another, and not each try to 
 
FITTINGS AND APPLIANCES. 191 
 
 compel the shape of the other. The boundary for the length of 
 the finger-board has been set down as far as the upper corners 
 of the fiddle, and no farther. From the end of the neck to the 
 end of the finger-board, its under side will be hollowed out 
 following the decrease in thickness. So far as it is glued to the 
 neck, the thickness must be perfectly uniform, to preserve 
 a level surface. M. l'Abb6 Sibire, in " La Obelonomie," inveighs 
 in unmeasured terms against a practice which certainly I have 
 never oome across — namely, that of hollowing out a semicircular 
 space between the neck and the finger-board. The practice 
 seems to have arisen with a view to lightening the finger- 
 board. The finger-board must, of course, be glued closely and 
 firmly to the neck all over the surface of the latter. 
 
 The wood of which it is made should not be too close and dense, 
 •or it will influence the elasticity of the neck, and consequently 
 the tone. The height of the broad end above the belly will vary 
 with the model of the fiddle, but it may generally be 
 takpn as y^ ; the finger-board should be made of ebony, 
 which must be thoroughly dry and well seasoned, and its 
 ■cutting and fitting will be set down further on. Finger- 
 boards have been, and are still on cheap fiddles, made of 
 stained or veneered wood ; these are an endless trouble, as 
 they are constantly wearing out. Curiously enough, M. 
 Savart recommended such finger-boards for the sake of | 
 ■obtaining an increase of elasticity and vibration, but this 
 is proved to be a mistake. Formerly, finger-boards used to be 
 made curiously ornamented, and of fancy materials. Mr. Arthur 
 Hill has a wonderliil collection of such curiosities, which have 
 been discussed under the head of ornamentations in Chapter IX. 
 (page 166). 
 
 Spohr is said to have recommended the hollowing out of the 
 finger-board under the G string to allow for its greater vibra- 
 tions, but my experience of this vagary is that it is a worrying 
 and useless eccentricity, whose superfluity is only equalled by 
 its unsightliness. I am told by Mr. John Bishop (of Chelten- 
 ham) that Spohr got this idea from Romberg the Violoncellist. 
 One can understand that it might be advantageous for the C 
 string of a Violoncello, but not for the G of the Violin. In a 
 word, the finger-board should be perfectly plain, poHshed, and 
 true, as in Fig. 99. 
 
 As for patent finger-boards their name has been legion, and 
 countless contrivances, " born to blush unseen," have increased 
 "the revenue, as is testified by the records of the patent office. 
 
 In 1845, Eobert Brooks took out a patent (No. 10,719) for 
 various improvements in finger-boards, the principle of all of 
 
192 
 
 VIOLIN-MAKING: AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 which was similar — viz., a double finger-board, between the two 
 surfaces of which the strings ran, and were acted upon by 
 means of studs passing through the upper one, and kept above 
 the strings by a spring, which could be pressed down at the 
 right spot like the keys of a pianoforte. In 1852, B.. A. 
 Brooman patented (No. 567) a similar, but not so complicated 
 a contrivance. In 1876, Daniel Semple took out a patent 
 '(No. 3723) for a finger-board, which had between the strings 
 rows of raised points on flexible wires to guide the fingers. 
 (Pleasant to slide up and down !) 
 
 The Tail-piece (p, Fig. 39) is made, as a rule, of ebony, 
 though useless, fancy things are sometimes to be found beneath 
 the glass cases in a fiddle dealer's shop, made of ivory, glass, and 
 other such utterlj' unsuitable materials. Enough has been said 
 in another place of ornamental tail-pieces ; they 
 are generally a delusion and a snare, as regards 
 their superiority over the simpler forms (as in 
 Fig. 100). The tail-piece is attached to the 
 tail-pin of the fiddle by a loop made of a D 
 tenor string (as at b in Fig. 100), sufiiciently 
 long for the ebony to be supported by the 
 tension of the strings, just clear of the edge of 
 the fiddle (protected by the "rest"). The 
 orthodox dimensions are 4f inches long, ^ inch 
 thick. If inch in diameter at the broadest, and 
 f inch at the narrowest part. The holes to 
 receive the strings should be at equal distances 
 from one another (as in the figure), the slits 
 into which they run diverging towards the edge, 
 in such a manner that the strings run to the 
 bridge parallel with one another, and not fanwise, as in this 
 latter case the bridge gets dragged forward by the operation of 
 tuning. The strings pass from the tail-piece to tiie bridge 
 over a kind of nut (a A, Fig. 100) formed of ebony or ivory, 
 and let into the tail-piece at ^ inch from its broad edge. 
 The distance from the bridge to the edge of the tail-piece should 
 be IJ inches. 
 
 In Mr. Bishop's translation of Otto's work, a most lucid 
 description is given by the translator of a tail-piece invented 
 by L. Spohr, by means of which the portions of the strings lying 
 between it and the bridge could be so regulated as to produce 
 certain intervals, which might tend, perhaps, to modify little 
 inequalities of tone in some instruments, or prove advantageous 
 in other respects. Fig. 101 represents this contrivance ; A, b, 
 and c being drawn half their actual size, and D, e, f fuU or 
 
 Fig. 100.— Ordinary 
 Form of Tail-piece. 
 
FITTINGS AND APPLIANCES. 
 
 193 
 
 ■0=0 
 
 actual size. A consists of a fore part e, and a hind part /, and 
 is formed out of one piece of wood (or metal). The fore part is 
 perfectly flat on the top, but is worked out underneath, to the 
 extent and in the manner shown in the section of the tail-piece 
 c, and in the view of the front end of it b. This fore part has 
 four long openings a a a a, placed at a suitable distance from 
 each other, and made to receive the like number of little pegs 
 formed as at E. The hind part/ of A, 
 which is semicircular, stands a little 
 lower than the fore part e, and has its 
 upper edge rounded off, as shown at c. 
 It is chiefly remark- 
 y^ ^ '" -nl ^^^® ^^^ iovLV little slits, 
 
 ^i^\~f Qi* y I hbbb, made to receive 
 
 \y Vj I the knots of the strings, 
 
 and for a little nut c c, 
 formed of bone or brass, 
 which is let into the 
 middle of the semi- 
 circular part/. There 
 are also two small 
 holes, d d, through 
 which the gut-loop is 
 passed which connects 
 the tail-piece with the 
 tail-pin. Four other 
 smaU holes pass ob- 
 liquely from file upper 
 to the under side of the 
 tail-piece, as shown by 
 the dotted lines g in o. 
 B and F are front and 
 side views of the little 
 pegs which are placed 
 in the openings a aa a of A, 
 
 uu 
 
 1^ s 
 
 Pig. 102.— VuiUainne's 
 Sourdine Fedale. 
 
 ■« rolO 
 
 ITS ^ :— B . - . ' i \ 1 l "^ 
 
 and press 
 on the strings beneath -the fore part of 
 the tail-piece, as shown at c. By 
 moving them to and fro in their respective openings, those 
 portions of the strings between them and the bridge are lengthened 
 or shortened, and thus the different intervals are obtained. These 
 pegs consist of two parts, as at D, where h represents the knob or 
 cap, and i the pin, which is firmly glued into a hole in the middle 
 of it, after having first been passed through one of the openings 
 <i from the under side ; the little furrow k at the bottom of the 
 pee is intended to receive the string. From the section c the mode 
 
 13 
 
194 VIOLIN-MAKING: AS IT "WAS AND IS. 
 
 of attaching the string may be seen. After tying a knot in the 
 string I, it is drawn into one of the slits b, then carried over the 
 nut c, and passed through one of the holes ff. It then passes 
 into the furrow k of the peg E, and over the bridge in the usual 
 way. This contrivance is very scientific and ingenious, but has 
 been but very little used. 
 
 Vuillaume's Sourdine pedale (Fig. 102) is an ingenious com- 
 bination of mute and tail-piece, which enables an instrument to 
 be immediately muted or unmuted by a player during a perform- 
 ance ; it is very useful for effects, such as sudden echoes or 
 short muted passages, but it is too great a strain for the chin to 
 keep it in action long. Its principle is as follows : the plate A 
 stands up in the centre of the tail-piece, as shown in the figure ; 
 this acts upon a bent spring below the tail-piece, to the end of 
 which is attached the arm B, bearing the mute c on a sliding 
 fitting D. By the pressure of the chin upon A this spring is 
 straightened, and therefore lengthened, which pushes the mute c 
 by means of the rod B against the bridge. Its distance from 
 
 A — B 
 
 Fig. 103.— ZebrowsM's Bridge and Mute. 
 
 the bridge is regulated by the telescope fitting d, which carries 
 the mute c, and fixes it on the rod by the screw B. Its great 
 disadvantage is that it deadens the tone of the fiddle, and is 
 very apt to come loose and jar. 
 
 A somewhat similar contrivance, or, rather, combination of 
 bridge, mute, and tail-piece, was patented in 1881 (No. 3915) 
 by Felix von Zebrowski. This bridge, which is figured at A, 
 Fig. 103, was, as will be seen, composed merely of four uprights,, 
 with a base of the ordinary sort and a top connecting piece. 
 This tail-piece was in appearance much like Vuillaume's, but 
 Zebrowski's stud a (Fig. 102) was fitted into a slot, into which 
 (a being a screw) it could be fixed. The arm B, instead of carry- 
 ing a metal mute c, carried a plate shown at b. Fig. 103, bearing 
 three cushions of leather c c c, which fitted into ttie three open- 
 ings D D D of the bridge a. To apply the mute, the stud A had to 
 be unscrewed, pushed forw.ard in the slot till the plate b embraced- 
 the bridge, and there refastened. It was very ingenious, but not 
 nearly so simple in application as the ordinary mute, which it did 
 not exceed in efficacy, whilst the tone of the fiddle was seriously 
 
FITTINGS AND APPLIANCES. 
 
 195 
 
 impaired by so unorthodoxly-shaped a bridge. Mr. Stuttaford 
 has recently patented a tail-piece whereon the strings pass 
 through slots at the broad end from small buttons placed behind 
 them, over which the strings are looped. The idea is an excel- 
 lent one, for the strain on the knot consequent on the present 
 form is thereby reduced to a minimum, but, unfortunately, 
 fiddlers are so loth to make use of any innovation, which is 3 
 
 Fig. 101.— Section of Tail-pin with sides, side linings, and block (Gtuamorius block). 
 
 departure from the old-established forms, that it is doubtfu/ 
 whether it will ever come into use among violinists. 
 
 The Tail-pin (q, Fig. 39) is the peg of ebony or box- wood, whici 
 is firmly fixed into the bottom block, as in Fig. 104, through the 
 centre of the join of the lower bouts, as in Fig. 105, to which is 
 fastened the loop, or gut-attachment of the tail-piece (b, Fig. 100). 
 It requu-es to be very carefully fitted, as it has to withstand the 
 entire tension of the strings. Directions as to its fitting, etc., 
 will be given in a future chapter. Its length is regulated by 
 the depth of the block ; the diameter of the knob is f inch. 
 
 FiOf 105.— View ot Tail-pin with Rest at base of riddle. 
 
 The Hest is that small piece of ebony, or other hard material 
 (e, Fig. 105), over which the gut passes from the button A to the 
 tail-piece. It measures, in length, If inch ; breadth, ^ inch. 
 Its depth and shape are regulated by the edge of the fiddle 
 whose shape it follows, its only office being to protect the edge 
 of the fiddle from the gut-loop (b. Fig. 100), which would other- 
 wise cut into it with the tension of the strings. 
 
 These fittings, therefore, having been duly apportioned to the 
 
196 
 
 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT "WAS AND IS. 
 
 instrument, there remains only to string the fiddle to have it 
 ready to play upon. In the next chapter I shall shortly describe 
 the operations through which the guts in the natural state pass 
 before they reach us as strings ; but in the meantime we must 
 consider, before leaving our fiddle, the various appliances which 
 are to be found in every fiddle-case, and which include chin- 
 rests, mutes, gauges, string-box, rosin, 
 iuning-forks, etc. The first and most im- 
 jportant of these is — 
 
 The Chin-rest, which in its most primi- 
 tive form (represented in Fig. 106) is said 
 to have been invented by L. Spohr, and 
 is, without doubt, a great convenience to 
 violinists, as the hold which it gives the 
 chin, which could not otherwise be obtained pm loe.— cinn-rest 
 but by great pressure, imparts a freedom f^- spohr). 
 
 and ease to the left hand in shifting, which comes of its being 
 rendered absolutely irresponsible as far as the retaining of the 
 fiddle in its proper position is concerned, beyond merely sup- 
 porting it at its proper angle. Some people prefer to place a 
 pad to fill the hollow beneath the collar bone, but it is not 
 so certain ; others again aver that it checks the vibrations of 
 
 the belly, but the field 
 of contact at an almost 
 quiescent point being 
 so small, and in the 
 newer forms being re- 
 duced absolutely to a 
 minimum, I think we 
 may dismiss this com- 
 plaint as practically 
 without foundation. It 
 was founded on this 
 supposed disadvantage 
 that Ole Bull took 
 out an English patent 
 in 1879 (No. 1604), 
 
 Fig. 107.— New form of Chin-rest. for Several WOuderiul 
 
 and cumbrous arrangements of rest, or holder, embracing 
 almost the entire base of the fiddle, and attached to the tail-pin or 
 bottom block of the fiddle. Following the same line of thought, 
 Zebrowski, at the same time that he patented his tail-piece and 
 bridge-mute (Fig. 103), projected a holder of the ordinary shape, 
 which instead of clipping the fiddle, was attached to a strap 
 extending by a hook from the lower left-hand corner of the 
 
FITTINGS AND APPLIANCES. 
 
 197 
 
 fiddle to the tail-pin, to which it was firmly attached. His 
 principle seems to have been, with a view to prevent the 
 imaginary checking of the vibration by a tiny clamp, to clasp 
 the entire left hand lower bout with a thick strap ! Comment 
 is needless. The name of the fiddle-holders is legion in their 
 improved form. A good typical specimen, and one which is 
 beyond the reach of the " vibrationists," is the latest introduc- 
 tion (from America) of Mr. W. E. Hill (Fig. 107), which is 
 formed of vulcanite and nickel. Its composition gives it 
 ascendency over its rivals, than which in other respects it is 
 neither better nor worse. A chin-rest forming one piece with 
 the tail-piece, and with it affixed to the tail-pin, is represented 
 
 Fig. 108. — Tail-piece and Chln-reBt 
 combined. 
 
 Fig. 109.— Newest Improvement of Chin-rest. 
 
 by Fig. 108. It has this disadvantage, that the chin pressing 
 upon it, twists the tail-piece, and throws the strings out of tune. 
 Mr. G. A. Ohanot, of Manchester, has made me a most 
 excellent chin-rest, to my mind the best I have seen. It is 
 composed simply of one piece of ebony, and is shown at Fig. 109 
 in plan, elevation, and section. A represents the sides and tables 
 of the fiddle. The chin-rest D is furnished with two ends or 
 tongues E e' at right angles to one another, so that they can be 
 slipped under the loop (b, Fig. 100), which connects the tail-piece 
 B with the tail-pin c. In this way the point of contact is reduced 
 to a minimum, the rest being held on to the fiddle by means of 
 the loop-attachment of the tail-piece. Its great charm is its 
 simplicity; its only fault, if any, is that a good hard pull, such as 
 is sometimes in difficult passages made on the chin-rest, is liable 
 to give the tail-piece a twist, small in itself but quite enough to 
 
198 
 
 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 throw the strings out of tune. It is a simplified form of a 
 chin-rest, which I saw once on a fiddle years ago. In this 
 instance, the ebony chin-rest proper was mounted on a plate of 
 brass which extended some inches on each side of the tail-piece, 
 in consequence of which not only was the chin-rest extremely 
 heavy, but the fiddle had to be entirely unmounted to put it on. 
 There has lately been introduced in Italy a rest, the principle of 
 which is that it is attached round the neck by a band fixed to the 
 tail-pin, which is peculiarly constructed to admit of its applica- 
 tion. In theory it is doubtless good, for it leaves the neck and 
 head free, no pressure of the chin being necessary, but in prac- 
 tice a trifle outrageous, for it takes a considerable time under 
 these circumstances to disembarrass oneself of one's fiddle, 
 which would be a trifle awkward, not to say ludicrous, after a 
 solo in a concert room. 
 
 The Mute is that appliance formed of metal or other material 
 which, being clipped on to the bridge, checks its vibrations, and 
 thus deadens the tone of the entire instrument. The common 
 and most familiar form is executed in 
 metal, and a very efiicacious one is that 
 one known as the Mysterious Mute, which 
 is composed of horn and brass. After 
 trying all sorts I have discarded all others 
 in favour of the one represented full size 
 in Fig. 110, introduced a short time since 
 by Mr. W. E. Hill, which is formed of vul- 
 canite, moulded all in one piece, which pre- 
 cludes the possibility of jar, and, being formed of an elastic, though 
 resisting material, clips tightly, without injuring the bridge. 
 On the action of the mute enough has been said when discussing 
 bridges (page 163). The Vuillaume and Zebrowski mutes have 
 been already described under the heading of tail-pieces. As 
 efiective a mute as any may be extemporized by placing a penny 
 or half-crown behind and against the bridge, setting it under 
 the A string with its edges resting on the E and D. 
 
 A word about rosin, which, without doubt, is the most essen- 
 tial necessity of the fiddler, for as Wilkins said in 1607,i, " My 
 fiddlestick cannot play without rosin," and, in truth, however 
 good the player, the fiddle or the bow, all is dumb and useless 
 without the humble, necessary " colophane.' ' There are animmense 
 number of different kinds oif rosin, or rather different arrange- 
 ments of rosin. Many soloists of celebrity use a common lump 
 of kitchen rosin, in spite of what all the books ever written on 
 
 ' Wilkins, Tlie Miseries of Enforced Marriage (1607), Act V. Vide " The 
 Ancieat British Diama" (London, 1810), vol. ii., p. 180. 
 
 Fig. no. 
 
 -Hill's Vulcanite 
 Mute. 
 
FITTINGS AKD APPLIANCES. 199 
 
 the subject say. The more ordinary forms are all equally good 
 in spite of the eulogies inscribed on the labels ; the only thing 
 to be noticed is, that as there are trifling differences in their 
 composition and substance, you should never change your rosin : 
 that is, that if you want to try a new sort of rosin, do not do so 
 till you have your bow re-haired, and the older your rosin is 
 the better. 1 have some put up by M. J. B. Vuillaume which 
 is perfect on account of its age. To my mind the most con- 
 venient form is the book-form, introduced by M. Georges 
 Chanot, which is enclosed in a leather case, which keeps the 
 rosin dust from filling one's fiddle-case, and besides is convenient 
 to hold, presents a long surface to the friction of the bow in 
 applying it, and does not wear into a groove, which always cuts 
 one's bow-hair to pieces. Stuttaford's " Spherical Eosin and 
 Case " is a ball of rosin in a round case, with a slit in it to 
 receive the bow-hair. I have not found any advantages accru- 
 ing from its use, for it cuts the bow-hair and covers one's fingers 
 with rosin-dust. The operations by which the clarified rosin or 
 colophony of the fiddle-dealers' shops is prepared are as follows, 
 as stated by Otto. Put a quantity of Venice turpentine in a 
 pipkin, add a little water to it, and boil for two or three hours 
 over a slow fire. As it rises pour in small quantities of cold 
 water to keep it from overflowing, and allow a drop now and 
 again to cool on a plate, when, if it rubs clear between the 
 fingers without sticking, it is sufficiently boiled. When thus 
 boiled, pour it into cold water ; work it well with the hands to 
 press out the water, and break it into pieces when cold, expose 
 to the sun and air until all the moisture is evaporated and the 
 rosin quite transparent. Many violinists adopt a method of 
 purifying and rendering the rosin more transparent by boiling 
 it in vinegar, and whilst it is warm pouring it into paper-moulds, 
 after which it is exposed for some time to the sun and air. The 
 purest and finest rosin for the violin is that made from pure 
 Venice turpentine. These particulars are given as likely to be 
 of interest to the violinist, but surely no amateur will go so far 
 as to prepare his own rosin. The violinists of Vienna, and 
 several of the other continental capitals, are now, I am told, 
 using liquid colophane instead of solid rosin. The mixture is 
 applied with a camel's hair brush, and is said neither to injure 
 the bow nor the strings of the instrument, and to last out one 
 hundred hours' playing. It is also stated that the strings give 
 out a clearer tone than when solid rosin is used. The action of 
 rosin has been already discussed on page 100. 
 
 Gauges are all more or less of the same pattern, and are 
 almost all equally deceptive and unsatisfactory. The right plan 
 
200 violin-making: as it was and is. 
 
 is to get a gauge of the ordinary form and efface the markings ; 
 then, when by chance you happen to have on your fiddle a set 
 of strings true to one another, and well suited to your instru- 
 ment, pass the gauge on to them (below the bridge ; not above, 
 where they are thickened with rosin), and mark your gauge for 
 yourself, in which way you get a guide more reliable than the 
 common brass fork which is usually supplied for the purpose. 
 Mr. G. A. Ohanot has introduced a rather complete gauge called 
 the " Quartett Gauge," which has round its sides incisions of 
 the varying diameters of all the strings of all three instruments, 
 violin, viola, and violoncello. It will be principally useful to 
 tradesmen laying in a stock of all kinds of strings at the same 
 time, and for leaders of quartette parties, for few players require 
 to be constantly buying strings for all three instruments at once. 
 
 Mr. Hart has shown me a very sensible and ingenious, if 
 rather cumbrous, appliance, termed a chordometer, with which, 
 by means of a lever arm and micrometer scale, the exact diameter 
 of any string from a double bass C, even to one no larger than 
 the finest hair, can be accurately ascertained and recorded. 
 
 Tuning-forks are toys always convenient, and sometimes 
 useful in settling disputes as to pitch or for pieces in which the 
 violin has to be tuned to uncommon intervals, and notes to 
 which the ear is unaccustomed. I have found most useful a 
 tuning-fork which, by means of sliding weights embracing the 
 prongs, can be altered at will to give any required note. Other- 
 wise an A tuning-fork is always handy. 
 
 String-boxes are another requirement of the fiddler. I have 
 seen it recommended to wrap up spare strings in a piece of oiled 
 bladder, but a more messy, horrid performance it is to my mind 
 difficult to imagine. It is also suggested that a piece of oiled 
 flannel be kept in the string-box, but the effect is equally nasty. 
 Unless you live far away, it is never necessary or convenient to 
 keep more than one or two spare sets of strings by you, and if 
 you are a long way off, a note to a London dealer will always 
 bring them down by post. The best receptacle to contain the 
 strings is an ordinary japanned box with two openings on opposite 
 sides, in one of which the gut strings, and in the other the covered 
 strings, are kept. Mr. Hill has introduced a very neat and 
 sensible string-box, which is a japanned tin box with a hinged 
 lid, which just fits into the semi-circular division at the head of 
 a fiddle-case, and is divided into four compartments, to keep 
 the different strings separate. But a better one still has 
 followed it, consisting of a round box with three movable trays, 
 which lift out and keep the strings separate. 
 
 Everv case should contain a small strong pair of scissors, and 
 
FITTINGS AND APPLIANCES. 201 
 
 a pair of long-pointed tweezers for manipulating the strings 
 inside the peg box. An ingenious appliance, long in use in the 
 fiddle-dealer's workshop, but only just lately ofFered to the 
 public by Mr. George Withers, is the peg-turner, that is, a large 
 peg-head, which is attached to a sort of oval box or bell, which, 
 clasping the peg, turns it with irresistible force. It is recom- 
 
 FiG. 111. — Single Violin Case. 
 
 mended for the use of ladies and persons with weak fingers, but 
 is comparatively useless to the amateur, who can always have 
 his pegs refitted to make them turn quite easily. However, it 
 is very useful for dealers, makers, and repairers, who constantly 
 have many and very hard-set pegs to turn. They are sold 
 neatly made in ebony and silver, but the practical amateur can 
 easily make one for himself out of any piece of hard wood. 
 
 Fig. 112. — Double Violin Case, 
 
 The fiddle, on being put away in its case, should be wrapped in 
 an old silk handkerchief, and many people use a fiddle-blanket, 
 that is, a thin pad of flannel or quilted satin, shaped to the inside 
 of the case and covering up the fiddle. A common accessory of 
 the amateur is a pad or cushion used for holding the fiddly. 
 This is not, to my mind, so efficacious or convenient as a chin- 
 rest, but this has been discussed before in the paragraph on 
 
202 
 
 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 chin-rests. And, lastly, a word on the case in which the fiddle 
 is kept ; these are either single, as at Fig. Ill, or double, as at 
 Fig. 112. These last are very handsome, but wofuUy massive 
 and heavy. If you carry your fiddle about much, nothing can 
 beat the American cloIJi oblong cases, which hold music, and 
 are very light, but are bad as permanencies, as people have a 
 knack of sitting upon them, very considerably ad damnum of the 
 contained fiddle (and its owner). The papier-mach6 or American 
 cloth cases which follow the shape of the fiddle (commonly 
 known as " baby alligators ") are very convenient, but they do 
 not hold music, and, if the fiddle is high built, it runs a chance 
 of being cracked by the bows in the lid. Some amateurs have 
 such an objection to being seen carrying a fiddle about, that 
 they have cases made only just the length oi the fiddle, rounded 
 similarly at both ends. These are, to my mind, as wicked as 
 they are cowardly, for they necessitate the bow being cut in two 
 
 ria. 112a.— Patent Violin Bag (S. A. Chanot). 
 
 above the lapping, and jointed with a plug and ferrule. Ye gods ! 
 what a sacrifice to appearances ! After trying all sorts, I have 
 come to the conclusion that nothing is better than Fig. Ill of 
 French, or light English make. 
 
 Fig. 112a represents the latest improvement in fiddle cases, 
 recently patented by Mr. G. A. Chanot, of Manchester. It con- 
 sists of a strong frame, which holds the body of the fiddle, the head 
 being covered by a lined waterproof bag. The large evening 
 (whereby the fiddle is put in) is similarly closed with water- 
 proof ; and the bow goes into a box similarly covered and closed, 
 which can be detached from the case itself' This is very light 
 and strong, and will, I think, come into very universal use. 
 
 The next chapter (on strings) will bring us to the end of the 
 theoretical discussion of the violin ; after which I shall proceed 
 to the detailed exposition of the practical manual processes 
 required to solve the problem, " Given, a log of wood : make a 
 fiddle." 
 
CHAPTER Xn. 
 
 THE STRINGS. 
 
 Choice of Strings — Theory of Vibration — Kelations to One Another — " True " and 
 " False " Strings — True and Harmonic Octave and FiEth, Tests — Appearance of 
 a Good String — Preservation of Strings — Different Sorts of Strings — Their 
 Composition — Method of Preparation and Manufacture — Covered Strings — 
 Silk and Acribelle. 
 
 Having finally adjusted all the fittings of the violin, and having 
 got together all the miscellanea of the fiddler's art, there 
 remains but one particular to be attended to before proceeding 
 to the consideration of the actual manual operations neces- 
 sary for the carrying out of the scientific principles which 
 have been the subject of the preceding chapters. This matter, 
 which, though left till the last, is almost as important as the 
 construction of the fiddle itself, is the consideration, selection, 
 and manufacture of the strings. It is not an uncommon thing 
 to see an amateur enter a violin-dealer's shop and say, " Give me 
 two firsts, and a second, please," and walk off with ttie first three 
 given him by the individual in charge, without even looking at 
 them. The chances are a hundred to one that the result of that 
 amateur's expenditure of capital will be a source of considerable 
 misery to hiniself, and to his sorrowing family or neighbours. 
 It cannot be too strongly borne in mind, that not only must the 
 size, quality, and substance of the strings be perfect, but that 
 the individual strings chosen must suit the instrument to which 
 they are to be applied, for a string that would produce a mellow 
 and full tone on one fiddle might very probably be harsh and 
 "criard" on another. Again, you must choose your strings to 
 suit your style of playing ; some virtuosi use very thin strings by 
 choice, whilst others use them exceptionally thick. Parke in 
 his " Musical Memoirs " (vide note ', p. 5), says, " At this meeting 
 (Worcester musical festival, September 1776), I first heard the 
 popular violin-player Giardini execute a concerto, in which he 
 displayed a fund of grace and expression, with a tone so sweet, 
 and at the same time so powerful, that he appeared to be 
 performing on strings so large, that I really thought his fingers 
 
204 violin-making: as it was and is. 
 
 must have been blistered by the necessary pressure he gave 
 them." There is a great deal in what the biographer here says, 
 which strengthens the stress which I lay upon choice of strings. 
 When, however, you have found a diameter of strings, which 
 suits your fiddle, keep to that and do not experimentalize with 
 new thicknesses, for it is as deleterious to change one's style of 
 strings as to be constantly shifting about the sound-post. The 
 strings must be in proper relative proportion to one another ; I 
 mean you must not use a thick E, a thin A, and a medium D 
 they must all be relatively thick, thin, or medium. This care in 
 choosing particularly applies to the first string, or chanterelle, 
 and proportionately to the others. 
 
 The appliance known as a string-gauge is well known, and has 
 before been referred to (p. 199) ; but each violinist ought to have 
 one to his own fiddle — i.e., he should get one quite plain, and as 
 he gets good, sweet, and true strings on to his fiddle, which suit 
 the instrument, he should mark it for himself by them, and as 
 nearly as possible always choose strings the same size by its 
 aid. Properly to understand the relative duties of, and the 
 correspondence between, the strings and the body of the violin, 
 lef us turn for a moment to the scientific principles which 
 regulate and determine these relations. A string, as is of course 
 well known, only becomes capable of emitting a musical note 
 under the influence of tension. Again, if we be gifted with the 
 strength of Hercules and stretch a gut or other string between 
 our fingers, in the open air, the sound produced by that string 
 under the influence of the bow, or upon twanging it, is 
 practically imperceptible, but if at one or both ends we attach 
 a slab of thin wood, the sound increases in intensity as the 
 molecules of the wood vibrate in sympathy with the string. Id 
 the construction of a violin and the choice of its strings we 
 have to aim at as near as possible a perfection in these relations, 
 with this difference, that not only is it the molecules of the 
 wood forming the instrument that vibrate sympathetically with the 
 strings, but the mass of air contained inside the fiddle as well. The 
 tone, therefore, depends on the thickness of the strings, the force 
 with which they are vibrated, and the quality of the magnifying 
 body (i.e., the fiddle). The actual note produced depends, of 
 course, merely on the diameter of the strings, their substance, 
 their length, and the amount of tension applied to them. The 
 more the vibrations entered into by a string, the higher will be 
 the note produced, and the number of vibrations produced by a- 
 string are in the inverse ratio of its length — i.e., the shorter the 
 string the greater the number of its vibrations, and consequently 
 the higher the note. Thus, in Fig. 113, if the whole string ab 
 
^ 
 
 THE STRINGS. 205 
 
 produce one hundred vibrations, and consequently gives (say) 
 the note D : when stopped at c, the parts a' or V vibrated alone 
 would produce two hundred vibrations, and consequently the 
 note D an octave higher. Dr. Arbuthnot remarked this more 
 than a century and a half ago,^ saying : — " I have found that the 
 single fibres, both of animal and vegetable substances, are 
 lengthened by water or by moist air ; a fiddle-string q 
 
 moistened with water will sink a note in a little time, 
 and consequently it must be (i.e., it is) relaxed or 
 lengthened one-sixteenth. The steam of hot water will 
 sink it a note in five or six minutes." It is in con- 
 sequence of this natural phenomenon that when one is 
 playing, one's breath will often make the strings "go 
 flat," and that in a concert room, if the heat of the , 
 room is a moist heat, one's fiddle gets flat, whereas, if '^ 
 the heat is dry and burning, the strings lose their 
 natural moisture and get sharp, a circumstance often 
 very disastrous to singers accompanied by an orchestra 
 towards the end of a concert, unless carefully guarded 
 against. 
 
 Again, the thicker the string the fewer its vibrations, 
 and consequently the lower its note; therefore, the 
 number of vibrations produced hy a string are in the " 
 inverse ratio of its diameter. Thus : one string, having 
 a diameter represented by 2, gives a note (say) D ; 
 another of the same length, and subjected to the same 
 tension, having a diameter represented by 1 (just 
 half), the note produced would be D an octave higher. 
 Again, the denser and heavier the substance which 
 composes the string, the lower will be the note pro- 
 duced. It is from this that, to obviate the use of an '{ 
 immensely thick string for the fourth string of the 
 fiddle, we increase the weight of a string thinner than 
 the third, by covering it with wire. Again, the heavier 
 the tension applied to a string, the higher the note 
 produced; therefore: the number of vibrations produced 
 hy a string are in the direct ratio of the tension applied to 
 it. Thus : if a string drawn bj'^ a weight of fifty pounds * 
 
 gave a note, (say) D, increase the weight to one hundred pounds, 
 and the note produced would be D an octave higher. The action 
 of these weights is, in the violin, replaced by the pegs. This, there- 
 fore, is the theory of vibrations of a musical string as far as they 
 are likely to interest us. For any further particulars on this 
 
 ' Dr. J. Arbuthnot, "An Essay concerning the Iifiects of Ail on Human 
 Bodies " (London, 1732), p. 61, ch. iii., par. 20. 
 
206 
 
 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 U 
 
 ' 
 
 most interesting subject, the reader is referred to any of the 
 standard works on sound (such as Professor Tyndall's^). The 
 above notes may, however, as far as they go, be^f considera,ble 
 use and interest to th^ violinist. The scientific and mechanical 
 action of that very necessary accessory, the rosin, in vibfating a 
 string continuously by means of a bow, has been set 
 to forth in a previous chapter (p. 100). 
 iH As to the strings themselves, besides being suited 
 
 to the fiddle to which they are fixed, they must also 
 possess certain qualities which are absolutely indis- 
 pensable to tone, and which are technically summed 
 up in four words : They must he true. True, n5t 
 only individually, but true to one another ; and this 
 truth is only to be obtained, in the first case, by 
 'ft I I being properly constructed and chosen, and in the 
 second case, by being accurately proportioned or 
 • gauged to each other. It is absolutely necessary that 
 I a string be of even thickness throughout, — i.e., one 
 
 end must not be thinner than another, or else the 
 
 1 production of perfect fifths and harmonic octaves will 
 I be rendered impossible. As the sounding of these 
 I two harmonies is the best, and most absolutely certain 
 a test for falseness in a string, it may be advisable 
 I here to consider the conditions necessary for their 
 
 3 perfect production. When a string is divided into 
 g two equal halves by a light pressure of the little 
 ^ finger (c, Fig. 114), in the fourth position (or by 
 extension in the third), the well-known sound of 
 the harmonic octave is produced by the two halves 
 of the string ribrating simultaneously and con- 
 sonantly, as in Fig. 114. If redisi^ed at a quarter 
 of its length from the nut by the first finger (d, 
 Fig. 115), in the third position, a second octave 
 (higher) is produced by the four quarters c] d, e, f, 
 ' I of the string vibrating simultaneously and con- 
 
 ILJ sonantly, as in Fig. 115, and it is immaterial whether 
 ' ^ the little finger c be removed or not (though in 
 
 many instances it is advisable that it be kept in 
 position as in the figure) ; now if the thickness of the string 
 be not uniform, and the string be divided by a firm pressure, as 
 in Fig. 113, and the two halves thus isolated be separately struck 
 
 ' Vide A. Guillemin, " The Applications of Physical Forces," translated and 
 edited by Mr. and Mrs. Norman Lockyer (London, 1877), pp. 138—152 ; and 
 J. Bambosson, " Les Harmonies du Son, et THiatoire dea Inatrumenta de 
 Musique " (Paris, 1878), p. 374, and other similar works. 
 
 ^n 
 
THE STRINGS. 207 
 
 with the bow, the thinner end of the string will give a higher 
 note than the thicker, and consequently, if to such a string 
 a light pressure be appjiejj,- as in Fig. 114, the two halves 
 vibrating simultaneously^i^ijtj not consonantly, a false, squeaky 
 note will be produced -in/place of the clear flute tone of the 
 true harmonic* octave. .The higher harmonic octave (as in 
 Fig. 115), constitutes, in . similar manner a yet finer m 
 
 test for the tru^i.of-an'individual string. 
 / The nexfeitest: for the truth of a string, both in- 
 ( dividually and to its neighbour, is the production of 
 perfect filths. . By this is meant that if two strings 
 are stopped by the finger both together at any given 
 point, the interval known as "a fifth" will be pro- 
 duced, the same as it was when the two open strings 
 gave a perfect fifth sounded together. If the har- 
 monic octaves of both open strings are soujided to- 
 gether by one light pressure, as in Fig 114, they will 
 (if the two- strings are true) produce a perfect har- 
 iTwnic fifth, an octave above the perfect -fifth produced 
 by the open strings. The reason for this is obvious, 
 for if one string is finer at one end than at the other, 
 the two equal halves will have a difierent intonation, ^ 
 and the fifth produced by vibrating such a string 
 simultaneously with another true one will not be 
 perfect, but harsh and dissonant. Therefore, if a i' j 
 string will render two perfect harmonic octaves, and ! ) 
 if another vibrated simultaneously with it gives 1 ' 
 perfect fifths when stopped at an identical point, those ' ' 
 two strings are true in themselves, and true to one 
 another. It has been suggested that when strings 
 are thus falsified by want of similarity throughout 
 their breadth, the defect may be to a certain extent 
 remedied by" passing a moist finger along the finer 
 portion of the string {vide Dr. Arbuthnot's experi- ' 
 ment, supra, p. 205), and thus swelling iti An approach 
 to equality of thickness produces somewhat the desired 
 result, but it will always be found best to take another 
 string at once, rather than try to remedy a false one. < 
 
 It wiU be said that this is a lengthy mode of judging of a false 
 string, and that a string once mounted and removed, is useless 
 alike to the buyer and seller ; the only chance, therefore, is to be 
 guided by the eye in choosing strings in the shop, and a very 
 short acquaintance with the exterior signs of a good string vrail" 
 effectually guard the fiddler from ever investing in a false one. 
 As tring, as seen in the coil or bundle at a shop, ought to be 
 
208 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 transparent, and without spots or blotches throughout its entire 
 length. It should be pliant and elastic, returning to its former 
 shape (like a watch spring), without breaking when pressed or 
 pulled out ; it should not be too white, for this betokens improper 
 materials or excessive bleaching, both of which render a string 
 brittle and false. A good string must not lose its transparency, 
 and become cloudy and yellow when bent. Seconds and thirds 
 may be without harm much whiter than firsts, but otherwise the 
 same rules apply. It is often laid down that the truth of 
 a string may be determined by vibrating it between the fingers, 
 and that if it present only two even lines it is true, and if more, 
 false. It is certain that if it produce an irregular or multiplied 
 figure it is false, but it does not follow that if the lines be clear 
 and distinct it is true ; and again, a string which may seem true 
 at a slight tension, may quite possibly be false at the higher 
 tension to which it is subjected when applied to a fiddle, though 
 as a rule a string will be false at a low tension whilst it is true 
 at a higher. The reader will appreciate this if he has ever been 
 forced as a pis alter to mount an E string as an A, or vice versa. 
 It remains, therefore, that the only way to ensure choosing good 
 strings is to go as far as possible by the appearances before 
 mentioned, and, above all, to deal only with the best goods of 
 the best dealers. It is a mistake, to my mind, for amateurs to 
 think they can save money by buying a bundle of fifteen or 
 thirty strings at once ; some of them are almost sure to go wrong 
 before they are all used, unless the greatest care is taken of 
 them. Some people wrap their spare strings in bladder or 
 flannel moistened with oil, a process which, even if the oil does 
 not go rancid (as it generally does), can only be characterized as 
 "horrid." The mess involved in putting on a new greasy string 
 is enough, if you are not of a seraphic disposition (I am not), to 
 make you touchy for the rest of the performance. I never buy 
 more than two strings at a time, and always keep just one 
 double set handy. It has been recommended by various authors, 
 following J. A. Otto (vide note, p. 20), to keep in one's case a 
 piece of silk moistened with almond oil, which must be passed 
 down the strings, from nut to bridge, every time the fiddle is 
 put away, and that before playing the strings should be rubbed 
 free from the effects of this unction with a linen rag. I do 
 not know whether this has ever been done ; it would certainly 
 be quite impossible to play on strings so treated. 
 
 The different strings now in the market are described by 
 Mr. Hart in his work, " The Violin : its Makers and Imitators," 
 as follows : " Musical strings are manufactured in Italy, 
 Germany, France, and England. The Italians rank first in 
 
THE STRINGS. ZUi* 
 
 this manufacture, their proficiency being evident in the three 
 chief requisites for strings — viz., high finish, great durability, 
 and purity of sound. There are manufactories at Eome, Naples, 
 Padua, and Verona, the separate characteristics of which are 
 definitely marked in their produce. Those strings which are 
 manufactured at Rome are exceedingly hard and brilliant, and 
 exhibit a slight roughness of finish. The Neapolitan samples 
 are smooth, and softer than the Roman, and also whiter in 
 appearance. Those of Padua are highly polished and durable, 
 but frequently false. The German strings now rank next to 
 the Italian, Saxony being the seat of manufacture. They may 
 be described as very white and smooth, the better kinds being 
 very durable. Their chief fault arises fi:om their being over 
 bleached, and hence faulty in sound. The French take the 
 third place in the manufacture. Their strings are carefully 
 made, and those of the larger sizes answer well, but the smaller 
 strings are wanting in durability. The English manufacture 
 all qualities, but chiefly the cheaper kinds ; they are durable, 
 but unevenly made, and have a dark appearance." 
 
 The cause of variation in quality of the several kinds arises 
 simply from the difierence of climate. In Italy an important 
 part of the process of manufacture is carried on in the open air, 
 and the beautiful climate is made to efiect that which has to be 
 done artificially in other countries. Hence the Italian supe- 
 riority. Southern Germany adopts, to some extent, similar 
 means in making strings ; France to a less degree ; while 
 England is obliged to rely solely on artificial processes. It 
 therefore amounts to this result, the further from Italy the more 
 inferior the string. The best strings in the market to-day are 
 imported from Signer Andrea Ruffini, of Naples, which are sold 
 by all the leading violin-dealers in London. 
 
 It is a matter of every day occurrence to hear people talk of 
 fiddle strings as " catgut " ; indeed, one great writer has alluded 
 to a violinist as a man who " stretches the bowels of a cat over a 
 wooden box and rubs them with the tail of a horse." However 
 this may be, it is one of those carefuUy-persisted-in errors made 
 on the lucus a non lucendo principle. One, Baptista Porta, seems 
 to have made some most intelligent experiments in the sixteenth 
 century on the materials of which strings were made, the 
 astounding results of which were, that strings made of combined 
 wolf and sheep gut produced no music, but only jar and discord. 
 The painful effect of playing on strings made from the intestines 
 of serpents was to make women miscarry, especially when 
 vipers supplied the material. Porta, probably, got his informa- 
 tion from Pythagoras, who tells a similar " story " ; at any 
 
 14 
 
210 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS A2JD IS. 
 
 rate, Kircher, the well-meaning, but often sadljr misguided 
 author of "Musurgia Universalis,"^ strung two instruments, 
 one with wolf gut strings, and the other with sheep gut strings, 
 and sitting in a fold, played to the assembled sheep, who, how- 
 ever, failed to express any objection or alarm at either form of 
 tone production ! 
 
 " Setting aside for future consideration the silk, metal, and 
 acribelle strings, we will turn our attention to the manufacture 
 of the ordinary strings, which are all similarly composed, the 
 only difference being that the fourth (or Gr) string is covered 
 with a layer of fine wire, whose composition and object will 
 be hereafter noticed. Strings for the violin, and nearly all 
 other string instruments, are composed of the small intestines 
 of sheep, and have been so composed, as Mersennus very 
 justly remarks,* ever since the time of the ancient Egyptians. 
 Mr. Ghappell ' gives an interesting note on the ancient Egyptian 
 strings, in his "History of Music" (vol i., p. 26), quoting the 
 remark of the simple-minded M. F6tis,* who " wondered at the 
 Egj^tians making this use of the intestines of cats, seeing that 
 witii them the cat was a sacred animal." (!) The best intestines 
 are those of lambs which have lived on dry mountainous pastures ; 
 and it is said that the best lambs are those from the province of 
 Berry, and from some parts of Germany, and that they are at their 
 best for the purpose of string-making in the month of September, 
 which is, consequently, the string-making month in each year. 
 
 The intestine used is that one which is composed of the 
 duodenum, the jejunum, and the ilion ; it is composed of three 
 membranes, the external (or peritoneal), and the mucous mem- 
 branes, both of which are removed as useless, but which enclose 
 between them a third, the muscular or fibrous membrane, which 
 is used in the manufacture of fiddle strings. The intestines are 
 fetched direct from the butcher's, whilst the carcasses are still 
 warm, and they are detached by workmen, who are specially 
 employed for the purpose, by whom they are at once stretched 
 upon an inclined plane and scraped with a knife blade, to clean 
 and empty them of all foreign substances, grease, etc. This 
 must be done quickly, and whilst the intestines are yet warm, 
 or the cooling matters would hopelessly colour the intestines ; 
 
 ' A. Eircher, "Musurgia tTniversalis, sive ars magna consoni et dissoni" 
 (Rome, 1660). Condensed and tianslated into German by Andreas HLrsch 
 (HaU [Swabia], 1662). 
 
 ' M. Mersennus, " Traits de THarmonie Universelle," 1627. 
 
 ' W. Ghappell, "The History of Music (^Art and Science). From the 
 Earliest Becords to the Fall of the Roman Empire." Vol. i. CAll ever pub- 
 Ushed.) (London, n.d. [1874]). 
 
 « y. J. F6tis, " Histoire g6n6rale de la Mnsique " (Paris, 1869—1876), 6 vols. 
 
THE STEINGS. 211 
 
 after this operation the intestines are tied up in bundles and 
 placed in vessels to carry them to the manufactory, where they 
 are tied in bundles of ten, and placed in cold water from twelve 
 to fifteen hours ; this may be done in a running stream, or in a 
 vat of spring water, slightly corrected with carbonate of soda. 
 After this they are immersed four or five hours in tepid running 
 water. These soakings produce a slight fermentation, which 
 aids the separation of the fibrous from the mucous and peri- 
 toneal membranes, which is done by women scraping the intes- 
 tines with a split cane on a slightly inclined slab, down which a 
 current of water constantly runs ; the internal membranes run 
 off into a trough and are used as manure, the external are used 
 for racquets, whips, and other rougher articles composed of gut. 
 The fibrous membranes, separated in bundles of about ten, are 
 now placed in stone jars to soak for three or four hours m 
 potassa lye (or ammoniacal solution, which is preferable), whose 
 strength must be most carefully apportioned to the work to be 
 done. At the end of this time they are carefully rubbed through 
 the first finger (protected by a gutta-percha glove), and the 
 thumb (armed with a copper thimble), of the left hand ; by this 
 means are removed any of the fragments of the two superfluous 
 membranes which may have escaped the first scraping. This 
 operation is generally repeated at two hours' interval three 
 times during the day, after each of which repetitions they are 
 put into a similar stone jar of solution of permanganate of 
 potassa. The fourth time this is repeated they are not replaced 
 into the same solution, but are dipped into a weak solution of 
 sulphuric acid. These operations are repeated for two or three 
 days, morning and evening, always similarly increasing the 
 strength of the solution used. 
 
 The guts are now sufficiently cleaned to be sorted, and, if 
 necessary, split. They are sorted by experienced Workmen into 
 qualities, lengths, thicknesses, and strengths, so that each may 
 be devoted to its proper uses and tones. As the guts, in their 
 natural state, are not sufficiently uniform in diameter to obtain 
 that cylindricity and parallelness that is the great aim of the 
 string-maker, tiiey often require to be split into long threads by 
 means of a knife specially prepared for tihe purpose, which 
 threads are then placed in a jar with their thick and thin ends 
 set alternately. The next operation is the spinning, which is 
 performed on a frame about three times as long as a fiddle. It 
 is done as follows : two, three, or more fibres (according to the 
 string required to be made) are taken and set alternately ; that 
 is, the thick end of one opposite the thin end of another. The 
 usual number apportioned to the four strings of a violin are as 
 
212 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 follows : for the first, or E string, 3-4 fine threads ; for the 
 second, or A, 3-4 strong ones ; for the third, or D, 6-7 strong 
 ones. Beyond this, double bass strings reach as many as 85 
 fibres, but this is a branch of the manufacture which does not 
 concern us. 
 
 At one end of the frame is a little wheel, the centre or 
 axle of which bears two hooks : at the other end of the frame 
 are little fixed pegs. The guts selected are fixed to a peg 
 which is set in one hook of the wheel, and carried to the 
 other end of the frame, twisted round a fixed peg, brought back 
 to the other end and fixed to the other hook of the wheel 
 by another peg ; this wheel is rapidly revolved by a multiply- 
 ing fly-wheel, and the guts are twisted up into a fiddle- 
 string, the fingers being passed along it meanwhile to prevent 
 the formation of inequalities in its length. The pegs are then 
 removed from the hooks and set into holes opposite the fixed 
 pegs at the other end of the frame (in the same way as the 
 pegs are set into the head of a fiddle), and the work proceeds 
 in the same way with a new bundle of guts from another fixed 
 peg to the hooked wheel, until the frame is full. The strings 
 are then sulphured to whiten them in a sulphuring chamber, 
 into which the frames are placed, and flowers of sulphur ignited 
 in the centre. The chamber is then hermetically sealed and left 
 for the night, during which time the strings become bleached 
 by the action of the sulphurous acid gas evolved by the combus- 
 tion of the sulphur. They are next morning exposed to air (but 
 not rain) till nearly dry, when they are again moistened, twisted 
 on the frame, and replaced in the sulphur bath. This operation 
 lasts from two to eight days according to the size of the string 
 being made. The strings are then thoroughly polished and 
 rubbed to get rid of all inequalities, grease, or other foreign 
 particles. This is done whilst they are still on the frame by 
 means of a set of hair cushions, which, enveloping the strings, 
 by a lateral movement submit them to a rapid and forcible 
 friction, they being from time to time during the operation 
 moistened with a sponge soaked in an alkaline solution of 
 potassa. The strings are then wiped to get rid of all impurities, 
 moistened with pure water, and replaced for the night in the 
 sulphur bath, after which they are again twisted and dried. 
 When dry they are polished, an operation which flrst or E 
 strings are frequently allowed to go without, but which for the 
 others takes place as follows : — The frames are laid flat upon 
 trestles or other supports, and the strings are polished by hand 
 or machinery by means of little gutta-percha cushions, olive oil 
 and pounce, or whitening, being used for the purpose. These 
 
THE STRINGS. 213 
 
 polishers are run from end to end of the strings till the requi- 
 site polish has been obtained. The strings are then carefully- 
 wiped and lightly moistened with olive oil, after which they are 
 thoroughly dried, which is accomplished when, on loosening the 
 pegs, they do not contract. The strings are now cut from the frames 
 close to the pegs, and rolled into coils as we see them in commerce, 
 after which they are made up into bundles of fifteen or thirty. 
 With all these operations it is not to be wondered at that it is 
 exceedingly difficult to obtain absolute cylindricality throughout 
 the entire length of a string, and as a matter of fact the extreme 
 ends of a string generally taper slightly, and are therefore use- 
 less, producing false, and " wolf " notes. To get over the efiects 
 of ijiis circumstance it is best when putting on a new string to 
 uncoil its entire length, put the two ends together, and cut it in 
 two exactly in the middle, tie the knots in the two strings thus 
 made at the cut ends (i.e., in the middle of the string) ; you thus 
 have two strings (it is false economy to try and make a string 
 run to three lengtiis), which are pretty sure to be true from the 
 tailpiece to the nut, whilst the defective four or five inches at 
 the ends serve to coil round the pegs, and the superabundance 
 is cut off. It is following this line of action that it is the custom 
 when a string is false to " turn it round " on the fiddle, which 
 often remedies the defect. 
 
 It remains to us now (before noticing patent strings) to turn to 
 the consideration of covered strings. On the violin only one 
 such is used, the fourth, or Gr string ; but going a step farther 
 to the tenor (or viola), we get another covered string, the 0, 
 which balances the absence of the violin E. It is doubtful who 
 first invented covered strings, but J. Rousseau^ attributes the 
 invention to Sainte-Colombe, the celebrated violinist of his epoch 
 (1687). For violins it is generally gut which is covered with 
 copper (plated or pure), or with silver. Silk is also used, but it 
 is difficult to tune accurately, and will not remain in tune when 
 once screwed up ; undoubtedly the best are the copper-plated 
 gut ones. I always obtain my covered strings for violin or 
 viola from Mr. G. Hart, who covers them with alternate spirals 
 of gun-metal and plated copper. The best (recommended by 
 Herr Strauss) are wrapped over close to the knot with red silk. 
 The gut of which covered strings are formed is not sulphured, 
 nor is it oiled. The string is fixed at one end to a hook set on 
 a wheel, and at the other to a turning swivel, which holds the 
 string stretched by means of a weight. The turning of the 
 wheel turns the strings and the swivel, and the workman care- 
 fully wraps the wire on to the string as it revolves, taking the 
 ' " Trait6 de la Viole " (Paris, 1687), vide note ', p. 34. 
 
214 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 greatest care to preserve its regularity and close winding, and 
 checkitig the vibrations of the rotating string with a cork. The 
 gut used must be perfectly uniform in diameter throughout its 
 length, and incapable of further stretching. Consequently it is 
 strongly stretched before the wire is wound on, or else by sub- 
 sequent stretching the core would recede from the helix, and the 
 effect can only be described by those who have suffered from it. 
 
 All violin players are familiar with the now-common acribelle, 
 or sUk, strings, which are composed of an infinity of filaments of 
 silk so twisted together and polished as to exceed in uniformity 
 and transparency the finest gut strings. For players troubled 
 with perspiring hands, and for hot or damp climates, they are, 
 without doubt, invaluable, for they are but little affected by 
 damp, and they make up in convenience in these respects what 
 they certainly lack in tone. They are apt also to fray and get 
 ragged, and though it has been recommended when this is the 
 case to draw the string quickly through the flame of a spirit 
 lamp, to remove the frayed fibres, an acribelle string once gone 
 wrong, is ghastly with a ghastliness more easily imagined 
 than described. The same remark applies to the twisted or 
 plaited strings, sometimes known as Chinese water-cord. These 
 are quite the best for players with hot hands, and are almost 
 exclusively used by violinists in India and other hot countries, 
 where the ordinary strings not only break very easily, but are 
 very difficult to keep. But, of course, their tone is inferior to 
 gut. 
 
 In conclusion, by-the-bye, a word on knots. It seems a simple 
 thing to tie a knot in the end of a string so that it shall not slip 
 through the slit of the tailpiece, but the common " booby " knot 
 is very apt to break off, and in so doing the knot flies against 
 the belly and produces those four little chipped holes so often seen 
 beneath the te,ilpiece of a fiddle. If in tyi°g ^^^ •'^°o* 7°^ <^° 
 not pull the short end right through, but make a slip-knot of it, 
 you will find that the long end coming out of the slit is much 
 securer and less Hkely to "fly" than if the dear old "booby "-knot 
 of our childhood is made. It should be remarked that in the 
 knot of the first string the long end should be twisted round 
 the slip-knot once again to make it larger, and, therefore, more 
 secure. So shall your strings hold well, and not " fly " out of 
 " pure cussedness." In putting on a string never (as so many 
 amateurs do) put the end through the peg, and then draw it 
 down to the tail-piece and fix it there with a knot. ITiis is cer- 
 tain to bruise the string all along, and utterly -spoil it. Make 
 your knot as above directed, and fix it to the tail-piece ; then 
 carry the string up to the head, cut off what you do not want, 
 
THE STRINGS. 215 
 
 and fix the end thus made to the peg. Never have a coil of 
 loose string hanging about the scroll of the fiddle, or twisted 
 round the pegs ; it is unsightly, and often produces a buzzing 
 noise. When you require to put an entire new set of strings on 
 (fiddlers with cool hands seldom break strings, but have to 
 replace the whole set when it is worn out), do not, on any account, 
 take all the old strings off and then put the others on ; the 
 sudden relaxation of the pressure, and consequent " working " 
 of the fibres of the fiddle, may throw the instrument "out of 
 temper " for days. Take oS' one at a time, and put on the new 
 one, and screw it up to pitch before changing the next one. 
 
 " Est contia figulum figulus fabrum faber odit. 
 Contra cantorem cantor premet Iras ad Irum ; 
 Die mihi cur donata viris sit Musica doctis: ^_ 
 
 Ut ^-levet JIfi-serum Fa-tnm .SoMtosque La-horea. ' 
 
SBoIIer son ^Hljei. 
 
 „Unb ®unt:§er fipra^: „gi:eunb •§agcn, S^one flingeit 
 jQtxvibtt »on bent @:pielniann burc^ ben (soal, 
 
 ®ie burc^ ber J^unnen 3Rart unb Seine bringen; 
 @ein giebelBogen i|i sjon rof^em (Sta'ijt" 
 
 „5)af i(^ BiS^^er i^m tier," tierfe^te .§agen, 
 
 „(So war's nic^t rec^t; boS tnuf ic^ fclfcfi nun fagen." . . 
 
 „0 .Konig, wa§ f:pielt er fur fd^ijne Sffieifen! 
 
 So|)l flnb fie Seines ©olb'S unb ©ilter'S Wdtf^ ! 
 (Sein giebettogen bringt buv(^ ©ta^I unb eifen 
 
 Senn er auf >§elm unb ©d^ilbe nieberfd^^rt. 
 010^ feinen ©^ielmann l^afi' ic^ je gefe^en 
 <Bo bur(^ fein ©^iet tegeifiert »or mir ^el^en." 
 
 („S)a8 0lieieIungenIieb." 1210J 
 
PAET III. 
 
 JPractical. 
 
FIDDLE AND I. 
 
 Bt Fkedeeio B. Weathbely. 
 
 Bt road and river, 
 
 Country-side and town, 
 I roam for ever 
 With my fiddle brown. 
 Creeping under bams so gladly 
 
 When outside the winter howls. 
 Playing sadly, playing madly. 
 Waking up the rats and owls. 
 
 Ah 1 it was gay, night and day , 
 
 Fair and cloudy weather. 
 
 Fiddle and I wandering by. 
 
 Over the world together 1 
 
 Down by the willow 
 
 Summer nights I lie. 
 Flowers for my pillow, 
 And for roof the sky. 
 Flaying all my heart remembers, 
 Old, old songs from far away. 
 Golden Junes and bleak Decembers 
 Bise around me as I play. 
 
 On, on, for ever ! 
 
 Till the journey ends, 
 Who shall dissever 
 Us two trusty friends ? 
 Who can bring the past before me, 
 
 Make the future gaily glow, 
 Lift the clouds that darken o'er me, 
 But my trusty fiddle bow ? 
 
 Ah ! it was gay, night and da^, 
 
 Fair and cloudy weather. 
 
 Fiddle and I wandering by, 
 
 Over the world together ' 
 
 Masio BY Mbs. A GooDEVE. £if permission of the ^■ublisheySf Me8srs. Enoch 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE TOOLS. 
 
 Ordinary ^fools — Special Tools — Toothed Planes — Scrapers — Knives — Marking 
 Point — ^Bending Irons — Oval Planes — Spring Compasses—// Hole Piercers 
 — Ganging Callipers — Screws — Clips — Cramps — Compasses — Purfling 
 Tools. 
 
 I HAVE now enumerated at length the Scientific Principles on 
 which every good fiddle must be constructed. I am now going 
 in detail into the practice of actual fiddle-making, and hope to 
 be understood by my readers in proportion to the amount of 
 pains which I have taken to make myself so. I shall proceed as 
 if I were actually working with the reader, and he were using my 
 moulds, models, and tools, with a view to facilitate which I have 
 given outlines of all the former in their actual size (Plate IV.)r 
 so that they need only be traced or cut out, and pasted on slips 
 of wood for immediate use. By way of introduction I give in 
 this chapter drawings and descriptions of all such tools as are 
 peculiar to the fiddle-maker's atelier, which must be high and 
 light. The mould I have chosen, which is represented in Plate IV., 
 is of the best shape of Stradivarius, and all the outlines (neck, 
 scroll, // holes, etc.), which are also reproduced actual size, are 
 those which go with this mould, and have been most carefully 
 and accurate^ taken from the same fiddle. It must be observed 
 that there are two ways of performing many of the operations by 
 which a fiddle grows under our hands. I have embodied these in 
 Chapter XXI., giving another plate (Plate V.), this time an in- 
 side mould of Guamerius, with its models and outUnes in facsimile. 
 The first great consideration in the practical science of fiddle- 
 making is that of the tools. Many of these are what are to be 
 found in any cabinet-maker's shop, such as saws, planes, chisels, 
 gouges, etc., of the ordinary patterns ; but there are certain 
 original tools and modifications of the common ones which must 
 form part of the lares and penates of the fiddle-maker, and it 
 will be to the consideration of these that we are now abont to 
 turn our attention. Firstly, then, for the common tools, a large 
 saw, a tenon saw, and a bow saw of the ordinary forms are 
 
220 VIOLIN-MAKING: AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 required ; a long, or " trying " plane, a small, or " smoothing " 
 plane, and a set of carving gouges and chisels. The workshop 
 must be fitted with an ordinary bench, with a vice affixed to it, 
 shelves for reception of wood and other massive miscellanea, and 
 racks for tools and small objects, bottles, and other paraphernalia, 
 which in well arranged confusion furnish the fiddle-maker's 
 workshop. Rules and T-squares of ordinary dimensions are 
 also required, and I always carry in a leather case in my pocket 
 a small three-inch rule, divided to J^, J^, and ^, of an inch, with 
 a pair of small spring bows for fine measurements and calcula- 
 tions. This was beautifully made for me by Messrs. Aston and 
 Mander, of Soho. One rule should have a perfectly true edge 
 of steel or some other hard substance, for the purpose of trying 
 edges and surfaces. 
 
 You will want a pair or so of common iron cramps (Fig. 116), 
 for fixing wood, etc., to the bench when in use. A small bench- 
 vice, such as can be quickly screwed on and off the bench, is 
 frequently needed, as also is a medium-sized hand-vice. The 
 ordinary whetstones and sharpening media must be provided. 
 
 Fig. 116.— Common Iron Cramp. Fio. 117.— Sections o£ Fig. 118. 
 
 Files Tequired. 
 
 A glue pot of the common sort will do, but I like one made of 
 copper enamel, as being cleaner. Many violin-makers use the 
 best Salisbury glue, but to my mind none is better for our 
 purpose than that which comes over in thin light brown leaves 
 from Cologne. An ordinary cutting and marking gauge will be 
 required, and also a set of files of the sections shown at Fig. 117. 
 The only hammer you will want is one of the light small 
 hammers used in joining fretwork or carvings, such as is used 
 by watchmakers for rough work. 
 
 We now arrive at the consideration of the tools peculiar to 
 our art which it is necessary to have ready to one's hand before 
 commencing to work, and these I shall enumerate and describe 
 in the order in which they are mentioned and required in the 
 following chapters on the actual manual labour required in 
 fiddle-making. 
 
 1. The Toothed Plane. — This is a small iron plane, like what 
 are known as the ordinary American planes, whose edge, instead 
 of being smooth like an ordinary plane, is toothed or serrated. 
 
 2. Scrapers. — These are small pieces of steel plate, shown in 
 
THE TOOLS. 
 
 221 
 
 Fig. 118, three inches broad, whose upper side is rounded at 
 the corners, and whose lower side is kept quite straight and flat. 
 Several should be prepared, and they must be kept very sharp, 
 being held in a hand-vice whilst being ground. They are 
 sharpened by bevelling one edge, as at A, along the flat side, and 
 round the curved side as at b b, for getting at places inaccessible 
 to the flat side. If preferred, and to obviate the danger of cutting 
 Ithe fingers with the side not in use, instead of sharpening 
 the flat and curved side of each scraper, some may be sharpened 
 on one side and some on the other if you have plenty. DuKng 
 
 Fio. 119.— Sharpening Steel (for Scrapers). Fig. 120 ^Violin-maker's Knife. 
 
 use they are kept keen by means of a sharpening steel (Fig. 119), 
 which is a round plain bar of steel, ^ inch in diameter, set into 
 an ordinary handle. To re-set the edges it is drawn strongly 
 down the flat side and then down the bevel, repeating the 
 process once, when, unless the steel wants re-grinding, it will be 
 found to have remedied any slight bluntness of the scraper. 
 
 3. Knives. — Two or three of these must be at hand, fixed in 
 good strong handles. Their blades should be fine and well 
 tempered, and th^ must be kept thoroughly keen (Fig. 120). 
 
 These knives are made by setting a strong steel 
 blade down through an ebony (or other hard wood) 
 handle (like the lead in a cedar 
 pencil) ; then, as the knife wears 
 out or gets ground down at the 
 point and so shortened, more of the 
 wood is cut away and a further 
 piece of the blade sharpened. 
 Photographers use knives with 
 sliding blades, fixed in a grooved 
 handle by means of a screw, which 
 do very well for our purpose. I 
 have bought them at Messrs, Shew's in Wardour 
 Street, but I suppose they are to be had from any 
 purveyor of photographic apparatus and accessories. 
 
 4. Marking Point. — This is merely an old bradawl sharpened 
 to a fine point for marking exact outlines with, which would be 
 difficult with a soft pencil. 
 
 5. The Bending Iron. — This is used for bending the sides, and 
 though called a " bending iron" like a " soldering iron," it is 
 best made of copper. It is formed (Fig. 121) of a bar, bearing 
 ait one end the oval mass A, at the end of which is the narrower 
 round niece b. The object of this shape will appear later on. 
 
 Fig. laa.— Another 
 (and better) form of 
 Bending Iron. 
 
 ing Iron. 
 
222 
 
 VIOLIN-MAKING: AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 Anoliher, and perhaps better, form is represented at Fig. 122, and 
 is crutch-shaped. It is fixed in a hole in the bench or in the 
 vice when in use. 
 
 6. ^^ Lining" Chisel.— This is used in letting the linings into 
 the blocks, and is an ordinary chisel, only ^ of an inch broad, 
 as in Fig. 123, sharpened to a long edge, as at A. 
 
 7. " Oval Flanes." — A set of these will be required for finish- 
 ing the model or arching, and the scooping out of the back and 
 
 -A 
 
 / 
 
 Pio. 123.— 
 CMsel. 
 
 B A 
 
 Fig. 124.— Oval Plane, upper and lower sides (actual size). 
 
 belly. They must be in three sizes, the largest and smallest of 
 which are represented actual size by Figs. 124 and 125, there being 
 also an intermediate size. The under surfaces are curved, as 
 they are used for planing down the arching, and for planing 
 smooth the gouging out of the tables. The edges of the irons, 
 as trill be seen in the figure, must be toothed, the brittle nature 
 of the maple and the tenderness of the pine rendering this 
 necessary. 
 
 Fig. 126.— Oval Plane (smaller size). 
 
 B A 
 
 Fig. 126.— Marking (a) and 
 Ueasoring (b) Compasses. 
 
 Fig. 127.— /hole 
 Piercer. 
 
 8. Spring Compasses^ — You will want two pairs of these, as 
 at Fig. 126, one pair having one leg just longer than the other, 
 as at A, for use as a marking gauge. The other ordinary, as at 
 B, for measuring and dividing. 
 
 9. / Sole Piercing Tools or Punches. — ^These are two punches, 
 represented at Fig. 127, used for piercing the round holes at 
 either end of the // holes, and are, therefore, of two diameterSj 
 
THE TOOLS. 
 
 223 
 
 indicated at b and o in the figure, the smaller one being for 
 the upper, and the larger for the lower hole of the /. They are 
 hollow cylinders of steel, having the open end ground to a fine 
 circular edge, and having (about an inch up the bore) a round 
 hole in the side a, whence to pick out any chips of wood, which 
 would otherwise, by filling them up, choke the punches. They 
 are also made with the "bore" extending right through the 
 handle, so that a thin rod may be pushed down the cylindrical 
 chamber thus formed for the purpose of pushing out the plug 
 of wood cut out by, and therefore sticking in, the punch. This 
 is the better form, for the " picker " is apt to injure the cutting 
 edge of the punch when removing the cut-out plug of wood. 
 
 10. Gauging Callipers — Fig. 128 — are what are used for 
 determining the thicknesses of the back and belly. They consist 
 of a frame A, somewhat like that of a fret-saw, and a movable 
 arm B, which is attached to A by a hinge c. This arm carries a 
 metal or ivory plate d marked with sixteenths of an inch down the 
 
 Fro. 128.— Gauging Callipers. 
 
 Pro. 129.— Violin-screw. 
 
 Fio. 130.— SaTm4 
 bar Clips. 
 
 straight side, which passes through, and works in, a slot cut in 
 the upper arm of the frame A, and which is of such a length 
 that when the arm B is shut close down on to A, the tip of the 
 plate D just touches the ivory stud E, set on the lower arm of A. 
 The tip of D can be set and maintained at any required distance 
 from E (as marked by its own scale), by screwing the screw F, 
 which permits any distance to be adjusted very exg,ctly and 
 accurately. There are many forms of these, but this one is, 
 I think, the best, as being the most steady and certain to work 
 with. 
 
 11. Violin Screws. — Fig. 129. These are used for fixing the 
 back to the sides and the belly similarly. They are made of 
 wood, and about three dozen, varying a little in size, will be 
 required. 
 
 12. Sound Bar Clips. — Fig. 130. These wooden contrivances, 
 strongly resembling clothes-pegs, are used to keep the bar in 
 position in the belly when being fitted. A pair must be 
 provided. 
 
224 
 
 TIOLIN-IIIAKIKG : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 13. Sound Boer Craimps are wooden screw cramps, Fig. 131, 
 which are used to fix the sound bar in position when glued into 
 the belly. Three or five are used in cramping a bar into its place. 
 
 14. B(m Compasses. — Fig. 132— are required for copying and 
 registering diameters when working from a model. They are 
 principally used when chiselling the head. 
 
 Fi8. 131.— Sound-bar Cramps. 
 
 
 
 F 
 V 
 
 Fib. 132.— Bow Compass. 
 
 Fio. 133.— Pnrfling Gauge or Marker (front 
 and side views). 
 
 15. Purfling Gauge.— This, (Fig. 133) is an ebony gauge 
 composed of an ordinary stem A, rounded at one side as at B, 
 which bears a sliding beam c, one end of which, bearing the 
 cutter B, and its wedge F, is rounded as at d. The cutter B is 
 made fast at any distance from the stem A by knocking the 
 
 Fie. 134.— Purfling CompasBes. 
 
 Fia. 135.- Purfling Chisel. 
 
 wedge G into the opening cut to receive it. It is used for tracing 
 the lines of the purfling round the edge. 
 
 Another form of purfling tool shown me, and recommended 
 by Mr. Hill, is represented at Fig. 134, and its object and con- 
 struction will be readily understood by looking at the figure. 
 Doubtless it is very certain, but it lacks the " sympathy " (if I 
 may be allowed the expression) of the ebony one, Fig. 133, as it 
 goes round the edges of the fiddle. 
 
THE TOOLS. 225 
 
 16. Purfling Chisel or "Picker." — Fig. 135. — The shape of 
 this is shown at a, and enlarged to actual size at b ; c shows the 
 actual breadth of the blade. It is used for picking out the wood 
 between the cuts or tracing made to receive the purfling. 
 
 17. Oblong Plane. — This, which is represented almost actual 
 size by Fig. 136, is made entirely in steel, and is used more 
 
 Fig. 13S.— Oblong Steel Plane. Fio. 137.— Lining-clip. 
 
 properly for bow-making, but yon will often find it very useful 
 during the course of your fiddle-making. 
 
 18. Lining Clips. — (Fig. 137). These are used for fixing the 
 glued linings to the ribs when working with an " inside mould." 
 About half a dozen should be kept handy. 
 
 These are the special tools required for the actual building 
 of the fiddle;^ others which are used only for the fitting up and 
 repairs will be described and figured in the chapters devoted to 
 these subjects. 
 
 ' When the suhstance of this work lyas appearing serially in Amateur 
 Work Illustrated, an arrangement was made with Mr. W. E. Hill, of No. 72, 
 Wardonr Street, London, W., to supply readers of that magazine with woods 
 for violin-making, and the tools mentioned in this chapter, at moderate prices. 
 This is, of course, no part of Mr. Hill's profession as a violin-maker and dealer, 
 but I have no doubt that he will still oblige my readers by obtaining theii 
 requirements for them. 
 
 15 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 THE OUTSIDE MOULD. 
 
 Copying the Outline — Making the Mould — Its Diameters— The Outline Models— 
 The Arching-Guides — The Cramping- Blocks. 
 
 The first thing to be done is to decide upon the model of your 
 instrument, and make your Mould. Moulds are of two sorts — 
 " the inside mould," which is solid, and round which the fiddle is 
 made ; and " the outside mould," which is cut out like a frame, 
 and inside which the fiddle is made. Of the former I shall 
 speak later on (Chapter XXI.) ; at present we are going to make 
 this fiddle on the latter or " outside " mould. The first step is to 
 decide upon your model and outline ; if you wish to copy any 
 giyen master, or if you wish to produce your own original 
 model, you will find directions for this on page 135. (I may say 
 that unless you wish particularly to copy any particular fiddle, 
 you cannot do better than adopt the model, outline, mould, etc., 
 given in Plate IV., which is that of a Stradivarius of the most 
 finished elegance.) The first thing is to take an outline, as exact 
 as possible, of the fiddle to be copied, then transfer this to 
 a sheet of wood ^ inch thick, rather larger than the outline. 
 Then with ^e finest fret or bow-saw cut this out as evenly as 
 ymi possibly can, sparing no pains to keep your cutting free from 
 all irregularities. Mark, on the fiddle-shaped piece thus cut out, 
 and on the frame from which you have cut it, the exact centre 
 of the outline, drawing a line down the centre, as at A B in the 
 plate. Having ascertained that your outline is correct, take 
 a slab of hard wood, the size and shape of the mould figured in 
 the plate, If inches thick, and mark the exact centre of it by 
 drawing from top to bottom the line A B. Take your plank 
 outline (down the centre of which a line is drawn), and place it 
 on this slab M'hich is to form the mould, so that the line down 
 the centre of your outline coincides exactly with the line A b 
 down the centre of the mould. Holding the outline very firmly 
 in this position, so that the centre cannot move at either end 
 from the line A B (if necessary, fixing it thus with cramps), draw 
 
THE OUTSIBE MOULD. 227 
 
 with a fine point the exact outline of your plank on the board, 
 and malfe it indelible by scratching it into the surface of the 
 wood. You will then have the outline c, c, c (Plate IV.) 
 drawn on your mould. 
 
 To measure the breadth from the extreme edge to the sides, 
 allowing for wear, and being guided by the eye, draw a line 
 right round inside the line c, about ^ inch from it, preserving 
 the same distance between them all round ; you will then 
 have traced on the plank the line D, d, d. Then cut out very 
 gradually, and with the same amount of care as you devoted to 
 cutting your outline, all the wood inside the line d (left white 
 in the plate). Your mould is now cut out, having a thickness 
 all over of If inches. But we have seen (p. 145) that the 
 sides of a fiddle are shallower in the upper than in the lower 
 bouts, and in the case of the fiddle from which we are now 
 working, the deviation is from 1^ in the lower bouts to 1^ in 
 the upper ; your mould must therefore have the same deviation, 
 which is arrived at by turning it over (so as not to plane away 
 the lines c and A b), and planing round it very carefully, con- 
 stantly measuring the depths till the gradual decrease in diameter 
 is obtained. 
 
 You have now got (i) a hollow mould of the proper thick- 
 ness, on the top of which are drawn with perfect symmetry the 
 lines A, B, and C, and (ii) a thin plank outline exactly corre- 
 sponding with the line c, down the exact centre of which runs 
 a line corresponding with the line A b on the mould. Mark 
 the word "front" on the front of this latter thin plank outline, 
 so that you may always know which surface to have uppermost 
 (for the two sides of this outline are not in exact contra-facsimile 
 — Stradivari's outlines seldom, or never, were perfectly true). 
 
 Before we go further, it may be well to explain fully the 
 nature of this plate. For purposes of working it may be as 
 well to take two tracings of it, so as to separate the various 
 things it illustrates. All the shaded part represents a violin 
 mould, round the cutting of which is traced c, c, c, the actual 
 online of the fiddle from which it has been made. Make tracing 
 number one, of all the shaded parts (including the line c, o, c), 
 and showing at top and bottom the ends of the centre line 
 A b. Then make tracing No. 2 of the outline c, c, as exactly 
 as possible, bearing the line A b down its centre (and the sound- 
 post E, and the /hole F, so that you may know which is the front 
 of the model). G-lue this tracing to a leaf of wood, sufficiently 
 large, and cut it out most carefully, as it is your plank outline 
 to which I have referred before. It will be noticed that at the 
 bottom of the mould (or shaded part) the words " back " and 
 
228 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 "belly" are printed ; this means that to save room, and as the 
 outline on both sides of a back and belly are nearly (if not 
 quite) identical, I have made the right-hand half represent the 
 belly, and the left-hand half the back. The / hole and sound- 
 post in the right-hand (or "belly") half are merely put there 
 to distinguish it still further from the left-hand (or "back") 
 half. 
 
 Draw right across the traced outline of the back, the lines 
 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8 (which traverse the left-hand or " back "-half of the 
 outline c, c, c). Draw across the traced outline of the "belly" 
 the hnes 7, 9, 10, 11, 12 (which traverse the right-hand or " belly "- 
 half of the outline c, c, c). You have, therefore, now a tracing 
 from which to make your mould, and a tracing of the Outhne 
 c, c, c with / hole, and sound-post from which to make your 
 plank outline. Next, make of thin hard wood the eleven 
 " guides " (figured actual size). These are respectively (1, 2, 
 3, 4, and 5 in the plate), the model or elevation of the arching 
 of the back, taken from the edge to the join (a b on the plate), 
 along the lines 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 respectively ; 8 shows the arch- 
 ing of the back between the centre bouts (or C's), along the line 
 8 ; and 9, 10, 11, and 12 show the arching of the belly, taken 
 along the lines 9, 10, 11, and 12 ; 7 shows the entire arching of 
 the belly between the centre bouts (or C's) along the line 7, in 
 the same way that 8 gives the entire arching across the back. 
 A similar guide to the entire arching along the line A B, is 
 made by cutting a similar piece of wood i i the curve of the line 
 G, G, G on the plate. It will be observed that the guide No. 8 
 is merely a doubled form of No. 3, and shows the arching of the 
 centre of the back. 
 
 The last accessories of the mould are the cramping-blocks, 
 which are represented in their actual size at H, i, j, K, L, M. 
 These are pieces of wood cut the same depth as the mould, to fit 
 its curves at the points H, i, J, K, L, and m respectively marked 
 on the shaded part representing the mould. The outer edges 
 ^those which touch the sides), are lined with a thin sheet of cork 
 (represented in the figures of the cramping blocks by the shad- 
 ing). These pieces are used to cramp the sides into their final 
 shape in the mould, in manner hereinafter appearing. 
 
 So much for the construction and accessories of what is called 
 " the outside mould." The other form, or " inside mould," will 
 be described in another place, among the instructions for making 
 a fiddle of the Gnarnerius pattern, on an inside mould, and 
 otherwise differing in many particulars from the fiddle we are 
 now going to construct. Outlines and models for the neck and 
 scroll of our present fiddle, and taken from the same instrument 
 
THE OUTSIDE MOULD. 229 
 
 that has served us as a pattern for this mould, are also given in 
 the plate. Having, therefore, prepared our mould and arching 
 models, let us set to work to build our fiddle, and remember — 
 Prhisquam incipias consulto, et ubi consuleris, mature facto opus 
 est. 
 
 "^uUos mnlta juvant, M* vera musica primviyi 
 
 "^oce sua moesto 'yjindicat & gemit^. 
 
 gafee sitfpremi Soboles domumque tonantiS, 
 
 Ipse/avet Phtebus, luppiter ipse tibl. 
 
 Constabit tua lans. Qlarissima sidera doneQ 
 
 AJta poH decorant iifrialiice su^\ 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 OK RIBS, BLOCKS AND SIDE-LININGS. 
 
 Selection of Wood— The Sides— Bending the Sides— Fitting the Sides— The Top 
 and Bottom Blocks — The Corner Blocks — The Side-linings — Bending the 
 Side-linings — Fitting — Fixing the Linings — Levelling — Finishing the Sides, 
 Linings, and Blocks, Inside and Outside. 
 
 The first step to be taken towards the making of a fiddle is the 
 selection of the wood. I have already pointed out the advisabi- 
 lity of keeping woods stored in certain dimensions (p. 134) ; it 
 will therefore be simply a matter of search and taste to select a 
 " set " of wood (i.e., a wedge for the back, a block for the neck, 
 six strips for the sides, and a wedge for the belly), handsomely 
 figured and acoustically good as regards the maple, and finely and 
 evenly grained as regards the pine. Having decided this, we 
 proceed to " prepare " the wood for the vatious operations to 
 which it is to be submitted : — beginning with the Sides. If the 
 wood has been stored in strips 15^ inches long, by 1| broad, 
 three such strips will be required ; but I recommend the selec- 
 tion of six, to provide for accidents of all sorts, which will come 
 about when an amateur is working with a brittle strip of 
 wood iVth of an inch thick. Before proceeding further, let me 
 
 „_.— _,^ give a word of warning about the selection 
 
 of these strips. It is this : beware of 
 'takm ty eSa-hSd^SS^ cxtra-handsome wood ; that with the finest 
 ^""^^ and boldest curls is excessively difficult to 
 
 work with, chipping away under the knife, plane, and scraper 
 to an alarming degree ; and, worse than all this, when the work 
 is finished, and your sides are set, and your fiddle varnished, 
 handsome wood will often take the wavy surface shown in the 
 section, Fig. 138, a phenomenon often observable on fiddles 
 with extra-handsome sides. The best slips are those with a fairly 
 close curl, not too strongly marked. All things being thus con- 
 sidered, you may now set to work. 
 
 Take an ordinary cramp, as at Fig. 116, and by means of -it, 
 and with a small piece of protecting wood, fasten the strip on the 
 bench at right angles to the edge (of the bench) ; then take a 
 
THE SIDES, OR EIBS, BLOCKS AND SIDE-LININGS. 231 
 
 small steel plane, whose cutting edge, instead of being plain, is 
 very finely .toothed, and with a few sweeps just remove the 
 excessive roughness of the strip, then firmly smooth it through- 
 out its entire length with a scraper (Fig. 118), and the first 
 operation is finished. Above all things, be most careful that 
 the edge of the plane project only the very smallest possible, 
 for, in addition to the thinness of the wood you are working 
 with, the wood is in itself perhaps the most brittle of all to 
 work with, and the handsomer the curls in the wood, the 
 more brittle it is. The scraper should be used against the 
 direction of the curls ; that is, if the curls (or figure of the 
 wood) incline towards the right, the cutting edge of the scraper 
 should be slanted towards the left. After each sweep of the 
 scraper, raise it well to bring it back for the next sweep, or, 
 catching the edge, it will snap the strip in two. Mind and 
 let neither of these processes go too far ; mind not to thin 
 your strip too much, for remember that this is by no means 
 the final smoothing, and if worked too thin at the commence- 
 ment of the work, the after results will be disastrous ; there- 
 fore leave the strip rather rough and stout than otherwise. 
 Then take three of the strips thus prepared, and with a pencil 
 draw lines across them, as follows : Across two of them, at a 
 distance of 5^ inches from one end, and across the third, at a 
 distance of 7 J inches from one end. Then, with a firm stroke 
 of a small fine knife (Fig. 120), cut the strips across at those 
 lines, and it will be found that you have two pieces 7^ long for 
 the upper bouts, two pieces 5^ long for the centre bouts, and 
 two pieces 9J long for the lower bouts. These lengths are in 
 excess of what is absolutely necessary ; but it is better to allow 
 for accident than to start with your wood too short. Now cut 
 eight strips of linen (not calico) 3^ inches long by 1^ broad, 
 spread glue on both sides of one end of each strip of maple thus 
 cut, about 1^ inches down each side, and folding the strips of 
 linen in the middle, cover one end of each strip with linen, so as 
 to protect the edges ; the shortest (or 5| inch) strips must thus 
 be covered at both ends ; for the others, one end will be 
 sufficient. The reason of this operation will be demonstrated 
 further on. 
 
 The next operation which must occupy us will be the bending 
 of the sides ; that is to say, to bend them so far like the part of 
 the mould on which they are to be fixed, that they will not split 
 when cramped into it.^ First thoroughly heat your bending-iron 
 
 ' It has been suggested (^Amatew Work, vol. i., p. 528, and vol. ii., p. 48) 
 that the ribs may be beit by steaming the strips of maple, and then cramping 
 them between blocks of the required shape. This is the plan recommended in 
 
232 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 (Figs. 121 and 122) ; when heated, cramp it on to the bench 
 horizontally, so that the hot broad part and end (a and b) lies 
 over the edge ; sit down opposite to it, and proceed to this most 
 ticklish part of your work with a cool head. The iron, when 
 you commence to bend, must only be just hot enough very 
 slightly to singe a slip of wood when pressed against it (the time 
 when this condition is reached must be tested by periodically 
 trying to bend over it a thin slip of waste wood, kept for the 
 purpose). First, bend the C's, or inner bouts, 
 r> /> beginning at the two ends covered with linen : 
 ( set the end on the part B of the iron, hold it there 
 I firmly with a block of wood, at the same time 
 ^ applying very gentle pressure to the other end. 
 
 A B c D jj- ^iii not begin to bend till it is thoroughly 
 
 Fia. 139.— Differ- t , ,^ i_ ^^ j ± i. -i. V, i, 
 
 ent Btagea oi hot through, SO do not hurry it by neavy 
 clnSS-^oufs! pressure, or it will split (the tyro generally 
 splits several to begin with). Bend it thus very 
 carefully round b (b, Fig. 139), and then bend the other end 
 similarly (c, Fig. 139), then give it the final shape on the broad 
 part, A (d, Fig. 139). Fig. 139 shows the various stages of the 
 bending of the centre bouts. (The linen is, of course, understood 
 to be there, though it does not appear in the figure. 
 
 The upper and lower bouts must now be similarly bent, 
 though, of course, it will be appreciated that only the linen- 
 covered ends (which join the corner-blocks) will require the 
 „ (. Q decided bend given by the part b of the 
 iron. Fig. 140 shows the successive stages 
 of the bending of the upper and lower bouts, 
 which are of course similar, except in point 
 of actual size. This done, you must care- 
 fully remove with a sharp knife all the 
 projecting linen from the ends. The heat 
 of the iron having scorched the glue, this 
 will be a comparatively easy operation, but 
 ^'%f ^bm^l'the upfl? ™ places the linen will still adhere closely, 
 and lower touts. and here you must be most careful not to 
 
 bring away little pieces of the curls of the wood, which would 
 irretrievably damage the beauty of your sides. The least 
 vestiges of glue and linen must be finally scraped away from 
 both the inside and outside surfaces of the strip with a file, which 
 should be flat on one side and round on the other (Fig. 117), 
 
 H. P. Smith's "The Construction of the Violin" (Syracuse, U.S.A., 1877), but no 
 good workman would dream of such an expedient, for, in the first place, it takes 
 ten times as long as the legitimate way, and, in the second, the ribs nearly 
 always warp and twist (as in Fig. 138) after they have been set to the fiddle. 
 
THE SIDES, OR RIBS, BLOCKS AND SIDE-LININGS. 233 
 
 after which you may proceed finally to fit and fix your sides 
 into the mould. This is done as follows : Begin with the lower 
 bouts, taking your leaf of maple, bent as at D, Fig. 140, and fit 
 the top end as nearly as possible to the bend of the corner o, 
 marking it oS absolutely square with the T-square, and 
 cutting off the superfluous end with a knife : then proceed 
 to bend it as nearly as possible to exactly the shape of the 
 lower bout (h, on the mould Plate IV.), by means of the hot 
 iron ; when this is done, take the cramping-block (h, Plate IV.),. 
 and setting it against the inside of the lower bout, so that the 
 cork side presses it closely as far as it extends, cramp it firmly 
 to the outside of the mould by a cramp. Fig. 116, being most 
 careful that the top bend fits exactly, and extends to the end 
 of the corner o. 
 
 Then, at the point where the line A (part of the line A b) 
 exactly bisects the bottom curve of the mould, mark the rib 
 in pencil with a T-square, and cut it off exactly square with 
 a sharp knife ; then proceed exactly in the same manner with 
 the left hand lower bout (i), fitting it to the corner p, and 
 cramping it at the curve with the cramping-block (i, Plate IV.). 
 Cut it off at the point A, the same as the other, perfectly square, 
 so that a complete and perfect joint is formed, as close as that of 
 the back and belly. This must most particularly be aimed at, as 
 a perfect joint at the bottom is a sign of good workmanship ; 
 but if by some mishap you do not get a good join, do not start 
 fresh with another strip for a new lower bout, unless your 
 material, time, and temper are inexhaustible, for a bad join can 
 be disguised, as will hereafter be shown, with a strip of purfling ; 
 thus adding an ornamentation ex necessitate rei. Guarnerius 
 constantly did this, and even the great Stradivari did not dis- 
 dain to make use of this happy expedient when his master hand 
 failed him at this most critical point. Next proceed with the 
 upper bouts, working in exactly the same way from the corners^ 
 Q and B, clamping with the blocks L and M (Plate IV.) respec- 
 tively ; you need not be particular to a quarter of an inch for the 
 joint of these upper bouts (on the line b), for fitting the neck will 
 cut away the join, be it good, bad, or indifferent. You will have 
 to place cramps at the points o, P, Q, and b, to keep the ends of the 
 sides into the corners 0, P, Q, E, placing little slips of wood 
 between the iron arm of the cramp and the wood of the bouts, 
 to protect the latter from being bruised or dented by the pres- 
 sure, unless, of course, you mean to proceed at once with the 
 work, in which case these last cramps will not be required* 
 Now finally set the lower bouts to shape, and cramp them into 
 the mould, seeing that they are thoroughly freed from all vestige 
 
234 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 of glue or other mess. When fixed, there must be a slight rim 
 above and below the mould, caused by the superfluous breadth 
 of the slips from which you have made your sides. Now take 
 some slips of paper, about 1^ inches broad, and slip one through 
 at the bottom join of the sides, between the springy lower ends 
 of the bouts and the base of the mould ; glue lightly both sides 
 of the slip, above the place where it is held between the sides and 
 the mould, and pull it through from the other side, so that in 
 fact the lower ends of the lower bouts (at the join) are glued to 
 the paper, and the paper to the side of the mould, so that by 
 these secondary means the sides are fast in the mould ; put 
 similarly glued slips of paper between the sides and the mould, 
 at the points s and T (Plate IV.) in a similar manner, and 
 proceed as before to shape, set, and cramp the upper bouts, setting 
 the papers at the top joint and at u and v (Plate IV.). Now 
 proceed to the fixing (in the rough) of the top and bottom 
 blocks. Take two pieces of fine, even-grained pine,^ planed 
 round the sides and edges till they are both 2 in. long by 
 |- in. broad, If deep, the grain setting as in 
 Fig. 141. Now, with a sharp-knife and file, 
 shape the side b of the block (Fig. 141), to the 
 very slight curve of the bottom of the sides ; at 
 the join, mark across the top, by means of the 
 line A on the mould, the exact centre of the 
 Ti9. 141.-T0P oi-Bottom block A (Fig. 141) : now glue this on to 
 
 Block (in the rough). , ■ 2 n ■ x\, ± en 1, 
 
 the sides, exactly in the centre ot toe ^base 
 of the mould (i.e., so that the line A on the block exactly coincide? 
 with the line A — part of the line A b, Plate IV.), and fix It 
 ■securely with a clamp. Cut, shape, and fix an exactly similar 
 block at the top of the fiddle in ^e same way. After each of 
 these operations, take a fine brush, and with a little hot water 
 out of the glue-pot, wash away from your work all traces 
 of superfluous glue. Now proceed to fix the inner bouts, or, 
 as they are technically termed, C's ; these must be most 
 carefully bent to the exact shape of the mould, cutting 
 the ends square, and to exactly the right length. The ends 
 must then be cut to a bevel, so as to fit into the corners, 
 against the upper ends of the lower bouts, in the manner 
 shown at c, in Fig. 142, which is drawn the actual size of 
 the mould (Plate IV.). "When you have got them thus to 
 fit, and cleaned and scraped them thoroughly inside and 
 out, cover the bevel of the ends of the C's with glue, slip 
 
 ' Some makers (Stradivari amongst them) frequently used sallow wood for 
 -the blocks and linings, as being lighter than deal. There is little, if any, 
 difference between them, and the mode of working is the same. (^Vide p. 147.) 
 
THE SIDES, OR RIBS, BLOCKS AND SIDE-LIfiTINGS. 
 
 235 
 
 Fig. 142.— Setting of the sidee, comer 
 blocks, and side linings in the mould. 
 
 them in so that the glued ends fit against the lower bouts 
 
 in the corners, as at C in Fig. 142, and cramp them in with the 
 
 cramping-blodis, J and k (Plate IV.). Now take a fine 
 
 slip of wood, and dipping it into the glue, just run it into 
 
 the corners so as to complete the 
 
 join, remove the superfiuous glue, 
 
 and set the mould to dry. Bear 
 
 in mind throughout the operation of 
 
 setting the sides and blocks, that you 
 
 must leave a little rim of wood above 
 
 and below the surfaces of the mould, 
 
 to be shaved away when levelling 
 
 the sides to the diameter of the 
 
 mould, otherwise (if the sides do 
 
 not reach the surfaces of the 
 
 mould), they will be found to be 
 
 too shallow when you come to fix 
 
 on the back and belly. The 
 
 next operation is the cutting and 
 
 fixing of the corner blocks. Take 
 
 two square-sided pillars of wood 
 
 2f in. long, the one for the lower 
 
 corners having the ends 1 in. by fin., the other for the upper 
 
 corners having the ends fin. by fin. This length is just 
 
 double what is required, and for this reason, that the corners 
 
 being almost always in contra-facsimile, they may be cut to 
 the right shape throughout their length, 
 and sawn in half, which will be a great 
 saving in point of time and work. 
 
 The blocks must be shaped from the 
 square in the manner shown in Fig. 143, 
 the dotted lines showing the two sides 
 before they are cut away with the gouge. 
 The greatest care must be taken to make 
 them fit perfectly throughout their height 
 to the sides, as in Fig. 142, before they 
 are cut in half, and fitted into their re- 
 
 fjo. 143.— Method of shaping gpective corners. The lower corner blocks 
 
 the comer Blocks. V^^ ^^ ^.^^ ^^^, ^,.j^ ^^ ^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^ g^^^ 
 
 pillar, and the upper ones (d, d'. Fig. 143) from the second. 
 When glued, they must be strongly pressed into the corners, 
 both outwards and upwards, so as to fix them closely both 
 to the upper (or lower) bout and to the centre bout (or C)- 
 It is this operation which renders it of so much importance 
 that the ends of the bouts should fit closely into the corners of 
 
 k 
 
 D 
 
 
 
 ! / 
 
 C 
 
 
 ■1 
 
236 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 the mould and against one another, as at Fig. 142. If they do not, 
 this "pressing home" of the corner blocks will force them apart. 
 When this is done, and the blocks are firmly cramped into their 
 places, the superfluous glue must be washed off with a brush 
 and hot water, and the whole mould, with the sides and blocks 
 thus fitted into it, put away to dry thoroughly. Whilst it is 
 drying, you may proceed to prepare your side-linings ; the 
 pine-wood for these should be cut into long slips, ^ inch broad 
 and ^ thick ; and of these slips you will require for one fiddle 
 four 9^ inches long (for the lower bouts), four 5^ inches long 
 (for the inner bouts), and four 7^ inches long (for the upper 
 bouts). To guard against accidents, it is well to have three or 
 four extra slips, to take the place of any that may snap in the 
 bending. Before commencing to bend them, having cut them 
 roughly to these lengths (which are all in excess of what is 
 required), let them soak for at least an hour in cold water. 
 Now, having heated your iron to a fierce heat, bend them to the 
 shapes they are required to take in the same manner as you 
 bend your, sides, not hurriedly, but quickly, and with decision, 
 having previously well fixed in your mind the exact bend which 
 is necessary. The wet wood must rest against the flat side of 
 the thick part of the iron (A, Figs. 121 and 122) long enough ' 
 to be well heated through before commencing to bend, but not 
 so as to scorch it too much (a little scorching will not matter 
 to the linings). 
 
 By this time, the corner blocks being thoroughly firm, you 
 can proceed to render the sides and blocks very nearly level with 
 the surfaces of the mould. Where there i§ but little of the sides 
 above the surface, it may be filed away with the flat side of a 
 file ; but for the blocks, and when there is a good deqlT)f the 
 sides to file away, you must use the toothed plane. Before 
 commencing to plane the blocks, the tops and bottoms must be - 
 well wetted with warm water, which will prevent their splitting 
 away, to further guard against which, the iron teeth of the 
 plane must only project to an infinitesimal degree. If there is 
 much of the block to be cut away, you may begin to remove it 
 with a knife, finishing up with the plane. If the operation of 
 wetting the tops of the blocks has loosened the glue by which 
 the sides are fixed (with papers) to the mould, you must secure 
 the block with a cramp before reducing it. Throughout this 
 operation you must not reduce either the sides or the blocks 
 quite to the level of the surface of the mould. This finishing 
 touch will not be put until the side linings are fixed, which you 
 may now proceed to do, beginning with the inner bouts in the 
 following manner : — First cut out the little slit, as at G, Fig. 142, 
 
THE SIDES, OK KIBS, BLOCKS AND SIDE-LININGS. 237 
 
 oy making two deep cuts with the knife, and removing the 
 wood between them with the " linjing chisel " (Fig. 1 23). Take 
 great care not to make this cutting too deep or too wide, testing 
 it in these respects as you cut it by means of a waste slip of 
 lining. When this is achieved, cut off the end of the lining with 
 a cut slanting from the top, as in Fig. 144, which shows the 
 section of the lining a fitted into the block b. Now, in the 
 same way, cut off the other end of the lining, and set it in a 
 similar cutting made in the upper corner block, and leave it 
 thus till the other linings are fitted. Out and fit the linings of 
 the upper and lower bouts in a similar manner og'awsi the corner 
 and top and bottom blocks, as at r, Fig. 142. They are not let 
 into the blocks, like the linings of the inner bouts, but the lower 
 ends of the corner blocks are just shaved square with the 
 sides, as at F, Fig. 142, so as to fit the ends of the linings. 
 The ends of the linings are cut with a slight slant, as in 
 Fig. 144, to make them fit well and tight against the blocks. 
 If by any accident the linings become a shade too short, this 
 
 fault may be rectified by inserting 
 
 between them and the block a little 
 
 splinter-wedge of pine to supply the 
 
 deficiency.. 
 
 Having fitted both the upper and 
 
 lower linings all round, the next 
 
 operation is" the gluing 'and fixing. ^'%i1^en^!Ks1nriSfs'^^^ 
 This must be done very quickly, comer wocks. 
 especially if the weather "is at all cold, or the glue will 
 worry you by cooling as you work. Begin as before with 
 the C's, or inner bouts, and be careful before beginning that all 
 embracing surfaces {i.e., the surfaces of the sides, and of the 
 linings which are to be glued against them) are perfectly cleaned 
 with°a file and scraper. Take a waste slip of lining and thin 
 it at one end to a wedge ; dip this end in the glue, and with 
 it thoroughly glue the inside of the little slits in both corner 
 blocks, quickly coat the inside of the upper lining of the C with 
 glue and set it in its place, pressing it firmly into the slits and 
 against the sides : glue and set the lower lining in the same 
 way, and before the glue has time to set, wash away the super- 
 fluous glue, and cramp the linings to the sides by means of the 
 cramping block, J or K (Plate IV.), placing a slip of paper 
 between the linings and the crainping block. Fix the other C 
 linings in the same manner, and next glue and fix the linings of 
 the upper ' and lower bouts, which is done in the same way, 
 excepting that if the lengths have been properly proportioned 
 so as to fit tightly no cramping K ^ks will be necessary, the 
 
238 violin-making: as it was and is. 
 
 superfluous glue being washed away at once and the mould set 
 to dry. If, however, you distrust your cutting, you may cramp 
 your linings to the sides in the same way as you cramped the 
 sides to the mould, interposing (as with the inner bouts) slips of 
 paper between the linings and the cramping blocks. When 
 these are quite dry, proceed to render the edges of the sides, 
 blocks, and linings exactly level with the surfaces of the mould 
 by means of the toothed plane. When this is done, take a 
 sharp knife and cut the inner edges of the linings to a bevel, 
 bevelling off a little more than half the depth of the linings, as 
 at B, Fig. 145 ; when this is done, finish them with a file, remov- 
 ing any paper, etc., which may be sticking to the linings and 
 not removed by the knife. Next shape the blocks to bring them 
 as at F, Fig. 82. The corner blocks will be cut with the gouge 
 till they take the shape in the figure (Fig. 142), cutting away all 
 outside the line H (Fig. 142). The top and bottom blocks must 
 next be cut to the size set down at page 147. Fig. 181, p. 290, 
 represents the actual size and shape of the blocks for the mould 
 (Plate IV.). If there is any difference between the top and 
 bottom blocks, the top one will be just a shade smaller than the 
 other. The Guarnerius block is more a segment of a 
 circle (as at Fig. 104), but as the mould (Plate IV.) 
 is of the model of Stradivarius, I givfe a Stradivarian 
 block (Fig. 181, p. 290). The greatest care must be 
 taken in cutting both the corner and end blocks 
 ^'Qj^i*s,— Fmai quite parallel with the sides — i.e., that the outline of 
 linings (sec- the block may be identical at both top and bottom. 
 tion). They must be finished off with the file, after which 
 
 the whole of the inside — i.e., the sides, the linings, and the blocks, 
 must be thoroughly sand-papered and cleaned, after which the 
 inside of the mould will present the appearance of Fig. 82, p. 148. 
 The next operation is that of taking the now completed sides 
 (or ribs) of the fiddle out of the mould to clean and finish the 
 outer surfaces. You will remember that the ribs are fixed into 
 the mould with slips of glued paper (p. 233) ; these must now 
 be loosened in the following manner. Take an ordinary small 
 table-knife with a fairly narrow blade, and thrust it carefully 
 through between the sides and the mould close to the points 
 where the paper is fixed, passing it along wherever the paper 
 extends. This operation will be accompanied by a series of 
 the most ominous cracking sounds, which are, however, merely 
 false alarms, though you must carefully guard against shaving 
 or splitting off little snips of the sides as you pass the knife 
 along. Having thus cut the fixings at all the points where glued 
 paper was put between the sides and the mould, proceed very 
 
THE SIDES, OR RIBS, BLOCKS AND SIDE-LININGS. 239 
 
 carefully and gradually to poke the ribs through, and out of the 
 mould, pressing on all the blocks and bouts carefully in suc- 
 cession, having first marked which is the top of the blocks, to 
 serve as a guide, when you come to fixing on the tables. Now 
 proceed to cleaning the outsides and generally finishing up. 
 Begin by removing (by means of hot water and a brush) any 
 vestiges of the papers which remain glued at the points where 
 the ribs have been fixed in the mould. Do not be too liberal 
 with the water, and dry the ribs immediately, or they will 
 warp horribly (as -per Fig. 138). If any little snips of the 
 curl have been cut out in taking the ribs out of the mould, 
 if possible these very snips, and if not, similar chips, must be 
 glued in again. If the joint of the corners (at c, Fig. 142) is not 
 close and tight, the interstice must be filled with glue mixed 
 with chalk, but it is to be hoped that this will not be required. 
 The ends of the corners must now be cut flat and square to the 
 sides (as at c, Fig. 142) by means of a knife and flat file, testing 
 the work with the small square, and, being very careful not to 
 chip off the edges in cutting away the parts that are immediately 
 adjacent to the corners, cut always from the ends to the centre, 
 not from the centre to the ends. The parts inside the C's must 
 now be cleared of all traces of burning or glue with a small 
 chisel and round file, any vestiges of glue all round the outside 
 of the ribs being removed with a flat chisel, after which go 
 carefully and completely round the entire outside with a sharp 
 scraper, and fine glass paper, till they are perfectly clean and 
 smooth as satin. The sides or ribs of your fiddle are now 
 finished, and you must put them away into the mould (into 
 which they will now slip quite easily), out of harm's way, till 
 you are ready for them. For future purposes you must mark 
 which is the top (or belly side) of the ribs, and which is the 
 bottom ; write therefore, '•' top " on the top of the blocks, so 
 that when you take them out of the mould there may be no 
 confusion on this point. 
 
 ' I see Calliope speed her to the place, where my goddess shines. 
 And after her the other Muses trace, with their violines." 
 
 CE. Spenseb. " The Shepheard's Calendar." April [1590]) 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 THE TABLES : BACK AND BELLY. 
 
 Joining the Tables — Planing the Flat Surface — Marking the Outline — Cutting- 
 out— First Gouging — Correcting the Outline — Second Gouging — First 
 Planing — The Sunk Edge — Second Planing— Scraping — Marking the Plane 
 Surfaces for Gouging out Back and Belly. 
 
 YoTJ may now proceed to prepare the wood for the back and 
 belly in the manner set forth in page 133. You will find the 
 apaaple intensely difficult to join properly, for when squared and 
 the two halves placed together at the thick sides are held 
 up to the light, no crack showing the light must appear 
 at the join, nor must a fine line of glue appear when the join is 
 finally planed over ; and to produce this perfect fit in curly 
 wood like maple is a very difficult matter to an unpractised 
 hand, and may therefore be relegated to the professional joiner : 
 for it must be noticed that there is only a very small margin to 
 plane away in two halves, each only five inches broad. The 
 belly of soft pine will be found to be easier to join. When 
 joined (as at c. Fig. 77), the under or flat side of the slabs 
 must be so perfectly truly planed that a straight-edge laid 
 
 across them in any direction will not 
 show any hollows or inequalities on 
 their surface. For the purpose of 
 ■n. ,.= w ^ <■ . ^, ., producing this result, glue on to the 
 
 Pie. 146.— Wood for tables joined, ^, . • i , , • ° /. i 
 
 and with steadying wedges for SlOpiUg SldeS tWO StripS 01 WOOd aS at 
 planing the flat surface. ^^ ^^^ j^g^ ^^^ pj^^^ ^j^^j^. g^rfaCBS 
 
 (a, a) even, so that the slab may stand on its pointed surface (so 
 to speak), without wobbling ; when both surfaces are planed take 
 your thin plank outline (c, c, c) with the line (a, b) down the 
 centre (Plate IV.), and hold it firmly on the plane side of the slab 
 with the line (a, b) coinciding with the join (b. Fig. 146), which 
 runs down the centre of the slab. Then with a sharp pencil or 
 point mark the outline exactly on the slab ; when this is done on 
 both deal and maple, cut away all the external wood with the 
 bow saw, leaving an edge a little beyond the marked outline to 
 
THE tables: back and belly. 241- 
 
 allow for finer cutting and subsequent finishing. When both 
 outlines have been cut out, remove the remains of the steadying 
 wedges (a, a, Fig. 146), being careful, in cutting them away, 
 not to injure the sloping sides of this surface of the slab. Now 
 with the gauge (an ordinary small size carpenter's gauge will do) 
 draw a line round the edge of the slab ^ inch from the plane side, 
 and with a flattish gouge cut away the wood down to this line, 
 first at the two ends till the centre of the slab along the line A, b 
 takes the form of the guide represented by the line G, G (Plate 
 IV.) : then cut away very gradually, till along the horizontal 
 lines drawn across flie plate the surface takes the form of the 
 guide pieces shown in Plate IV. Cut this surface very carefully, 
 especially on the lines 3, 7, and 8, for a cut of the gouge tob 
 deep in a wrong place will spoil your work entirely ; therefore 
 correct your arching by the guides at their respective places at 
 every few cuts that you give with the gouge. Both plates, it is 
 understood, must be submitted to all these operations. The back 
 will be the hardest, especially as the curls of the wood are apt to 
 break out in grooves if you make a cut the wrong way of the 
 grain. The belly wiU be much easier ; indeed, the difficulty lies 
 in its ease, for it cuts like apple, and the slightest slip of a sharp 
 gouge will do irretrievable damage. 
 
 Do not carry this operation too far ; leave the gouge marks 
 distinct in the wood rather than try to chisel them away, leaving 
 aU finishing of this sort to the planing, which will be described 
 later on. When this is done, take your plank outline c, c, c 
 (Plate IV.), and set it well in the centre of the slab, fixing it at 
 either end with a little cramp (Fig. 116). You originally cut 
 out your slabs rather roughly, so there will be a little margin 
 round it ; you must now mark with a marking-point the exact 
 outline of your plank on to the plane side of your slab, then with 
 a fine, sharp knife remove, absolutely cleanly, all wood outside 
 this mark ; this requires much care, for remember you are now 
 cutting the outline of your back and heWy Jinalli/, and as they 
 will appear on the finished violin ; therefore cut both of them 
 exactly to the plank outline, and both being exact to the outline, 
 ihey will be exact to one another. Remember the plank outline 
 must be cramped face downwards on to the plane surface of the 
 belly slab, and back downwards on to the plane surface of the 
 back slab, for the two to coincide exactly when put face to face. 
 
 In marking the outline thus finally, you will see the use of 
 cutting out the position of the sound-post in the plank outline, 
 for of course in marking the back the sound-post will be on the 
 right, and in marking the belly it will be on the left This is 
 a point which must be attended to, for, as I have said before, 
 
 16 
 
242 violin-making: as it was and is. 
 
 in a whole outline taken from a Stradivarius, the two halves 
 will not be found to be in contra facsimile to one another; 
 the difference may be infinitesimal, but none the less appreciable 
 in so fine a work as a fiddle. 
 
 It is one of the first worries of the beginner that he splits off 
 pieces of the curves of the bouts whilst doing this cutting, owing 
 to the brittle curls of the wood. When this happens the piece 
 must at once be glued on again (and if neatly done, will not 
 show when the work is finished) in the manner laid down in 
 Chapter XXIII. (Eepairs : page 309); When this is finished 
 the edges must again be gauged, this time ^ inch from the plane 
 side of the slab, and then with a knife cut a { inch bevel from 
 this line to the roughly arched side, leaving the corners and 
 button thick. When this has been done, and the edges all round 
 both back and belly present a uniform thickness of ^ inch 
 (except the corners and button), take a broad flat gouge and 
 slope the rough arching to the gauge line, extending your slope 
 about an inch from the edge all round, according to the 
 intended model of your fiddle. Do this carefully round back 
 and belly, always leaving the corners and button thickest. 
 For this purpose the back or belly must be cramped on to 
 the edge of the bench, so that half of it overhangs the 
 edge. When you have gouged round one half, turn it round 
 and gouge round the other, being careful to have your gouges 
 very sharp, so as not to have to lean heavily on the work,' for 
 fear of separating the centre join, or other calamity. This done, 
 go all over the back and belly with the broad gouge, guiding 
 your work as closely as possible with the arching guides, but 
 not going too far towards smoothing the surface ; all gouge 
 marks may be left to the plane to eradicate when the model or 
 arching has been roughly gouged out. 
 
 You have now finished with the gouge, and may turn your 
 attention to the first planing. This is done with- the toothed 
 oval planes (Figs. 124 and 125), holding the slab with the hand 
 against your body or the bench, going over the gouge marks 
 very carefully, holding the plane so that it cuts in a slanting 
 direction on account of the extremely tender nature of' the 
 wood, especially so if it is of a handsome grain or curl. Gro on 
 thus till the arching guides (Plate IV.) exactly fit the places 
 on the back and belly indicated on the plate, and the wood is 
 roughly levelled over. Be especially careful in planing to fit 
 the arching guides Nos. 7 and 8 (the entire arching across the 
 centre of the back and belly) to leave plenty of wood, for a 
 bold "breast" is a great beauty in a fiddle. 
 
 Throughout the operations of gouging the arching of the 
 
THE TABLES : BACK AND BELLY. 243 
 
 back and belly, you will find it a great advantage if you can 
 compare your work with a true specimen of the great master's 
 work, for then you can check the accuracy of your guide slips, 
 and correct any errors which may creep in in tracing them from 
 the plate. When you have roughly planed the back and belly 
 all over take a smaller plane and plane them pretty smooth (but 
 without altering the shape) for the distance of an inch from the 
 edge. Then take the spring compasses (a. Fig. 126), having one 
 leg just longer than the other, and opening them to §■ inchj set 
 the longer leg against the edge, so that the shorter one just 
 touches the surface of the back or belly ^ inch from the edge 
 like a gauge* Draw in this manner a line all round back and 
 belly I- of an inch from the edge, being careful to make it 
 steady and even. Now open the compasses to 5 of an inch, land 
 draw a second line inside the first, in a similar manner, xir from 
 the edge. Now take an ordinary cutting gouge, haying, a 
 curve represented by Fig. 147, and very carefully cut a little 
 trough or groove right round the back and belly between these 
 two lines, not more than ^ inch or so deep, and being most 
 cautious not to cut beyond the outer one, which must be left 
 clean and dear. If by any mischance you cut >„^ ^ 
 
 through it, and the thickness of your edge ^ 
 
 allows it, re-mark the ^ line and gc ige a little ^(.'uttto^'~SV(of 
 deeper to save it. When this is done, take a smkuig the edges. 
 flatter gouge and carefully " melt " the ridge formed by the 
 inner line into the arching of the back or belly. Fig. 148 shows 
 the two stages of this grooving, which is meant to begin the 
 graceful raised edges which characterize a well-made fiddle, a 
 representing the groove cut, and b the groove " melted " into 
 the rise of the beUy or back. Now go carefully round these 
 new gouge marks with the small oval plane, and bring the entire 
 surface as smooth as you conveniently can with the toothed edge. 
 You must take care in these gouging and planing operations 
 not to alter the rise or arching of your tables as determined by 
 the arching guides to any serious extent. To a certain extent it 
 is of course impossible to avoid altering them, so you must now 
 go all over them again with the guides, getting them as smootii 
 and true as you can with the finest-toothed oval plane. You will 
 most probably find it laid down in any works which go into the 
 subject, that now is the time to purfle the instrument, and without 
 doubt this is frequently done at this stage ; but we shall not 
 purfle till the back and belly are glued to the sides ; for though 
 it is easier to do it now, by doing it later on we can make it 
 coincide with the sides, and correct any little irregularities of out- 
 line, which we could not do after the purfling is done {vide p. 262). 
 
244 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 When the last of your planing is done you will be ready to 
 scrape. This is the most difficult and important of the opera- 
 tions necessary to be gone through, for on it depends the entire 
 character and beauty of your instrument ; if it is done carelessly 
 or lazily the marks of the planes and scraper will be left on the 
 tables, visible beneath the varnish ; the rising edge, which you 
 have cultivated so carefully (as in Fig. 148), will be scraped 
 away and destroyed, and in fact, your fiddle -will have the 
 appearance of a rough Guarnerius instrument, instead of the 
 work being in keeping with the beautiful Stradivarius patterns 
 we have been working on up to now. However, remember 
 Labor ipse voluptas omnia vincit. Let all your scrapers be very 
 keen all round the edges, and working boldly and strongly, and 
 very carefully, scrape the whole back and belly all over, using 
 the round side and corners of the scrapers all round the outline 
 and wherever necessary, so that there are no plane marks, 
 gouge marks, bumps, or scratches anywhere visible on holding 
 the slab sideways to the light. Mark : that it is important to 
 
 sit in a good light during this opera- 
 tion — i.e., where the light striking 
 the edge of the back and belly will 
 east a shadow, and " throw up " any 
 bumps, hollows, or plane-marks. 
 In this operation you will finally 
 Pig. »<8.— stages of the cutting in adjust all the curvcs of the tables, so 
 sinking the edges. ^^^^ ^j^^ ijoHo^g melt into the bumps of 
 
 the model, and a smooth harmonious whole is the result. The great 
 danger of this process is that a careless or unnoticed sweep of 
 the scraper will scrape down a piece of your carefully-left edges 
 and corners. When by accident you do this, you must re-mark 
 the g-inch gauge line as set forth above, and try to reclaim 
 your error ; but this must not be done unless yon have sufficient 
 thickness left round the edges by the first and second gougings. 
 When this operation is completed to your own entire satisfac- 
 tion (or, better still, to the entire satisfaction of some disin- 
 terested party), take a wet sponge or brush, and wet the tables 
 all over, back and front, and dry them again at once with a* 
 cloth. You will now see for the first time the true magnificence 
 (if it exist) of your wood. The object of this proceeding is to 
 show up any slight defect in your work, which must then be 
 corrected again with the scraper ; and the process must be 
 repeated till the wetting no longer shows any defects on the 
 surfaces of the table. This takes very little time to say, write, 
 an^l read, but you will find it is the most difficult and important 
 part of your whole work. 
 
THE TABLES : BACK AND BELLY. 245 
 
 Now turn both tables over, and opening the spring com- 
 passes (b, Fig. 126) j of an inch, draw a gauge Hne all round 
 the plane surfaces of the slabs, as shown in Fig. 149. This 
 serves as a mark beyond which the gouge must not go, being 
 left to include the edge, the sides, and the linings. Then 
 
 Fie. 149. — Diagram for regulating the thicknesses of the back. 
 
 with a pencil, mark across the four corners and at the top and 
 bottom the parts of the tables which will be glued to the blocks 
 (*8 shown in Fig. 149), marking them fully large for the present ; 
 these places must not be touched again by the gouge, but left 
 quite flat. You are now going to commence what may be called 
 the real operation of fiddle-making — i.e., scooping out the back 
 
246 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 and belly. For this purpose you must screw a long squared 
 beam of wood on to the bench, about ten inches from its edge, 
 and in front of it spread a folded cloth. The latter is to place 
 the arched surfaces of the tables upon, setting them against 
 the beam, so as to afford resistance to your gouge. Your 
 work now divides itself into two sections, the scooping of the 
 back and the belly — beginning with : — 
 
 " Magnanimas Muloet Modulando Musioa Mentea, 
 Virginibus Vinclum, Vitse Veneranda Voluptaa. 
 Solamen Semi, Servatrix Sacra Stridentum, 
 Incitat Ipsa luventutem, luvat Ipsa locosum, 
 Carmine Conciliat Coelestia Oastra Colentem, 
 Autorem Alitor Amans Alit (^kvSos) Artis Amantee I 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 THE BACK. 
 
 CrOuging-out — Planing — Scraping — Bevelling the Edge — Fitting on the Riba 
 — Sizing the Blocks — Peg-holes — Fixing the Eibs — Finishing — ^The Label — 
 CorrecUng the Bottom Join — The TaU-pin Hole. 
 
 Begin by cutting gouge marks roughly right across the inside 
 of the back, about ^ inch deep at the centre line. When this 
 is done, find by means of the compasses the exact centre point 
 between the four corners A, a, a, a, in Fig. 149, which will be 
 found to be a'.^ At A', therefore, dig in the point of the com- 
 passes deep enough to preserve the puncture when you gouge 
 over it (but not deep enough to mark upon the Jinal thickness), 
 and opening the compasses 2xs inches, draw the circle c o, and 
 then reducing them to ItV inches, draw the inner circle b b. The 
 first rough thicknesses will be at a' ^ inch, and at D d ^ inch. 
 These must be gouged carefully, constantly consulting the 
 gauging callipers (Fig. 128), till tiiis graduation is registered by 
 the scale d (Fig. 128) as the callipers travel across from d to d 
 (Fig. 149). You had better gouge a single scoop right across 
 till these thicknesses are obtained, and this gouged line will 
 serve as a guide. The thickness at present at d d will be, in 
 fact, the thickness of the gauged line which, neither now nor in 
 the ensuing processes, must be trespassed upon in the slightest 
 degree. Similar guide lines must now be gouged across the upper 
 and lower bouts, across E E, deepening gradually from the gauge 
 line till the thickness of the table at the centre is |- inch. You 
 now have three bands (or guide lines) of the (for the present) 
 proper thicknesses across the fiddle ; now using your eye and 
 hand together, gouge away between the guide lines till they 
 only form part of the entire hollowing out. Be careful not to 
 get deeper than them anywhere in their vicinity, and not to cut 
 into the edge (i.e., outside the gauge line), or into the parts you 
 
 ' The outer circle connecting the four corners in the figure is merely drawn 
 to prove to the reader that the points A are really equidistant from a' ; with- 
 out it, by an optical delusion, the two lower corners seem further from a' than 
 the two upper. 
 
248 
 
 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 have marked for the blocks. All the wood inside the circle B B 
 must he A ^^^ t^i°^ ' ^^^ "^^^'^^ *^® ^^^^^^ c c ^, and all else- 
 where i, the thickest part being in the centre ; the edges will 
 naturally get cut a shade thinner, owing to the lesser quantity of 
 wood; but to prevent their getting too thin, let the slope from 
 the gauge line to the centre be quite gentle, not an abrupt, down- 
 ward curve. When this is done fairly smoothly, cut down 
 
 the ridges left by the deep gouge marks, 
 as far as it is safe to do so. But do not 
 go too far with the gouge, it is a bold 
 weapon ; the plane is not so rapid, but 
 much safer. Take a fairly coarse- 
 toothed plane with a convex plate 
 (Fig. 124), and go over the entire in- 
 side of the back, smoothing down the 
 ridges left by the gouge, till holding 
 the plate sideways to the_ light, the 
 only grooves and ridges visible are the 
 little ones left by the plane, and the 
 thicknesses, in this their first stage, are 
 pretty well adjusted. Now take a very 
 sharp round-edged scraper, and proceed 
 strongly to scrape the inside of the 
 back all over, keeping inside the line 
 you gauged round it and the places 
 you marked for the blocks, until the 
 marks of the plane are no longer 
 visible anywhere, and the inside of the back nearly approaches 
 the smoothness of the outside. In this operation you will 
 consult the callipers every moment, finally adjusting the 
 thicknesses till they are as follows : according to Fig. 150, at 
 the point A', jV incli (*"•«•) j"st over i) ; at the point B, i;_ at 
 the point c, just a shade thinner than at A ; at the points 
 D, D, ^ (i.e., just over ^). The thick- 
 nesses must merge into one another with- 
 out any bumps, the wood being a shade 
 stronger in the upper than in the lower 
 bouts, and similarly a shade stronger 
 just where the sound-post will be set ; the edges and parts 
 touching the blocks must be left quite flat (in fact, not touched 
 since the exterior arching was modelled). These, then, are 
 exactly the correct thicknesses for a new fiddle-back. When 
 they are properly adjusted, take a good fine biting file, and bevel 
 very slightly round the whole inside of the edge, using a round 
 file where the short curves render it necessary, and a flat one 
 
 Pis. 150.— Final thlckneBses of 
 the back. 
 
 rio. 151.— Iimer edges of the 
 Plates (section) finished. 
 
THE BACK. 24^ 
 
 everywhere else ; finish off this little bevel (which must only be 
 just enough to blunt the angle formed by the inside of the edge 
 and the thickness of the edge) with medium sand-paper, so that it 
 presents (in section) the appearance of A, Fig. 151. The margin 
 left in scooping out the back will by this time be pretty clearly 
 defined by the dirt which accumulates on it (never being touched 
 in aU the foregoing operations). Now take a keen, fiat-edged 
 scraper, and carefully scrape it clean, being cautious not to 
 alter its planeness of surface. Finish the cleaning with a flat 
 file, which must be passed round the edge very true, to avoid 
 rounding it in any way. Your back is now finished (except 
 the purfling), and it will be found that it gives a note about two 
 tones higher than the belly scooped out and the // holes cut, 
 but without the bar. If you turn to page 153, you will see 
 that the addition of the bass bar to the belly will raise the note 
 a tone, which will establish the proper interval (viz., one tone) 
 between the back and belly. The back is now finished, and 
 ready to glue on to the ribs. You will remember that these are 
 resting finished in their mould ; take them out carefully, for, if 
 they have warped at all, they run a danger of splitting ; and 
 turning them bottom-side upwards, go round them carefully, 
 with a keen flat file, to thoroughly clean them and the blocks. 
 
 These last having the edge (as it were) of the grain exposed 
 by their cutting, you must size them in the following manner : 
 Spread a coating of glue all over the ends of the blocks, which 
 will be fixed to the back, and put an iron (a poker will do) into 
 the fire to get red-hot. When the glue has nearly set, apply 
 the iron very " gingerly" to the coating of glue (which must not 
 extend beyond the blocks over the sides and linings), rubbing it 
 lightly, so that all the glue is burnt and caked over the ends 
 of the blocks in a brown mass. Now with a flat file rub off all 
 this burnt mass (but do not file down the blocks), and the tops 
 of the blocks will be found to be no longer rough and porous 
 (as would be natural with wood cut across the grain), but hard 
 and smooth as ivory. Unless this precaution were taken, the 
 single coat of glue with which you fix the back to the sides 
 would sink into the blocks, which in course of time would con- 
 sequently become unglued. This operation being completed, 
 you must proceed to fit your ribs on to your back, which is 
 done with fiddle-screws (Fig. 129) in the following manner. 
 When you place your ribs on your back you will find that the 
 two do not (or rather do not appear to) coincide at all. This is 
 only the natural effort of the bent wood to regain its equilibrium ; 
 you must therefore place the ribs on the back, and making one 
 corner fit, fix it with a screw (Fig. 129). Turn the back round, 
 
250 violin-making: as it was and is. 
 
 and fit and fix the opposite corner in the same manner. Get 
 the four corners of the ribs thus fitted on to the back by placing 
 two screws at each corner, one on each side of the corner. 
 N.B. Never fix a screw on to the corner itself, for it will infalli- 
 bly snap it ofi". Now fix the top and bottom of the ribs, so as 
 to have a margin equal with that at the corners, by means of 
 iron cramps fixed to the blocks ; the surface of the back ar>d the 
 belly-end of the block must be protected in the ordinarj'- manner, 
 by means of little pieces of wood, from the hard pressure of the. 
 iron.. 
 
 Many, indeed most, of the old makers were in the habit of 
 securing the table to begin with, at top and bottom, by thrusting 
 a bradawl right through the wood of the back into the block^ 
 the hole made by which had subsequently to be filled with a 
 peg. Some modern makers also pursue this practice, but it is 
 undoubtedly better to secure it at these points with a cramp, as 
 above described, and then, as to putting in pegs, it may be 
 done (as will be described further on), or not, as the fancy takes 
 f»i ^ you. Then proceed to fix the ribs 
 
 ' V'\rh. s^^^^'^^y ^ round by means of as 
 ■ ' ' ' ll ™^°y screws as can be set round 
 , Jl them, as in Fig. 152. You will find 
 ty w twenty-six are required, four for each 
 * » If^" *_ '-' upper bout, three for each inner 
 e^ Tg W' bout, and six for each lower bout ; 
 
 Fia.i62.-Ta,we fitted on to Ribs and \^^ *^®s® numbers may Vary with 
 fixed with screws. the size of the scrcws. In the 
 
 figure, for the sake of clearness, the screws are represented too 
 few and too far apart. The object to be attained is the keeping 
 of an overlapping edge of even width all the way round, and 
 you must screw and unscrew, fit and refit, till this is attained. 
 
 The ribs being thus fitted to the back without glue^ the next 
 thing is to glue and fasten them. For this purpose it will not be 
 necessary to entirely unfix them, but two or three screws may 
 be taken off at a time, and that bit glued and re-fastened before 
 going on. Begin 'by taking off the top cramp and three screws 
 on each side ; take an old table knife, and dipping it quicklj-^ in 
 the glue, insert it between the back and ribs, and run it round as 
 far as it will go, repeating the operation till all you can get at is 
 thoroughly glued ; then, seeing that the ribs are rightly set on 
 the edge, cramp and screw them up again tight. Take ofi' three 
 or four adjacent screws, glue that bit and refix it, and so on ; go 
 all round the fiddle a " bout " at a time, taking care to reset the 
 ribs, so as to leave an even edge. Then take a brush, and with 
 hot water (out of the glue pot) thoroughly wash away all traces 
 
THE BACK. 251 
 
 of glue clinging outside, inside, or on the' edges of the ribs or 
 back. Set the whole arrangement to dry for a day. Your 
 principal diiEculty will be that the hold taken by the screws 
 being rather precarious, whilst yon fix one, another will drop off, 
 and so on, and this is damaging both to the temper and the success 
 of the operation. Therefore fix your glued ribs quickly, but 
 carefully and surely. When sufficient time has elapsed for the 
 glue* to have dried thoroughly, remove the screws, take three 
 qualities of sand-paper (the last being very fine indeed) and 
 thoroughly sand-paper and smooth the entire inside of the 
 ribs and back : remember it will not be pleasant to think that 
 in some centuries to come the repairer wUl find that the work 
 you have been so careful over outside is slovenly inside. You 
 can now put in your ticket or label. Every violin made ought, 
 to my mind, to be ticketed with the name of its right maker ; 
 for preference in Latin, but of course this is optional. The 
 place for the label is discovered by temporarily putting a 
 belly on, and looking through the left-hand /hole ; in this way 
 the most visible place for the label is ascertained, and on this 
 spot it may be glued firmly at once. 
 
 Whilst considering the construction of the ribs of the fiddle, 
 I pointed out that if the join at the bottom is not all that might 
 be desired, any deficiency may be hidden by means of a row (or 
 more) of puifiing. If the join is perfect — i.e., close, straight, 
 and coinciding with the join down the back, so much the better; 
 but if a line of glue marks it, or if it is crooked, or if it is 
 on one side of the join of the back, these faults may be rec- 
 tified (without being ashamed of the expedient) in the following 
 manner : Take a few inches of ready-made purfling (such as 
 can be bought at a penny a foot at any fiddle-maker's) and cut, 
 with a sharp knife and the lining chisel, a square cut groove, at 
 exactly right angles with the back, on the site of, and broad 
 enough to cover, any fault that may there be found. Cut it a 
 little shallower than the depth of your ready-made purfling, and 
 according to the diameter of the latter, and glue into this groove, 
 one, two, or three strips of purfling, according as the fault you 
 wish to hide may require. These ready-made strips may always, 
 if necessary, be thinned by hammering the sides lightly, or 
 broadened by hammering the top. 
 
 This ornamentation, without impairing the fiddle, will effec- 
 tually hide any fault which is apt to be found at this point. Cut 
 off the ends flush with the belly side of the ribs, wash off all 
 superfluous glue, and when this inlaying is dry, level it down 
 flush with the ribs with a knife or scraper. Now, a shade below 
 the exact centre of this line bore a small hole (|-inch in diameter) 
 
252 violin-making: as it was and is. 
 
 which will serve as the commencement of the hole for the tail- 
 pin. This is noi finally cut till the varnishing is finished, but it is 
 best to hegin it now, as the belly being off you can guard against 
 the drill splitting away bits of the lower block, which cannot be 
 obviated or corrected when the belly is on. It must not he. 
 finished now, or the varnish running into it will make it messy 
 and inconvenient to work with. This hole may be made with 
 the peg-hole cutter, Fig. 184, described on page 300. Your 
 back and sides are now finished, and it remains, therefore, only 
 to glue on the belly, for the body of your violin to be finished 
 " in the white." 
 
 " Arte maternS, rapidos morantem 
 Fluminmn lapsus, celeresque ventoa, 
 Blandtim et auritas, fidibus canoris 
 Duoere quercus." 
 
 iHor., 1., 11.). 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 THE BELLY. 
 
 Marking the // Holes— Cutting out the // Holes— Gouging out thp Belly- 
 Planing— Scraping and Finishing— Pitting the Bar— Fixing the Bar — 
 Fitting on the Sides — Fixing — Correcting — Finishing. 
 
 YOTJR pine, or belly slab, is still in the state in which we left it 
 at the conclusion of Chapter XVI., that is to say, having one 
 side arched and finished, and the other flat. You will com- 
 mence by giving its personal appearance the finishing touch, by 
 marking out on its arched surface the //holes, which is done 
 as follows. In p. 155 are given directions for copying any 
 single, or pair of, //holes. If the belly from which you are 
 copying is detached from the instrument, and you have copied 
 its two // holes, as described in p. 156, having traced down 
 your parchment the centre line, or join of the belly, and having 
 transferred the drawing to a leaf of wood (not more than 
 T5 or ^ of an inch thick), cut it down the exact centre line with 
 a sharp knife, so as to produce the model represented in actual 
 size in Fig. l53. The explanation of this figure is as follows : 
 It is an actual working size model of an /hole, taken from, and 
 corresponding with the outline, etc., of the instrument represented 
 in Plate IV. (In this plate an/ hole is drawn ; but only to indicate 
 which half of the outline represents the belly.) In Fig. 153, 
 a', a, a', represents A B, in the plate, the centre join of the belly. 
 The line a, a, a, a is the plank model of your /hole as cut out, 
 and with its flat side set to coincide with the line a', a' ; the figure 
 shows its exact position on the belly, the outline of which is 
 shown by the dotted outline c, c. A nick is cut in the flat side 
 of the model, exactly opposite the inner cranny (g) of the/ 
 hole at the point B. The belly represented in Plate IV. is 
 14^ inches long ; measure from the top, down the centre line 
 (which should be marked on the plate with pencil for con- 
 venience and clearness), 7xf inches (or from the bottom, 6^%), 
 and make a little mark. Now set the nick B of Fig. 153 at 
 this mark, and see that the line a', a' lies exactly on the line 
 
254 
 
 VIOIilN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 A B, drawn on the arching of the belly. The model is on such 
 thin wood, that on pressing it, it will bend and lie close on the 
 
 Fia. 153.—/ hole of Straaivaii Model (actual size), 
 
 -'-' \ 
 
 A 
 
 arching of the table. Take a very fine pointed pencil, and hold- 
 ing the model firmly on the belly with one hand, tra.ce the inside 
 
THE BELLY. 255 
 
 of the / hole on to the belly with the other ; turn the model 
 over, and repeat the process exactly on the other side for the 
 other/ hole, and your //holes are marked on your belly. 
 
 But, if you are not following the model of Plate IV., or if you 
 wish to use some other/ hole (say one of those on pp. 73-80) trace 
 it from there, or from the original, with a dirty finger or glove, 
 as described on p. 155, and set and mark it on the belly, 
 according to the relative distances it should hold thereon, and 
 which are planned out by the dotted lines on Fig. 153. You 
 will have to mark (as before) the point B on the centre line A B, 
 opposite which to set the cranny G of the /hole. This you can 
 do, adapting the directions given above by common-sense to the 
 outline you have chosen, or by comparing the fiddle from which 
 you are copying. Its position with regard to the outline and 
 centre join of the fiddle will then be as follows : — 
 
 From B' to b", ^ inch. 
 
 From E to b', xb- inch 
 
 „ c'toc", 1 „ 
 
 „ FtOF', i| „ 
 
 „ D to d', 2i „ 
 
 
 These measurements are of course taken from the plate and 
 Fig. 153, but if another model is being worked upon, an intelli- 
 gent workman will easily adapt them ; the diff'erence being, 
 probably, only in the lengths of the lines D d', b e', and F f'. 
 
 The // holes being marked, now put the finislung touch to 
 the arching of the belly — viz., the sinking noticeable in all well- 
 made fiddles just outside the ff holes (i.e., between them and 
 the edge), and indicated on Fig, 153 by the slight shading on the 
 right-hand side. This is a hardly perceptible hollowing, beginning 
 in the lower wing of the/, extending just as far as shown by the 
 shading, and so " melted " into the arching already given tothe 
 belly, as not to be noticeable unless looked for. Its depth will 
 be, to a certain extent, regulated by the model you are workihg 
 on, but will not generally be deeper than the groove you ran 
 round the sides (Fig. 148). It must be begun with a flat gouge, 
 " melted " into the arching with the smallest curved plane, and 
 finished off" (like the rest of the belly) with the scraper. ,Be 
 careful in doing this not to obliterate the marking of the 
 // holes (except at the inner side of the loioer round bole of; the 
 /', which cannot help being gouged away, but can be atoijce 
 re-marked), and particularly be careful of the raised edge?,()f 
 the fiddle, which are in considerable danger during this opera- 
 tion. So bear in mind in this, as in all the stages of your w;ork, 
 the motto " Cavendo tutus." When the scraping is finished, you 
 will give your tables a rub all over with medium sand-paper, 
 
256 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 and then re-mark your // holes, which will have got partially 
 obliterated by the handling of the belly since they were traced. 
 When they are re-marked, punch out their round holes in the 
 following manner : — 
 
 Take the two piercers (or/hole punches, Fig. 127), and setting 
 the bigger of t'je two exactly in the centre of the lower circle of 
 the / hole (which it will not quite fill), and holding exactly under- 
 neath it a small block of wood to press against, pressr the punch 
 firmly into the wood, twisting it at the same time, so as to cut 
 out a little disc of wood. You need not punch right through, 
 but no harm is done if y»a do ; indeed, the hole going through 
 to the flat side serves as a guide when you begin to scoop out 
 the belly. Repeat the process with the smaller punch for the 
 upper circle of the/, and as with the larger piercer punch out 
 the upper holes in the same manner with the smaller. You 
 must be very careful to place it exactly before beginning to cut, 
 for you will find that the smaller punch (c, Fig. 127) has exactly 
 the diameter of the upper circles of the /hole, Fig. 153. (The 
 big punch is just smaller than the lower circles.) After (and 
 possibly during) this operation you must pick the pieces or discs 
 of wood out of the bore of the punches by means of a sharp 
 point (such as the marking point), being very careful in so 
 doing not to injure the cutting edge of the piercer or punch. 
 (Firf« page 223.) 
 
 Now commence to scoop out the belly, which is begun in the 
 same way as the back, placing the arched side downwards on the 
 cloth, and the edge against the beam ; and you will gouge it in a 
 manner similar to the back, so as to have it ^ inch thick all over. 
 Be very careful how you cut, for this belly pine is as tender as 
 cheese under the chisel, and before you know where you are, 
 you will find yourself through the plate, and an irremediable 
 injury done. If in an unguarded or absent moment you cut it 
 too thin, you must take one of the thick shavings which fits the 
 gouge mark which has gone too deep, glue it in neatly, closely, 
 and firmly, by means of the apparatus figured on p. 310 
 (Fig. 191), and in the manner there described, and when it is 
 dry go on with the operation. When this has gone as far as it 
 is safe to go with the gouge, take the sharpest and finest curved 
 oval plane, and plane over the entire inside of the belly most 
 carefully, till all the gouge marks have faded into the plane 
 furrows. You may then cut your // holes, which at present 
 are only punched out as above described. They are cut out 
 with a very fine-bladed knife, which is introduced from under- 
 neath, holding the belly with your hand against your body for 
 the purpose. Begin by cutting round the lower circle, so a? 
 
THE BELLY. 
 
 257 
 
 exactly to conform to the pencil marking whicli will be just 
 cut away : then cut the lower curve of the /, always cutting 
 against the grain and inwards — i.e., towards the centre join 
 of the plate ; otherwise, you will infallibly split off the corner 
 of the " wing " (h in Fig. 153), and such a mishap is 
 almost irremediable. K you do have an accident, and can 
 preserve the tiny bit chipped off, glue it on at once, wedging it 
 in its place by means of shavings set in the lower circle of the 
 f. When you get to the lower point (i, Fig. 153), press the knife 
 strongly, and work it through the narrow channel into the long 
 part of the/, and proceed as follows : — Cut a groove right down 
 the centre of the j with two carefully guided but strong cuts 
 of the knife, and pick out the splinter thus loosened. Continue 
 this groove till you go through to the 
 other side, and then, working carefully 
 ■from underneath as before, cut out all 
 the wood in the long part of the f, 
 keeping most carefully to the pencil 
 lines, and being especially cautious when 
 you are cutting in the channel I. The 
 top curve and circle are cut out the 
 same as the lower one, the crannies G 
 are neatly cut out, and the opposite/ 
 'hole is cut out in the same manner. 
 If you chip off a corner (h) beyond 
 hope of repair, or lose the piece, you 
 must remedy it by cutting the angle at 
 I sharper and that at H more obtuse, 
 and making the opposite f similar. 
 But it will be a thousand pities if you 
 mar the symmetry of your belly by 
 such a mishap, so guard against it hy 
 always cutting against the grain in the direction H to I, and never 
 I to H. (Fig. 153.) 
 
 The // holes being cut out, they will serve as a further guide in 
 determining the thicknesses ; so with the finest plane and the 
 scraper proceed finally to adjust them inside the gauged border- 
 line and block-boundaries, till they are left as follows, according to 
 Fig. 154, which represents the inside view of the belly : — ^At the 
 centre, A A, it must have a substance of -^ (just over | inch) ; 
 it must only just thin oif (say ^ less) at the edges marked 
 c, c, c, c, and must be a shade thicker just over the sound-post 
 B, which, it will be noticed, is placed on the left in the figure 
 which represents the underneath surface of the helly. Finally, 
 adjust these thicknesses by means of sand-paper, and then 
 
 17 
 
 Fig. 154). — Diagram explaining tbe 
 thickneBses of the belly and 
 the setting of the bar. 
 
258 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 correct any little faults or roughnesses which may be found 
 round the // holes, being, of course, cautious not to alter their 
 shape in any way. 
 
 You can now shape your bar, and affix it to the belly, first of 
 all marking the place where it is to go, as follows : — It will be 
 placed on the right-hand side of the belly (as you work at the 
 inside). Make three small marks at the exact centre of the belly. 
 1, at the broadest part of the upper bouts, D ; 2, exactly midway 
 between the crannies of the two // holes, e ; and, 3, at the 
 broadest parts of the lower bouts, F. If your join is exactly in 
 the centre, these marks will be on the join; but it sometimes 
 happens that it is not quite so, in which case the true centres 
 must be marked between the outside edges with compasses, and 
 a line drawn to connect the three marks. Now on the right of 
 these three marks, make three other marks, G, H, i ; the top 
 mark G being | inch from the exact centre, d ; the middle one, 
 H, being 4 inch from the centre mark E ; and the lower one, i, 
 being f inch from the centre mark F, and 
 connect them with a pencil line. Now from 
 two points rather to the right of the top and 
 bottom blocks draw the two short lines J, k, 
 I i^ of an inch from the upper and lower 
 edges, and lengthen the line G H i till it touches 
 them. This line, therefore, marks the exact 
 locale of the bar which will be glued, with its 
 outer edge just touching it. Take a strip of 
 fine even-grained pine, about 11 inches long, 
 and plane it till it is just -^ inch thick through- 
 outits length, and perfectly straightand parallel. 
 Fie. i66.-Metiiod of Qq^ jt about 1 inch broad, and slope off" the two 
 
 raismg the wmg a . ,i ,'., Vi , i ,i 
 
 of the /hole. ends on one side, so that it roughly takes the 
 
 shape of the inside of the belly, and cut it so that its two ends 
 touch the points J and K. Now make a mark on, and draw a 
 line across, this rough bar at the point h (Fig. 154), and mark 
 the top and bottom of the bar to distinguish them. Before 
 commencing to fit the bar, take a slip of wood about 4 
 inches long, and about ^ thick, and ^ broad ; insert this into 
 the middle of the / hole nearest the bar (i.e., the left-hand one, 
 looking at the front of the belly), and under the corner, as in 
 Fig. 155, which represents the operation viewed from the out- 
 side of the belly. Its object and result will be to press up the 
 "wing," a, and press down the lower wing, h. The strings 
 will correct this discrepancy by their pressure ; if this precau- 
 tion were not taken, the pressure of the strings would force 
 the wing a, below the wing b, which would be hideous to the 
 
THE BELLY. 259 
 
 last degree. This precaution gives the belly a temporary excess 
 of rise at this^ point, to which artificial rise the bar is fitted, to 
 maintain it till the greater influence of the strings is exerted. 
 The bar being roughly rounded to shape, it may now be 
 accurately fitted ; for this purpose it is set in the belly, and 
 fixed at its two ends with sound bar clips (Fig. 130). It being 
 thus held, you can hold it sideways, and mark on one side where 
 it must be cut down ; take it off, correct it, and reset it with 
 the clips over and over again, till it adheres closely all over the 
 edge to the belly, throughout its length. Care must be taken 
 each time you set it in the belly, to place the centre mark on the 
 bar, on the point H on the belly (Fig. 154), and also to place 
 the top of the bar at the top of the belly, and vice versa.. 
 
 This operation of fitting the bar may be done in ten minutes, 
 and it may take hours, for it must be absolutely exact through- 
 out its length, so that when glued it seems to be cut out of one 
 solid piece with the belly, and again, it must be at exact right 
 angles with the edges of the belly, as in Fig. 83 (p. 149), which 
 wiU be more difficult to attain, because of the slope of the arch- 
 ing. When, however, being fixed by the clips, you can no 
 longer see a cranny below it at any point, it may be just 
 finished with a flat file and glued into its place — i.e., just on the 
 line G H I (Fig. 154) ; if, by reason of the narrowness of your 
 model, the bar overhangs the top circle of the/ hole, so as to 
 obstruct it, it must be set throughout its length and parallel 
 to the line G H i, a little nearer the centre, so as just to clear 
 the hole of the /.■ if this would involve too great a shift towards 
 the centre, a little scoop may be taken out of the side of the^bar 
 so that the hole of the /is not obstructed. When glued, it must 
 be fixed in its place by means of three wooden bar cramps 
 (Fig. 131) and left to dry. Whilst gluing in the bar you 
 may as well " size " the belly ends of the blocks with glue, to 
 fin up the pores before gluing on the belly, in the same way 
 as you did before gluing on the back {q. v.), i.e., with glue, 
 hot iron, and file. When the gluing of the bar is dry, take a 
 small fine plane and cut it into shape, which, when finished, 
 should be as follows in the middle : {i.e., at the point H, 
 Fig. 154) it should be f of an inch deep ; therefore plane away 
 tiU this depth is obtained at H, and the top of the bar is plain 
 and straight ; then proceed to finally " shape " it. From the 
 point c (Fig. 156) it must soften off to the belly at the ends, the 
 extreme ends being finished with a knife, not scalloped, but 
 merely softened down to the belly, so as to have about the shape 
 of Fig. 156 ; a shows the finishing of the ends, b the shaping of 
 the edge of the bar not glued to the belly ; this last is obtained 
 
260 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 by means of a file and sand-paper. When the bar is thus 
 finished, take three squares of glass-paper of progressive fine- 
 ness (the last being very fine), and carefully smooth the whole 
 inside of the belly till it is perfectly soft to the touch. Then take 
 a flat and round file and bevel off the inside edge of the belly 
 in the same way as described for the inside edge of the back (as 
 represented at Fig. 151), then in a manner similar to that there 
 described, clean and smooth the edge you have left round the, 
 scooping of the belly, and this having been done, your belly is 
 ready to glue on. For this operation you must increase the 
 glui?. in the pot to twice its bulk by the addition of water, so as 
 to dilute the glue, and render it much weaker than that with 
 which you "sized" the blocks and fixed on the back. The object 
 of this is that the belly may have to come off some day for repairs, 
 etc., and if it were fixed on with the ordinarily strong glue, this 
 would be an impossibility. Some people, before gluing on their 
 bellies, put curious, historical, or sentimental inscriptions out of 
 sight up in the upper bouts of the fiddle. The old luthiers 
 
 ft B 
 
 Pia. 156.— Final shaping of the Bass-har. 
 
 were very great at this, and now in taking the bellies off 
 old fiddles, quaint couplets and mottoes are often brought to 
 light. Before applying the glue (which is not done after the 
 belly is fitted, as in the case of the back), set the belly on the 
 ribs with a couple of screws, and look round it to note the 
 points where the sides will require pressing or stretching to shape, 
 for the longer the time that elapses between the gluing on or 
 the back and of the belly, the more will the ribs twist and warp 
 out of shape. When, by this means, you have arrived at an 
 approximate notion of what difficulties you will have to contend 
 with, spread the glue quickly all over the top edges of the 
 blocks, sides, and linings, being very careful not to let any run 
 down inside, for though any that runs down outside may be 
 washed off, any that trespasses inside cannot be removed after 
 the belly is on. Having got a buttering of glue spread all 
 round, set the belly on, and screw it fast all round, beginning 
 with the C's, or inner bouts, being most particular to avoid the 
 corners^ (as in Fig. 157), then fitting the ribs and putting on 
 the other screws and cramps the same as with the back. This 
 
 ' If you do by any chance split a corner, mend it at once according to the 
 directions given for " Repairs" (p. 308). 
 
THE BELLY. 261 
 
 must be done quickly, but not without care in adjusting the 
 
 edges, for the glue soon sets ; and particularly do not attempt 
 
 this performance until you have precluded all possibility of 
 
 draughts or currents of air, which would seriously increase your 
 
 difficulties ; but to counteract any evil 
 
 which may arise from the premature setting fT\ 
 
 of the glue, the application of the hot water, Vl^ 
 
 when you wash the superfluous glue from ^'^ 
 
 the sides, will remelt it a little and aid the (C^J 
 
 operation of fixing the belly. When the ^^ 
 
 screws are applied, set a slip of wood in f( 
 
 the / hole from one of the screws, to keep ^^ y 
 
 down the lower wing and raise the upper /^ "j / 
 
 one (just as a while ago you set a similar y 
 
 slip from the corner), as shown in Fig. 157. / 
 
 This being done, take a brush and some \ _»' j 
 
 hot water and wash all round the sides, ^ -^^^ "* 
 
 to remove any superfluous glue, and to (( j 
 
 re-warm and set that which is spread to ^ 
 
 keep the belly on. In applying the 
 
 screws to both back and belly, when fixing fi&. li"?.— Arrangement of 
 
 ,, ii_ 1. 1 I? ii_ /• -m- -1 n^ screws m fixmg belly 
 
 them, the head or the screw (a, ±ig. 129) (to avoid the comers), 
 must be on the side of the table which is being glued 
 {not the moving collar b), otherwise when you wash away the 
 superfluous glue it will get washed into the collar b, and fix 
 it to the screw. Set the belly aside in a warm place to dry, 
 and when quite fast, remove the screws. You will now look 
 round the edges, and wherever they appear to be too broad in 
 proportion, (i.e., too far from the sides), they can be reduced 
 and made equal by means of a sharp knife and file, the correc- 
 tions being neatly finished with glass-paper. 
 
 ' The trembling lute some touch, some strain the viol best, 
 In sets which there were seen, the music wondrous choice. 
 Some likewise there affect the gamba with the voice." 
 
 (M. Drayton, " Polyolbion," Song iv. [1613]) 
 
CHAPTER XIX, 
 
 PURFLING AND FINISHING THE BODY. 
 
 Marking the Purfling— The Pegs — The Purfling— Fitting— Fixing — Raising the 
 Edges and Comers — Final Scraping — Sand-papering — The Best — Fitting — 
 Fixing — Finishing — Eonnding the Edges — Finishing the Body "in the 
 White-" 
 
 It is now that you will see the advantage of not having purfled 
 before scooping out the back and belly. If you had done so, 
 your edges must have remained as originally cut, whether quite 
 coincidental with the ribs or not ; but as it is, where for the 
 sake of uniformity you now slightly reduce the edges, the 
 purfling may be made to follow the correction which it will 
 now hide, instead of showing it up, as it would have done if 
 already inlaid. Take the purfling gauge (Fig. 133), and setting 
 the cutter (which must be thoroughly sharp) -^-^ inch from the 
 rounded part of the stem A, trace a line (not letting the cutter 
 sink deep) all round the tables (back and belly). Then reduce 
 the distance from the cutter to the stem to -3%, trace another 
 line round back and belly, which will thus be xV outside the first. 
 This seems simple enough to say, but you will find it most 
 difficult to preserve a uniform distance from the edge, the 
 stem requiring to be pressed very strongly against the edge, 
 as it travels round, especially on the tender pine of the belly, 
 and it will be most difficult to preserve the second line at 
 an exact distance of ^V from the first ; however, festina lente, 
 and patience, and careful perseverance will overcome all this 
 difficulty. Mind and not cut these marks too deep ; they are 
 only to serve as guides for the knife in cutting the groove in 
 which the purfling is laid. The curve of the marking will 
 have been interrupted at the top of the back by the button, 
 and the corners must be re-marked to have the purfling pointed 
 across them in true Stradiuarius style. If j'ou look at any 
 Stradiuarius yon will see that at the corners the purfling is not 
 finished ofi^ in the middle of the corner (as at A, Fig. 158), but 
 pointed up (or down, as the case may be) to the point B, as at 
 c, Fig. 158. This is a small particular, but it is a great point in 
 
PUEFLING AND FINISHING THE BODY. 
 
 263 
 
 the purfling of Stradiuarius. To mark this " style," and to 
 complete the tracing of the purfling, prepare a slip of wood 
 exactly similar to the shaded piece on Fig. 158, which is prepared 
 from a Stradiuarius instrument. The contour a, a, a, a, represents 
 the completion of the curve at the top of the back, underneath 
 the button, which may be traced by its means. The purfling at 
 the corners is at present as shown by the dotted line at A. The 
 guide slip must be set on the 8 corners, coinciding with the 
 curve as at D, in Fig. 158, but, as there shown, altering the 
 position of the point as at c. The curve of the purfling in the 
 inner bouts must be brought round to 
 meet this point as at c, so that when 
 finished the tracing of the purfling will 
 be as represented by the double lines 
 D D', Fig. 158. When these are marked, 
 proceed with a sharp-pointed knife to 
 cut round the two lines of the tracing 
 on back and belly till the purfling is 
 marked by two even, parallel, and 
 cleanly-cut lines yV °^ ^" ^°^^ ^^®P- 
 You must be most careful in this 
 
 operation to guard against letting the 
 
 knife slip away from the lines, as this 
 
 will spoil the symmetry of the purfling, 
 
 and in the purfling it is that the true 
 
 delicacy of handling and workmanship 
 
 really shows itself in the construction 
 
 of the fiddle. When the lines are cut, 
 
 pick out the wood from between them 
 
 with the purfling chisel (Fig. 135), 
 
 being very careful that the lines are cut 
 
 deep enough at the corners, or you will 
 
 pick out a piece too much at this point, 
 
 and spoil its finish. Let the depth be 
 
 made even and smooth all round the 
 
 instrument before proceeding further. 
 
 The next step is to put in the pegs ; these are the small, 
 
 round spots of wood let into old fiddles at the top and bottom 
 
 of the back (vide p. 164), for the reasons already set forth— namely, 
 
 to fill the hole made by the bradawl thrust m to secure the 
 
 back and belly at these points when fitting them to the sides, 
 
 before the iron cramps were used for this purpose. . 
 
 You will notice that every Stradiuarius viohn has them just 
 
 so placed in the back, on the join, that they are cut ih two 
 
 halves (of which only one is left) by the purflmg, as at A, in 
 
 Fia. 168.— Method of purflmg in 
 the comers; and outline for 
 marking purfling under the 
 button. 
 
264 VIOLIN-MAKING: AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 Fig. 92. Although these are not absolutely necessary to the 
 fiddle, yet, as you are working on the Strad. model, they 
 impart a finish to your fiddle as a copy. Take a round, sharp- 
 pointed tool (such as the marking-point), and press a hole just 
 where the centre join of the fiddle meets the groove cut for 
 the purfling (as in Fig. 92), so that half the hole is in the 
 groove. Make a similar hole at the bottom to correspond, and 
 also similar ones in the belly at top and bottom, and then cut 
 your four pegs to fit. These are made out of a rod of maple, 
 not highly figured, but of a colour or tone which contrasts with 
 the maple of the back. Cut the rod to a long, round point, like 
 a pencil, cut off the extreme end, and finish it Math a file, so that 
 it exactly sticks into the hole you have made ; cut off the point 
 about -j^ inch long, and tap it into the hole, so as to stick whilst 
 you fit the rest of the pegs. When all are cut, dip each one 
 into glue, and fix it into its hole with a good smart tap, and 
 leave them to dry thoroughly. When this is accomplished, cut 
 off" the projecting ends, so as to make them flush wiiJi the back, 
 and cut off as much from the sides of the pegs as projects into 
 the groove cut for the purfling (i.e., half the diameter), which 
 will reduce it, as in Fig. 92. Now take a brush full of water 
 and wet all round the grooves on back and belly, wiping off 
 superfluous moisture with a cloth. This will throw any defects 
 in the uniformity of the grooves into prominence, and this will 
 enable you the better to correct any such irregularities. When 
 this has been done, you will be ready to put in your purfling. 
 Purfling, as I have said before (page 163), is composed of a 
 strip of plane wood between two strips of the same wood 
 stained black (not, as some have supposed, a strip of rosewood 
 between two of ebony). The exceedingly delicate diameter of 
 these strips may be imagined when we reflect that the three 
 glued together and inlaid only present a diameter of xV inch. 
 Purfling may be bought of any fiddle-maker ; and I should 
 advise the amateur to purchase his purfiing ready cut, though 
 I shall tell him how to prepare it for himself. It is sold in 
 two forms ; in separate strips of plain black and white, and also 
 as a sandwich, ready glued together ; the latter is perhaps the 
 easier to work with, but is terribly liable to split, and in putting 
 it in it will be necessary to dip the ends in the hot water of the 
 glue-pot for an instant (not long enough to unglue it) before 
 giving the ends the strong bend necessary at the corners and 
 centre bouts. An experienced fiddle-maker will always prefer 
 to inlay three separated strips together rather than chance a 
 split with the ready-made purfling. If you use the disintegrated 
 pui-fling of the thorough luthier, it is prepared as follows : Get 
 
PUEFLING AND FINISHING THE BODY. 265 
 
 some long strips of plane veneer in the natural state, and some 
 also stained black, as thin as you can ; cut it, for convenience' 
 sake, into leaves four inches by two feet, and reduce it by means 
 of scraping as nearly as possible to a uniform thickness of ^V 
 inch at the most Now make one edge absolutely straight and 
 true (by means of a steel rule and knife), and then cut it up, by 
 the same means, into strips xj inch broad. When you have got 
 double as much black as white, you can proceed to fit it to the 
 grooves, commencing, as usual, with the c's, or inner bouts. 
 Take three strips (two black and one white), or a piece of 
 sandwich which you judge to be long enough to fit the bout 
 you are working on ; make the ends (at one end) even, and 
 mth a sharp knife bevel off the three together, as in Fig. 159. 
 Fit this point close up into the corner shown in Fig. 158, and 
 carrying the strips round the centi-e bout to the other corner, 
 fit them into the other corner with another bevel, which you 
 must be careful not to make too short, fitting it, in point of fact, 
 much the same as you fitted your ribs into the mould, as 
 described at page 232. Next proceed to fit in 
 another three from the corner either to the centre 
 join, or, right round the upper (or lower) bouts 
 to the opposite corner. If you cut them to the 
 centre join, you. must make the point of union very 
 close, square, and, if possible, imperceptible, 
 especially in the back. In the belly you need not ris.iss.— purmng. 
 care about making so exquisite a job,' for the 'toltlmf^"'^^ 
 purfling will be cut away at the top in the forma- 
 tion of the chamber cut to receive the neck, and will be hidden 
 by the finger-board, and at the bottom by the chamber cut 
 to receive the rest, and will be hidden by the tail-piece. For 
 the same reasons it is often omitted to put the pegs (Fig. 92) 
 into the belly. When you have got the purfling fitted all 
 round both back and belly, you can proceed to glue it. For 
 this purpose the purflings must be taken 'out, a sandwich (or a 
 set) at a time, the grooves filled with glue, and the sandwich 
 \or three strips) replaced, being most careful to make them fit 
 accurately at the comers, and particularly at the joints at the 
 top and bottom of the back, where the three strips must join 
 those opposite so exactly as to render the join imperceptible 
 (unless of course you have purfled in one long strip from corner 
 to corner). This is best effected by cutting off the ends at 
 the join, slanting downwards from the top edge, just as the 
 linings of the inner bouts were fitted into the corner blocks, as 
 shown in Fig. 144. Mind and use plenty of glue before setting 
 the strins into the grooves ; for remember, it has not only to fiy 
 
"266 violin-making: as it was and is. 
 
 the purflings into the groove, but also, if you use three strips, 
 to permeate between the component strips themselves, to keep 
 them together. It also fills up and disguises any errors or faults 
 in the cutting of the groove, which it is impossible (especially 
 for an amateur) to obviate ; therefore, when the purflings are 
 set in the groove, it is well to run a little glue all round them 
 with a little slip of wood to fill up anywhere where there was 
 not snfilcient. 
 
 The purflings are tapped into the groove all round with 
 a little hammer to insure their sinking well into it. The 
 superfluous glue is then wiped ofi' with a cloth, and the whole 
 thing is left to dry thoroughly. When this is effected, cut the 
 purflings down level with the surfaces of the back and belly by 
 means of a sharp, flat gouge. The defects (if any) will now be 
 brought into prominence, but cannot be remedied. However, 
 we console ourselves that if slight defects exist in our purfling, 
 they exist also, if carefully looked for, in the works of the finest 
 Cremonese masters. Now take a flat file, and rub right round 
 the tops of the edges (left as in Fig. 151), with a view to cleaning 
 them and removing any slight inequalities which may have 
 invaded them since they were last corrected. Now open the 
 spring compass (a. Fig. 126) ^ of an inch, and draw a line all 
 round the edges of the instrument, open them again f inch, and 
 draw a second line round the edge inside, the first, from which 
 it is consequently distant -^. (It wUl be observed that this 
 operation resembles, in all respects, excepting its measurements, 
 the processes by which we originally sunk the edge, as shown 
 by Fig. 148.) Now take a gouge and sink a trough all round, 
 cutting out the wood (and with it the top of the purfling) about 
 ^f inch deep, being most careful to keep exactly between the 
 lines, and make the hollow quite smooth and even. Lower the 
 wood also at the corners by gouging down between the points 
 of the purfling, so that the sinking round the edge follows the 
 guitar outline of the inside of the fiddle, and throws the corners 
 and edges into that bold relief which is such a beauty in a well- 
 finished fiddle. 
 
 When you have gone all round, go all over the ground, bring- 
 ing the outside and inside edges of the trough exactly true to 
 the marked lines all round. Then take the smallest oval toothed 
 plane (Fig. 125), with the finest and sharpest toothed iron, and 
 plane all round the inside of the groove, so as to melt this 
 trough into the rise of the belly or back (it is, of course, under- 
 stood that these operations must be repeated on both tables), and 
 bring the edge once more to the curve represented at B, Fig. 148. 
 Now take a sharp scraper and scrape all round where there are 
 
PUKFLING AND FINISHING THE BODY. 
 
 267 
 
 any plane or gouge marks, and, indeed, more or less all over the 
 tables, so as to bring it as smooth and clean as it was after the 
 principal scraping set down in Chapter XVI. Let them be 
 wetted and re-scraped two or three times, to get them beautifully 
 smooth and soft. They must then be sand-papered three times, 
 beginning with a medium roughness and ending with the finest. 
 Rub the sand-paper wp and down the tables the way of the 
 grain, and just round inside the groove you have sunk round 
 the edge. Be careful not to rub on the edge thus left, or you 
 will rub it down, especially at the corners, which must be 
 carefully worked into with a corner of sand-paper, so as not to 
 encroach upon the edge at all, but at the same time so as to clear 
 away the roughness and gouge marks which are almost in- 
 evitable at these points. Rub all round and up to the edges of 
 the// holes, but not across them, as it is a great point that the 
 sharp angles made by the surface of the belly and the cutting 
 out of the //'s should be preserved. Between each rubbing wet 
 the surfaces all over with a sponge, and rub them dry directly 
 
 with a cloth. When you 
 give it the first or coarsest 
 rubbing, go also all round 
 the sides, which will be 
 by this time pretty con- 
 siderably dirty again. You 
 need, however, only give 
 the ribs one rubbing now, 
 and that with the coarses 
 of the three papers. Fort 
 all these operations it is best to hold the fiddle on a clean towel 
 spread across the knees. 
 
 The next operation is the fixing in of the " rest," or piece of 
 ebony which protects the edge of the fiddle from the pressure 
 exerted by the loop of the tail-piece, and which is represented in 
 position at E, Fig. 105 (p. 195). Take the spring compasses (b, 
 Fig, 126), and opening them f inch, mark two points (a, a', 
 Fig. 160) on the lower edge of the fiddle, 1^ inches apart ; i.e., 
 each being measured exactly f inch from the centre of the lower 
 bouts. Take as the centre point from which to measure, the joint 
 (purfied or otherwise) of the two lower bouts, not the centre join 
 of the belly (if this latter does not coincide with the former — i.e., 
 it is more important that it should be true to the tail-pin and 
 centre of the lower bouts than to the join of the belly). Now 
 with a sharp, thin knife at these two points make two clean cuts 
 (a, a'. Pig. 160) right down to the top of the ribs, but not deeper, 
 so as to cut into the ribs. The cuts must extend on to the 
 
 I'iS. ISO.— The operations of cutting, fitting, and 
 fiiiishing the Rest. 
 
268 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 surface just through the purfling, as in Fig. 160, A, A'. Now 
 with a straight-edge and knife connect these two with a straight 
 line, B, b', which will cover part of the purfling. Draw the 
 knife along this till it is as deep as the other two (a, a'), and 
 then the wood comprised by these lines may be cut and picked 
 out with a knife, leaving a little right-angled chamber (formed 
 by the thickness of the belly and the tops of the lower bouts and 
 bottom block) to receive the rest, which may now be cut. If by 
 misadventure in making the cuts. A, A', the edge gets a little split, 
 on either side, it must be cut away, and a corresponding slip cut 
 down on the other side, so as to make the cutting, though wider, 
 still true to the centre join of the ribs and the tail-pin. I need not 
 remark that the cutting must be quite square and perpendicular 
 to the top surface of the bottom block. Now take a little slip of 
 ebony. If inch long by f inch broad, and f inch deep. Make 
 two sides quite square and true to one another, and adjust the 
 length with plane, file, and knife, so that it just fits tightly into 
 the chamber cut, as in Fig. 160. Never mind about cutting it 
 flush with the edge of the fiddle, this will do when it is fixed ; 
 round the upper surface, as at D, Fig. 160, and shape off the ends 
 roughly, as at c. Fig. 160. Put plenty of good glue into the 
 chamber, set the roughly finished rest in it, tap it in fast with a 
 little hammer, so as to fix it, and wipe off the superfluous glue 
 with the brush and warm water, and leave the fiddle to dry. 
 When dry finish it off carefully by cutting it even with the lower 
 edge, and fiush with the belly at the bevelled ends, which last 
 must be exact and equal to one another. Round off the top, so 
 that it is about ^ inch above the edge of the belly. These 
 operations are done with a sharp knife and fiat file ; the Rest as 
 finished must then be scraped quite smooth. Now take a set of 
 files, and go right round the edge of both back and belly, 
 making them quite round by filing both corners of the edge, 
 till the line from the under to the upper sides of the edge is a 
 perfectly even curve. When this is done, go round the edges 
 thus rounded and smooth off all file marks with sand-paper of a 
 medium fineness, give the ribs a final thorough sand-papering, 
 and the body of your fiddle is finished "in the white," and can 
 be put away out of dust,. etc., until the neck and scroll are ready 
 to go on. 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 
 THE NECK AND SCROLL. 
 
 fhe Wood — Preparation — Marking Outline— Cntting-out — Marking and Shaping 
 out the Neok and Scroll — Boughing out the Volute — Finishing the Volute 
 — HoUowing the Back of the Head— The Peg-box — Finishing the Head— 
 The Neck— Fitting the Neck to the Body of the Fiddle— Cutting out the 
 Chamber— Shaping the Shoulder — Testing the Fit — Fising — The False 
 Finger-board- The Button— The Shoulder— Finishing the Neck and 
 Shoulder — Final Operations. 
 
 First proceed to prepare the maple for the neck and scroll. 
 This is stored in blocks slightly wedge-shaped lOJ inches long, 
 2| inches broad, the depth of the wedge, thinning from 2 to 1^ 
 inches. Plane one side perfectly smooth and even, like the 
 slabs for the back and belly, then with a small plane and 
 T-square, square to the planed side the 2-inch (or thicker) edge 
 of the block. When this is done, and the square is quite true, 
 take an ordinary cutting or marking gauge, and mark a line 
 along the thick edge Ij^ inches from the planed side. Then 
 make the other side smooth and square to the planed thick edge 
 by planing down to the gauged line. This done, you wiU have 
 a block lOJ inches long, about 2^ broad, one edge 1^ deep, 
 squared and planed, the other edge left rough, and your neck 
 block is prepared for work. 
 
 You may now proceed to mark and cut out the neck and 
 scroll. In Plate IV. is given the outline of a Stradiuarius scroll 
 corresponding with the outline of the model on which we are 
 working. In page 159 are given directions for copying any 
 scroll on to paper. Let a tracing of the scroll given in Plate IV., 
 or your own scroll outline, be glued on to a thin plank or leaf 
 of wood (like the plank outline of the whole fiddle), and cut it 
 out in the same way very exactly, so that you have, in fact. 
 Fig. 161 in thin wood. Now all along, or rather round the line 
 a, a, a of the volute, pierce with a small drill small holes, so that 
 the form of the scroll is marked on the plank by a perforated 
 volute, as in Plate IV. Now on the front of this outline make 
 three little notches at the points A, B, c. Fig. 161, and you have 
 the complete model for marking the neck and scroll, as at Fig. 85. 
 
270 
 
 VIOLIN-MAKING: AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 You will remember that one side of the block prepared for 
 the neck is smooth and squared, and the other side is left rough. 
 Now fasten the plank outline of the neck and scroll on to one 
 smooth face of the block against the squared and planed side of 
 the block, as in Fig. 161, taking the square D, E, f, g to represent 
 the block, and G F its squared side, the outline just touching the 
 edge at the points H, A, b, as in the figure. It is important that 
 it be flush with the edge at A and B, but at H it may be just a 
 shade lower, as in the figure, to allow for the cutting. 
 
 Now with the marking-point mark the exact outline, marking 
 a rougher one outside it with a pencil ; now by means of a 
 square, mark across the smooth edge, G F, of the block three 
 Unes at the points A, b, c, Fig. 161, exactly at the notches, A, B, c. 
 These will serve as a guide where to fix the out- 
 1 ^/fgC I ^^°® °° *^® other side, which is done by unfasten- 
 
 L' /jgO _ ing it, and fastening it to exactly the same position 
 
 by making the notches A, b, c exactly coincide 
 with the lines marked across the edge, and mark 
 the outline in the same way with point and 
 pencil, and thus you have two outlines marked 
 exactly on either side opposite one another. 
 Before removing the plank outline from either 
 side, mark the volute of the scroll by thrusting 
 a point through each of the drilled holes, a, a, a, 
 which indicate it on the outline, by which the 
 volute of perforations in the outline model will 
 be marked by little dents on the outline drawn 
 on either side of the block. 
 
 Now proceed to cut out the block, following 
 the outer (or pencil) line of your markings with 
 the bow-saw, which must be held verv upright to 
 
 Fio. 161.— Plank out- j.'j. j- • ■ -j 1t_ t • 
 
 lime of Neck and prevent it exceeding or going mside the markmg 
 Scroll (on block) ^,^ ^^^ uudcr-side (i.e., the marking other than the 
 one you are following with the saw). In marking the outline, you 
 must trace round the line b, c, d, e, f, g, h, Fig. 161, but not along 
 the line i k, if the plank outline does not exactly follow the 
 smooth edge. 
 
 Finally, you have now, instead of the neck-block, an outline 
 of the neck and scroll shown by the line b, c, d, e, f, g, h, exactly 
 like the plank outline you have been marking from ; but instead 
 of being ^ inch thick, it has the thickness of the whole block, 
 and instead of having the volute marked by perforated holes, 
 each side bears the curl marked by small indentations, a, a, a, 
 in the wood. There will be a slight margin of wood just out- 
 side the line made by the marking-point. This must now be 
 
THE NECK AND SCEOLL. 
 
 271 
 
 carefolly removed, and the surface of the scroll block made 
 perfectly square by means of a chisel and file, till from side to 
 side the block is perfectly plane and square to the sides. 
 
 Now proceed to mark the design of your scroll on the back 
 and front of the block. First find the exact centre of the front 
 
 
 
 
 
 Fis. 162.— Outlines (Zinc) for marking front and back o( Scroll (actual size). 
 
 and back of the scroll block, on the block outline you have 
 obtained by the foregoing directions, which is l^J inches across, 
 you will find the centre OKactly ff from each side ; having found 
 it and set a gauge to this distance, mark a centre line right 
 round the neck and -scroll, being careful that the side along 
 which you run the gauge is the plane side from which you 
 
272 
 
 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 squared and planed the two other surfaces. With the aid of 
 this centre line proceed to mark your scroll by means of a set of 
 three models, made of pliable zinc or soft brass, taken from 
 some acknowledged master-violin. The outlines, Fig. 162, are 
 taken from the Stradiuarius fiddle from which I have taken all 
 the models with which I have presented my readers, A being 
 the front, B the back of the head, and c the front of the volute. 
 First set the fine end of the model, A, Fig. 162, up under the 
 
 ' ^1 1 - 
 ■3; k lip 
 
 .1 
 
 JPia. 163, —Neck Block marked for cutting 
 out (back and front views). 
 
 Fig. 164.- Commencement of cutting out 
 Neck and Scroll. 
 
 volute on the front of the scroll, so that, as in A, it exactly 
 coincides with the centre line drawn round the block, as shown 
 by the line drawn down the front of the model A (Fig. 162), 
 and the opening in the centre thereof. At present only the 
 lines A, B (Figs. 163 and 164) are marked on the block ; it 
 will now be found that the bottom of A, Fig. 162, just reaches 
 the line A, Fig. 163, so by the model A, Fig. 162, you can mark 
 the lines d, d'. Fig. 163. Next set the top of the model, B 
 (Fig. 162), at the top of the scroll block, and similarly mark 
 
THJE NECK AND SCROLL. 
 
 273 
 
 b:: 
 
 J — D 
 
 the back of the scroll with the lines e, b', as in Fig. 163. Now 
 mark the front of the scroll, setting the model C (Fig. 162) on 
 the centre line, coinciding with the tops of the lines E, e, 
 Fig. 162, and mark the lines F, f'. These being done, you may 
 roughly elongate the lines D, d' and e, e' to G, g' on back and 
 front, as in Fig. 163. Be careful, however, to leave plenty of 
 breadth between G and g', which should be at least 1| inch apart. 
 
 Meanwhile, the sides of your neck-block are marked as in 
 Fig. 161, which is enlarged at Fig. 164, the volute (a a a, 
 Fig. 161) being marked by punctures in the wood, as there 
 described ; oow draw the line c c' in the position indicated in 
 Fig. 164, on both sides, and with a fine tenon saw cut down to 
 the lines d, d' and E, e' ; be careful not to go beyond either of 
 them on either side, for they are not opposite one another on back 
 and front (i.e., F, f' are much nearer the sides of the block 
 than D, d). 
 
 Now set the block 
 upside-down in the vice 
 so that about three 
 inches are above the 
 bench, and saw down 
 the lines G, g' to the 
 head, only sawing two 
 or tiiree inches at a 
 time, for the least 
 strain on the head will 
 split off the volute at 
 the line c c', turning the head down as you reach the line c c', so as 
 to finish off there neatly. The wood will therefore have been re- 
 moved along the lines G, g' to c c' so as to present the appearance 
 of Fig. 164. Now prithee be as careful as if you were catching 
 the sparks of a squib in a plate over a powder magazine, and 
 proceed as follows : — Make from the sides to the lines F, f' and 
 E, e', on back and front, the three cuts H H, i i, and J J, 
 Fig. 164, remove the pieces outside these cuts, and the corners 
 left round the outer volute by them, and take care not to cut 
 fi^ond any part of the lines F, f' and b, e' on either side. 
 
 You must, at this point, get hold of a good scroll, and copy 
 the obvious shape until, in the rough, you have got the spiral 
 from the cheek of the peg-box to the eye of the scroll m 
 (Fig. 164) perfect, proceeding gingerly with saw and gouges 
 I cannot describe it, words fail me to express the actual cuttings, 
 suffice it to say the model (without which, as a guide, you cannot 
 get on) must be carefully if roughly copied. When the spiral 
 ii? roughly hewed out, proceed to make the two sides exactly 
 
 18 
 
 M 
 
 1^ 
 
 
 A 
 
 A 
 
 '~rn 
 
 rH-T^ 
 
 - 
 
 1 
 
 ■v/ 
 
 \\l' 
 
 
 
 
 A 
 
 A 
 
 A- 
 
 B 
 
 1 
 
 \ 
 
 BACK 
 Fia. 165.— Front and baokot Volute (Geometrical). 
 
274 
 
 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 similar to one ianother, and perfectly true to the centre line, by 
 means of the spring compasses. Fig. 165 represents the geo- 
 metrical principles of the back and front of a properly cut 
 volute ; if you cannot copy by eye and hand, leave off fiddle- 
 making, for as a luthier you are a failure. Having made the 
 lines of the volute, as viewed back and front in Fig. 165, per- 
 fectly straight and parallel to one another, with chisels, gouges, 
 and files, proceed with a flat oval, or oblong plane (Fig. 125 or 
 136), to plane the cheeks of the peg-box smooth, making them 
 true to the centre line, by means of the spring compass, and 
 adjusting the breadth from your model — copy by the bow 
 compass (Fig. 132). Now, from the model b (Fig. 162), cut 
 out a thin slip of wood, like Fig. 166, by which to regulate 
 the cutting of the chin of the scroll, K (Figs. 163 and 164), 
 which must now be done with a sharp knife and file, so 
 that when viewed sideways it is pronounced and well-angled, 
 as in Fig. 164, and nicely rounded into the lines E, e', as in 
 Fig. 163, and at b, Fig. 162. Next, with a fine^bladed knife, 
 cut out and neatly form the corner under 
 the volute, l (Fig. 164), so that it follows 
 the model on Plate IV. Now open the 
 spring compasses ^ inch, and gauge 
 a line round the sides of the volute 
 from the eye of the scroll m (Fig. 164) 
 to the outer point c of the line c c' in 
 the same figure. This " edge " (as it 
 were) must be left in the subsequent 
 chiselling of the scroll. Taking this line as an outside margin 
 to be left flat, proceed to chisel the scroll, letting the lines 
 which appear perpendicular in Fig. 165 (back), a, a, and B, b, 
 sink in a little towai'ds the heart of the scroll, but keeping 
 the horizontal lines c, c, D, D, E, E, absolutely straight and 
 at right angles to the centre line, and exactly parallel with 
 and opposite one another, for these are the great beauties of 
 the Stradiuarius scroll ; any deviation from, or careless treat- 
 ment of, these particulars would render the scroll more 
 Guarnerius-like, and unworthy the model we are working 
 on. Now proceed to cut out the grooves down the back of the 
 scroll and around the volute (n, n. Figs. 163 and 164) ; this must 
 be done by fastening the head face downwards into the vice, and 
 grooving it out careinlly, taking the depth, etc., from the model 
 you are following. Before commencing to do so, open the 
 spring compass j\- inch, and mark a gauge line round the 
 back and over to the front of the scroll, similar to the one you 
 drew round the sides and volute ; the grooves, N, N, must be 
 
 Fio. 166.— Model for chin of 
 Scroll. 
 
NECK AND SCEOLL. 275 
 
 sunk between this gauge line and the centre line, which latter 
 must be left strong and clearly defined. One of the great 
 beauties of the Stradiuarius scroll is that these grooves are very 
 well marked and finished, and the outer edges of them are 
 deeper — ie., the curves are dejp^r than those rising to the cenj}re 
 ridge (as shown in Tig^JM). This yon will see on consulting 
 your copy. These PrtSves must be equal on both sides of the 
 centre line, and mijist come right over the scroll and under the 
 volute to the point l (Fig. 164) ; but this last had better be left 
 till the peg-box is cut out, which may now be done, first marking 
 it by opening the marking compass ^ inch, and drawing 
 a line down each side of the front of the scroll and along 
 the line A (Fig. 164), so as to enclose a space as shaded on 
 Fig. 164. N.B. — In case by the chiselling of the chin, the line 
 B is not exactly on a level with the base of the chin, as at 
 Fig. 164, it must be corrected — i.e., the line b (Fig. 164) must 
 be exactly opposite the chin, and the line A brought as before 
 just -i^ inch (the breadth of the nut) above it, as in the plate. 
 The peg-box, therefore, being marked as in 
 Fig. 164, proceed to cut it out, beginning with 
 a small gouge, and going on with gouge, knife, 
 and flat chisel, till the peg-box is cleanly and 
 sharply cut, as set down on page 158. The 
 cheeks are a little thinner just above the nut 
 than elsewhere, to allow the G and e string to 
 go from their pegs to the nut, clear of the cheeks, ^'^ 
 and at an equal distance from the others. Finish round the tlad. 
 the peg-box by scraping the bottom of it with the flat edge of the 
 chisel, and file the insides of the cheeks, and also the outsides, 
 quite clean and smooth with a flat file. File also the fronts of 
 the cheeks, to have them clean, smooth, and sharp-cornered, as 
 in Fig. 167. Your scroll is now therefore cut ; as I warned you 
 before commencing, the description of the process is, perforce, 
 meagre, and you must get a well-cut head as a model, which you 
 must work from more than my directions, which, after all, can 
 only serve as an outline of procedure. The measurements also 
 on page 158 are only approximate ; they vary, of course, 
 with every model ; and in this also you must be guided by 
 common sense and eye, without which you can never make 
 a fiddle, much less its head. This done, finish off the head as 
 near as you can with the chisel, then scrape it well with 
 a scraper, and sand-paper it thoroughly all over the curves and 
 in the corners of the volute. In cutting the grooves on the back, 
 etc., mind and leave the centre ridge prominent and untouched'; 
 the sand-papering, etc., will remove the pencil line from the top 
 
 COUbUlWt Ul' gi.VIUT 
 
276 VIOLIN MAKING : AS IT WAS AND I?. 
 
 of the ridge. To sand-paper the grooves you will find it a good 
 plan to roll a piece of sand-paper round the end of a penholder, 
 and work thns with a cylinder of sand-paper. When thoroughly 
 sand-papered, wet the head all over with a brush and cold 
 water ; this (as in the case of the hack and belly) will throw 
 up any faults, defects of scraping, etc., after which it must ba 
 thoroughly re-scraped, if necessary, and re-sand-papered, which 
 operations must be gone through some two or tlu-ee times. Be 
 most cautious not to alter the character of the head, or spoil 
 its lines by too vicious sand-papering. When this is done, 
 proceed to bevel oif the edges of the head, all round the head 
 and volute (but not inside the peg-box), extending the bevel 
 to lines, which should be very carefully and exactly gauged 
 round the corners ^ inch from the edges. Begin this 
 bevelling with the knife, and finish it with a file to make it 
 even, removing the file marks with fine sand-paper (but keep 
 the edges of the hevel sharp). This done, dip the head in water 
 for the last time, and when thoroughly dry polish it up 
 well with finest glass-paper, including the eye of the scroll, 
 which must be perfectly flat. As sand-papering the eye in the 
 ordinary way would almost inevitably result in rounding off 
 its edges, you will find it best to place a piece of sand-paper 
 on the bench, and rub the eye of the scroll flat upon it. Your 
 head is now finished, and it remains only therefore finally to 
 shape the neck and shoulder before setting it upon the body of 
 the violin. For this purpose you will require a neck outline, 
 which, though properly used for splicing heads (an operation 
 described further on), is useful here as well, and so may now 
 be made. It is represented by Fig. 168 (on Plate VI.) actual 
 size, and may therefore be copied in facsimile on a thin leaf of 
 wood. From the line b (Figs. 163 and 164) measure down the 
 centre line, and make a mark at a distance of S/j- inches from 
 B. Now with a square draw a line across the face of the neck 
 (as at G G', Figs. 163 and 164), and laying the neck outline 
 (Fig. 168, Plate VI.) on the side of the neck and scroll, so 
 that its lower point a is on the line drawn across the neck, as 
 above, and its straight edge corresponds throughout its length 
 with the flat side of the neck, mark on the rough shoulder of 
 the neck, as it is at present (n. Fig. 164), the slant and outline 
 of the true shoulder (as at o o. Fig. 164)^ as determined by the 
 neck outline (Fig. 168, Plate VI.) ; remove all wood well out- 
 side these lines with a fine tenon saw, and with a flat chisel and 
 plane, and slope off the sides of the shoulder till the under 
 surface presents the appearance shown in Fig. 169. This is done 
 as follows : Note the point on the line d d', Fig. 169 (the lower 
 
THE NECK AND SCEOLL. 277 
 
 edge of the face of the neck), where the centre hne, which 
 extends from the nut throughout its length, ends (at the point a). 
 From the point A, by means of a square laid on D d', draw a 
 centre line A a'. Open the spring compasses ^ inch, and 
 mark on each side of a' the points B, b', and finish the slopes 
 D B, d' b', which must be quite straight, true, and, above all 
 things, plane. 
 
 You can now proceed to fix your neck and scroll on the body 
 of the fiddle. With the spring compasses ascertain the exact 
 centre of the belly between the crannies of the two //holes, 
 and make a small mark; in like manner find and mark the 
 exact centre between the edges of the upper bouts at their 
 broadest part. A flat edge laid along the belly coinciding with 
 these two points, will naturally divide the belly throughout its 
 length into two parts, down its exact □ „ n' 
 
 centre : by this means mark the ' 
 
 exactly central point of the top edge. 
 
 Now open the spring compasses about l c 
 
 the distance c c' (Fig. 169), and mark 
 two points at equal distances on the 
 top edge, from the point you have 
 marked in the centre of the top edge, 
 in the same manner as when you 
 were marking the place on the lower 
 edge in which to fix the rest. At 
 these points make two cuts, extend- 
 ing vertically and horizontally, 
 through the edge as far downwards 
 
 .- - A- B 
 
 and inwards as the top and surface fig. i69.-Base of shouiderani shape 
 
 of the ribs. In the hollow thus cut, of chamber (actual size). 
 
 set the shoulder cut as at Fig. 169, so that the end b b' goes 
 against the button left on the back. If the cuts are not wide 
 enough to allow the end B b' to touch the button, re-cut them a little 
 wider. Be careful, however, not to cut them too wide ; though, 
 if by accident it should be so, by planing down the end B b', the 
 neck will go farther back and fill up the space between the cuts. 
 The neck and shoulder being thus held on to the top of the 
 fiddle, see that it is quite straight, and mark on the fop of the ribs 
 the lines D b and d' b', with a fine marking-point or the point of 
 a knife. Holding the knife firmly, deepen this mark by drawing 
 the knife down it (being careful not to let it slip on to the belly 
 at the end of the cut) till you have cut quite through the ribs. 
 Now remove the wood between the lines, cutting away equally 
 belly, ribs, and block, till you have hollowed out the chamber 
 (in the same manner as for the " rest "), quite square and clean 
 
278 violin-making: as it was and is. 
 
 dat, I inch deep all over, being so exactly the shape of the 
 shoulder (Fig. 169), that the latter fits quite tightly into it. 
 The under surface of the shoulder must be planed until from 
 the nut (line B, Fig. 164) to the end of the neck (g g', Fig. 164), 
 is a distance of exactly 5/^ inches. The planing must, however, 
 not alter the slant determined by the model (Fig. 168). The 
 depth of the shoulder will of course vary with the height of the 
 sides. The back of the shoulder (o. Fig. 164) must be cut so 
 as to fit exactly against the button, and, when thus fitted, the 
 front of the shoulder (o', Fig. 164) must project exactly ^ of 
 an inch above the belly. Besides fitting exactly, the neck must 
 bo set exactly straight to the axis of the instrument. This is 
 tested in three independent ways to ensure perfection, which is 
 very hard to get. The neck being fixed in without glue : 1st, 
 Hold the back of the fiddle, horizontally and lengthways, level 
 with the eye, so that you see the back join quite straight from the 
 rise of the arching to the button ; if the neck is on straight, the 
 centre ridge of the back of the scroll will coincide with and 
 form a continuation of this line. 2nd, Hold the belly similarly, 
 so that the mark you made between the crannies of the //holes 
 
 — ^ coincides and forms a line with the 
 
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^bI point a. Fig. 169, at the bottom of 
 FIG. m.-wedge for testing Bet- ^^^ ^^eck. If the neck is straight, 
 ting of Head and Neok. the centre ridge on the front of the 
 volute of the head will coincide with and continue this line. 
 3rd, Prepare a wedge 6 inches long, 1 broad, and 2^ inches 
 high at the broad end (Fig. 170). Now set the fiddle on its 
 edges, and slipping the wedge underneath the scroll, note 
 the point (on the side of the wedge) where the eye of the scroll 
 first touches it. Now turn the fiddle over and set it on the edges 
 of its other side ; repeat the process, and if the scroll touches at 
 the same point, it stands to reason, that, if your model is regular, 
 the head and neck must be exactly true to the axis of the 
 instrument. This is the best, because the most certain test for 
 the fiddle-maker. When a fiddle is very old and knocked about, 
 the outline has become untrue, and then it fails ; but for the present 
 it is the best for our purpose. Having ascertained, therefore, by 
 these means that your fitting is true, proceed to glue in the neck. 
 Fill the chamber, and smear the button with good sirong glue, 
 press the neck in as hard as you can with the hand, and 
 just rapidly repeat your tests, to make assurance doubly sure ; 
 then, with a strong iron cramp, cramp the shoulder to the 
 button, protecting the latter with a slip of wood, seeing that 
 the shoulder is well pressed to the bottom of the chamber. 
 Apply the screw button of the cramp to the face of the neck, 
 
THE NECK AND SCROLL, 279 
 
 pressing as hard as you can. (It will be remembered that all 
 this time the hutton has never been touched since the outline of 
 the back was cut out, as on p. 240). Wipe oiF the superfluous 
 glue with warm water, and set the fiddle to dry. The next thing, 
 before shaping down the neck, is to cut and glue on the false 
 finger-hoard, which is a finger-board made of pear or sycamore, 
 or other hard wood, to take the place, for the present, of the final 
 ebony finger-board, and to protect the edges of the neck till we 
 are ready to fit up the fiddle. For this purpose we must prepare 
 what is called the finger-board holder, which is a wooden con- 
 trivance, shaped as in Fig. 171, in which the finger-board (false 
 or final) is held for working on, and which serves as a guide to 
 the outline and shaping thereof. It is composed of a slip of 
 wood. A, represented by the shaded part, 1 inch thick and 11^ 
 inch long, being i| in. broad at B, and 1\^ in. broad at c ; it is 
 slightly hollowed down the centre, as shown in 
 section. This is enclosed between two walls, 
 D D, formed of two other strips of wood, high 
 enough to stand ^ inch above A on each side. 
 A piece of wood the shape of A may be pushed 
 into this, and held firmly whilst being worked at, 
 the scooping out allowing of its being inserted 
 curved side downwards. 
 
 To make the false finger-board, take a piece of 
 wood as aforesaid, of shape of A, Fig. 171, and 
 being 6 in. long, 1 in. broad at the narrowest, and 
 1| in. at the broadest end. Set it in the holder ^^ 
 
 and make one side absolutely plane. Turn it over i'"'- m.— Finger- 
 and replace it in the holder, a,nd having reduced 
 it to a thickness of ^ inch, round thfe top approximately like that 
 of a real ebony finger-board. Now go over the face of the neck 
 of your fiddle with a fine steel plane, so as to render it quite 
 plane and level (but not so as to plane it down), so that the false 
 finger-board lies close upon it. Take a gouge and hollow out a 
 trough ajong the under (or plane) surface of the false finger- 
 board, so that it will not present too great a glued surface for 
 you to have to force apart when you come to remove it to make 
 way for the permanent one, and smearing what is left of this 
 under surface with glue ; set it on the neck, the narrow end 
 being flush with the lower edge of the peg-box (line A, Fig. 164), 
 when it will be found just to project about ^ inch or a little more 
 over the belly. Fix it with three iron cramps, one just below 
 the chin of the scroll, one in the mi Idle, and one at the button (as 
 in fixing the neck), which latter must be protected by a slip of 
 wood placed between it and the lower arm of the cramp. 
 
280 
 
 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 When this is quite dry, proceed finally to shape the neck with 
 a sharp knife. First cut the button to the present rough shape 
 of the shoulder, being careful to slant the knife upwards, and not 
 cut down into the back towards the joint, which is a very ugly 
 
 feature in badly-made fiddles. 
 
 Now prepare a guide, which is 
 represented in actual size at 
 Fig. 172 (from which it may be 
 prepared by tracing off' the out- 
 line, and cutting it out on a slip 
 of wood about ^ inch thick); 
 the roughly-hewn neck must be 
 cut away with the knife, being 
 most cautious not to let the knife 
 slip and injure the head, till the 
 end A of Fig. 172 fits over it 
 just below the chin of the scroll, 
 and the end B fits over it just 
 above the shoulder. It is best 
 that at these points the forks 
 of the model (Fig. 172) should, 
 in the first stage of the cutting, 
 barely go over the wood ; it will 
 be sufficient to get these dia- 
 meters approximately right, and 
 leave the perfection of them till 
 the neck approaches the finish ; 
 besides, the filing and polishing 
 will still further reduce them. 
 Before beginning to shape the 
 shoulder, cut the top of the 
 button, till the distance between 
 the chin of the scroll and the 
 top of the button is just 4^^ 
 inch. 
 
 Continue to cut down the 
 neck and shoulder till the guide 
 (Fig. 172) just goes over both 
 neck and false finger-board at 
 the two points above explained. 
 Now with the smallest flat steel plane smooth the sides of the 
 false finger-board, till the line where it joins the neck is only 
 as visible r/3 the join of the back or belly. Having done this, 
 finish off the button, making it as even and circular as possible, 
 and rising well at a right angle (neither more nor less) from 
 the edge of the back. When you have shaped the neck as 
 
THE NECK AND SCROLL. 281 
 
 far as possible with the knife, take a good rasp and obliterate, 
 as far as possible, the marks of the knife, but no more ; then 
 with a pair of files obliterate the rasp marks, using a fine flat 
 one for the neck, and a fine oval one for the shoulder and 
 chin of the scroll. Bevel off the outer edge of the button 
 just as much as (in fact, to match) the bevel of the edges 
 of the fiddle. Now, with a scraper, scrape the neck and 
 shoulder as smooth as possible, after which give it a good 
 polishing with coarse sand-paper, and then another with fine. 
 Now go all over the fiddle (especially the sides and edges), 
 with fine sand-paper, to clean off any dirt which may have 
 accumulated since the last rubbing, and having satisfied yourself 
 that the fiddle is as clean and smooth as you can make it, your 
 instrument is finished "in the white," and can at once be var- 
 nished preparatory to fitting it up and playing on it. If it is 
 in the summer time this can be proceeded with at once, as 
 described in Chapter II. ; but if it is in autumn or winter, hang 
 up your fiddle, if possible, in a dry glass case, or in a warm room 
 till the return of the hot weather, and it wiU be greatly benefited 
 by this seasoning " in the white." It remains, therefore, only 
 to give instructions for varnishing and bringing up to melody 
 point. 
 
CHAPTEE XXI. 
 
 THE GUARNERIUS MODEL, WITH WHOLE TABLES ON AN INSIDE 
 
 MOULD. 
 
 The Inside Mould and its Accessories — The Cramping Blocks — The Outline — 
 The Contre-Moule or Sides Outline — Tracing the Model — Preparing the 
 Wood— The Blocks— Fixing— Shaping— The O'a— The Lower Bouts— The 
 Upper Bouts— The Depth of the Eibs — The Side Linings— The Back and 
 BeUy — The// Holes— Taking out the Mould— Mnishing the Eibs, Linings, 
 and Blocks — Fixing on the Belly — The Neck and ScroU. 
 
 The Inside Mould and its Accessories. — The first thing, as 
 'before, to decide upon is the model, and, consequently, the mould 
 on which you are going to build your fiddle. As I gave a mould 
 of Stradiuarius before, I have now presented my readers in 
 Plate V. with a mould of Gruarnerius.^ It will be seen that the 
 construction of this mould is quite different to that of the one 
 represented by Plate IV. In working with this one we shall fix 
 on the ribs outside the mould, and the cramping blocks will be 
 fixed on outside the ribs with cramps fixed in the holes A, B, c, D, 
 B, F. To make a mould of this sort from any fiddle, proceed, as 
 before, to take the outline on the outline board (Fig. 78), or 
 otherwise, and having transferred it to paper, and drawn a centre 
 Kne down the exact middle, you will have the outline o o o 
 (Fig. 173). (It will be observed that on the Plate V. o o o 
 is only a half outline, but this does not matter, as will be seen 
 further on, for the two sides of the fiddle we are copying are in 
 exact contra-facsimile.) Now, at a distance of about ^s- inch inside 
 this line, draw very carefully a second line, and you will have the 
 (whole) outline p p p (Fig. 174). Let this second or inner 
 outline be traced off and pasted on to a plank of hard well- 
 seasoned wood J inch thick. Trace inside it the six places for 
 the blocks to go — ^viz., i, j,k, l, m, n, as shown in the plate and in 
 Fig. 175, and then cut it out most carefully, and you will have 
 a mould as represented by Fig. 175 (which, however, shows the 
 
 ' The models and outlines of this chapter and of Plate V. are taken in the 
 minutest facsimile from a magnificent Joseph Guarnerius del Gesi of the date 
 1734, the property of M. Sainton. It is one of the most celebrated and 
 characteristic instruments of this great master's make which exists. 
 
THE GUAKNERIUS MODEL. 
 
 283 
 
 block pieces glued in roughly). Now take another plank fully 
 i inch thick, and cut it exactly similarly to the shape of mould 
 No. 1, so that when the second is placed over the first it coincides 
 so exactly as to appear to be only one solid mould li inches thick. 
 Cramp them together thus exactly, and boring five screw holes, 
 tr, V,. w, X, Y, Plate V., screw them firmly together, so as to 
 make one solid plank. The screws must not be long enough to 
 go through on the other side of this double mouldy and the heads 
 must be sunk a good J^ inch below the surface, so that they can 
 be planed over. Now plane down the top half, at the upper bouts, 
 so that the double mould is 1^ inch thick at the lower bouts, and 
 1^ inch at the upper (a difference of just less than ^), which are 
 
 / 
 
 o 
 
 Tie. 173.— Half outline of 
 Tables (back and belly). 
 
 Fie. 175.— Inside mould, 
 with rough blocks fitted. 
 
 Fig. 174.— Half outline 
 of Sides. 
 
 the right proportio n s for the ribs of a fiddle. ( Vide Chapter VII. 
 page 145.) Then bore with a large centre-bit the eight holes 
 A, B, c, D, E, F, G, H, Opposite the inner bouts and the cuttings 
 made for the blocks as shown in the plate. Next take a tracing, 
 like Pig. 174 from your original paper diagram, and paste it, on, 
 a thin leaf of wood, which wiU give the half outline p p p, by 
 which you determine and correct the outlines of your blocks (or 
 if yon like, take a lohole outline from p P p, Plate V., and 
 correct all your blocks together ; however, a half outline can be 
 turned over for the blocks on the other side, and ensures their 
 being in contra-facsimile to the others). Next take a similar 
 tracing of the entire outline (the original paper diagram will 
 do), andmounting it similarly, you have the outline model, o o o, 
 
284 
 
 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 from which you trace on the slabs the outlines of your back and 
 belly. As before, a half outline (Fig. 173) can be taken, and will 
 serve the same purpose, only it must be turned over on the 
 centre line to trace the other half of the table. Your mould 
 and plank outlines being now complete, the next thing to do is 
 to make your cramping blocks, which are the same as described 
 in Chapter XIV., p. 228, only that they are in this instance made 
 to go outside the mould instead of inside, as was the case when we 
 were working with an outside mould, and are represented in 
 actual size to go with our present mould on Plate V. by the pieces 
 1 to 8. As before, they are If inches deep, and fit against the 
 
 sides, so that the numbers 
 which are inscribed on each 
 cramping block coincide with 
 those drawn on the mould at 
 the points opposite which they 
 go, as in Fig. 176 (which 
 will be fully explained further 
 on). These, therefore, are the 
 operations by which a mould, 
 etc., can be taken from, and 
 for the purpose of copying,, 
 any fiddle, and by which those 
 on Plate V. were produced ; 
 so that if my readers are con- 
 tent to make a Guarnerius 
 fiddle, they have only to make 
 their tracings and plank out- 
 lines as described, from the 
 plate. From this point I shall 
 assume that we are working 
 on this mould, and write ao- 
 
 FiG. 176.— The Cramping Blocks of Plate V. in COrdiugly ; thoUgh, aS wiU be 
 position against the mould (blocks „„„_ i.\,„ „„„„„„„„„ „„„ U/v 
 
 flnished). Seen, tue processes can be 
 
 applied to any model, and to avoid repeating my first chapters, 
 where (as is generally the case) the work is identical, I shall! 
 merely refer my readers to the pages where they will find the 
 necessary information, should they have forgotten the work they 
 did before. I may also repeat that any of the processes in the 
 following chapters, which differ from the methods before de- 
 scribed, may be pursued with any model or outline, and any mould, 
 whether inside or outside. The main points in which our work 
 will differ (beyond the matter of mould) will be in the slab 
 back and the spliced head. 
 
 As before, the first thing after deciding on the pattern is the? 
 
THE GUARNERIUS MODEL. 285 
 
 choice of the wood. As we joined our back and belly before, we 
 will now make them in one piece, and a table in one piece may 
 be either " whole " or " slab." If you turn to Fig. 77, p. 134, 
 these cuttings are explained ; for a whole table an exceptionally 
 broad, fine trunk is required, from which is cut a wedge, as at 
 Fig. 77, only twice as broad as that there described, and varying 
 from 2 inches on the thick side to ^ on the thin side. This 
 is re-marked on the end, as in Fig. 177, by the line A B, 
 which is then sawn down, and the wedge o thus cut off is sawn 
 up into as many thin strips, j^ or xir inch thick, as can be 
 cut, from whence are cut the ribs, which thus match the back 
 in grain, etc., which is a great beauty in a fiddle with a whole 
 back. For a slab back the planks are cut out of the trunk, as 
 at Fig. 77, which style of cutting shows the grain of the wood 
 running round the back in serpentine ovals, which follow the 
 outline of the fiddle, with the curls ov figure of the wood running 
 across from right to left in greater quantity, but narrower, than 
 they appear on backs cut " on the quarter," whether whole or 
 joinsd. I have chosen the slab back because it is simpler to 
 work and has a very pretty effect. 
 
 The strips for the ribs cut and 
 stored, as on page 135, and the 
 
 block for the neck, must be selected ^.a. i77.-wedge out for <'whoie" 
 of a small, close curl, to match Back. 
 
 and contrast with the back. I shall also assume that you 
 have got a piece of belly pine of sufficient size and quality 
 (attributes very difficult to find together) to make a belly of 
 good acoustic properties. If you cannot find this, and you 
 cannot get supplied by a good fiddle-maker, make your belly 
 joined as described on page 133, which is much better than to 
 use a single piece whose grain is much wider at one edge of the 
 belly than at the opposite one. (Before rejecting a slab as too 
 narrow vide the expedient for increasing the breadth set down on 
 page 290.) These preliminaries having been settled and arranged, 
 let ns, gentle reader, start forth again together to make our 
 second fiddle, and may the success which I trust attended our 
 first efforts attend us again now. 
 
 The Blocks. — These are the commencement of a fiddle on an 
 inside mould. For them you must take six little rectangular pieces 
 of fine-grained pine, as in Fig. 141, which when set up on edge 
 (ie., with the grain perpendicular to the bench) have all equally 
 a depth of 1^ inches with the top surfaces, as follows i Two 
 for the top and bottom blocks, 2^ inches by 1 ; two for the upper 
 corners, 1 by 1 ; and two for the lower corners, 1 by 1^. The bottom 
 edge of each must be square to one side, and both ends of the 
 
286 
 
 violin-making: as it was and is. 
 
 FlQ 
 
 178.— Section of block 
 fixed m mould. 
 
 top and bottom blocks must be squared to the sides thus squared. 
 Two sides of each corner block must be squared to one another. 
 Cut dbwn the top and bottom blocks till they just fit nicely (not 
 too tight or too loose) into the cuts K and N, Plate V., and 
 Fig. 175, made to receive them. When fitted, rough the lower 
 half of the side that goes against the mould, and glue it to the 
 lower plate of the mould (gluing the side only, not the ends) so 
 as to present in section the appearance of Fig. 178, b representing 
 the mould, and c the block. The top and 
 bottom blocks, when glued, must be cramped 
 to the mould hy iron cramps from the holes 
 A and H, Plate V. The corner blocks are 
 merely fitted to the cuttings i, J, L, and m, 
 Plate v., and Fig. 175, the lower half of 
 one side of each roughed and glued, and set 
 in the cuttings without cramps, in the same 
 manner as the top and bottom blocks, and the whole is then set 
 to dry, presenting the appearance of Fig. 175. It will be seen 
 that all project just below the mould (as below the dotted line 
 A, Fig. 178) ; this is so to guard against their not being set 
 quite flush with the lower surface of the mould. All below the 
 lower surface of the mould must now be removed by turning the 
 whole concern over, wetting the thus presented bottoms of the 
 blocks, and planing them down with a toothed plane till they are 
 even, and plane and true to the lower 
 surface of the mould, so that a straight- 
 edge moved all over the surface shows i 
 no Ught and catches on nothing. Now 
 with the mould (or ribs outline, Fig. e — 
 174, p p p, Plate V.) mark on the top 
 and bottom of the top and bottom 
 blocks what wood has to be removed 
 to make the outline continuous at top 
 and bottom, and by this means make 
 the top and bottom blocks even with, 
 and part of, the outline, as at k, Plate ria. 179.— Diagram expiaming the 
 v., being careful, however, to keep cutting of the comer blocks: 
 
 them quite true and square to the bottom or flushed edges and 
 lower surface of the mould. Now laying the outline again over 
 the blocks, so that, as before, it coincides exactly with the outline 
 of the mould, mark with a sharp point the exact shape or outline 
 of the corners. Cut away most of the superfluous wood' by 
 (carefully) removing the wood represented by the shaded part of 
 Fig. 179, outside the block, and by cutting down the linesA, b 
 and B, c. Next, with a gouge, cut away the remaining wood p 
 
THE GUAENERIUS MODEL. 287 
 
 inside the c's, keeping to the lines marked on both ends of the 
 block, so as to have these cuttings quite square to the plane surface 
 of the mould, but leaving the superfluous wood E till the inner 
 bouts are fixed to the blocks and dry, so as to withstand the 
 pressure on the point caused by the gluing of the c's to the 
 blocks. If, by mishap, you cut too much, so that the inside 
 of the corner is not square to the mould, the defect must be 
 repaired by cutting a little curved chip from the superfluous 
 woiDd of another block with a gouge, and gluing it on where 
 the want is found; the block with the added chip can then be 
 recut as originally. The lower corner blocks are carried to the 
 same point in exactly the same way. The next operation is the 
 preparation of : — , ' 
 
 The Sides or Ribs, and the fixing of the c's. Select a plank of 
 maple, whose grain matches the slab prepared for the back, and 
 prepare from it enough strips 1^ inches broad and ^ thick, to 
 make two strips 5| long for the inner bouts or g's, two 7^ long 
 for the upper, and two 10 long for the lower bouts. These 
 must be cut and planed down as described on page 231. They 
 may be further regulated as to thinness by setting the Jilli^re ^ 
 to ^ inch, and scraping the strips through like purfling. As 
 before, glue linen on one end of the upper and lower bouts, and 
 on both ends of the c's, which, when dry, must next be bent, 
 fitted, and fixed, proceeding as follows : — Bend the c's, as 
 described on page 232, until they just fit into the inner curves 
 of the mould, and the corner blocks finished as above by the 
 removal of the wood D, Fig. 179. When this object is attained, 
 take a small stick of old soap, and thoroughly soap the mould 
 where the c's will press against it, but not letting the soap touch 
 the blocks. This is to prevent the ribs from sticking to the 
 mould if by mischance the glue should run anjnvhere but on 
 the. blocks. Next clear all traces of linen and glue off" the ends 
 of the c's, and file the whole inner surfaces of them quite cleap. 
 (N.B.-^The " inner surface of the c " means the outside of the 
 curve — i.e., the surface that goes against the edge of the mould.) 
 Now plentifully coat the inside of the blocks (the line D, Fig. 
 179) with good glue, set the c's in the inner bouts, and fix them 
 with the cramping blocks 4 and 5, Plate V., by means of cramps 
 
 ' Thefilliefre is an appliance used in thinning down veener to make purfling'. 
 It consists of a plane iron, which can be adjusted by means of a screw, at any 
 required distance from the polished surface of a steel plate, over which i1;'is 
 held at right angles by a bent arm. It is used thus : If it is required to give 
 a strip of wood an uniform thinness of ^ inch, the blade of the filUere need 
 only be " set " at this distance from the plate and the strip carefully and strongly 
 pulled through between the edge of the blade and the plate till the desired 
 unifonmity of diameter is obtained. By this means a strip of plane-tree veneer 
 may be evenly reduced to a substance of ^V inch or even less. 
 
2i4a 
 
 violin-making: as it was and is. 
 
 set in the holes d and E. The ends of the c's must be pressed 
 tight up against the glued blocks, by pushing in between them 
 and the cramping blocks, at the top and bottom of the latter, 
 little wedges and chips of wood, so as to ensure a close and firm 
 contact between the ends of the c's and the inner or glued 
 surfaces of the corner blocks. The edges of the c's jutting just 
 below the lower surface of the mould (in the same way as did 
 the blocks below the line A, Fig. 178) must, when the glue is 
 dry, be filed down flush and plane with the lower surfaces of 
 the mould and blocks. Lastly, reduce to manageable length 
 the ends of the c's which project beyond the corners. The next 
 operation is the cutting to outline of the outer faces of the 
 blocks E, Fig. 179, which must be done in the same way as the 
 inner faces, keeping them quite square to the plane surface of the 
 mokld, blocks, and c's. In cutting this face you will make the 
 
 c's work into the outline by cutting 
 them to a point, as at a in Fig. 180. 
 When this is safely and correctly accom- 
 plished, you can proceed to bend and fit 
 the upper and lower bouts, beginning 
 with the latter. First bend and fit 
 the ends which fit against the corner 
 blocks and which are protected with 
 linen, and then the rest of the strips, 
 after which you must make the join 
 at the bottom. This is done by taking 
 each lower bout (as fitted) separately, 
 and, setting it on the mould, mark 
 on the edge the point where it is 
 blocks and jomingtiie ribs. touched by thfc, Centre line drawn dowii 
 the mould ; from this mark, by means of a square, draw a line 
 across the strip, as described on page 233, fit the other lower 
 bout similarly, and if your marking and cutting have been true 
 to the centre line of the mould, a perfect join will be the result. 
 The join being thus made, and the ends of the lower bouts freed 
 and cleaned from glue, linen, etc., soap the sides of the mould 
 (carefully avoiding the blocks), and coating the bottom block 
 and the still exposed surfaces of the lower corner blocks and the 
 bevel at the ends of the c's with glue, fix the lower bouts to the 
 mould by means of cramps with the cramping blocks 6, 7, and 
 8, Plate v., in the same manner and position as you fixed the 
 c's. The upper bouts are next fitted in a precisely similar 
 manner, only that you need not trouble to make a close join at 
 the top. Now cut down the projecting pieces of the corners, 
 and make them square to the mould, as in Fig. 180, by means 
 
 Pig. 180. — Fmishing the comer 
 
THE GUARNEEIUS MODEL. 289 
 
 of a knife, cutting from the edges to the centre of the strip, for 
 fear of splitting off pieces, and finishing with a file and square. 
 Then go round the lower edges of the ribs, which just project 
 (as did the c's) below the lower surface of the mould, and render 
 them flush and level with the lower surface of the mould with a 
 knife and flat file. The next thing is to regulate the height of 
 the ribs, which with this model is at the bottom block 1^ inches 
 (or 14^ lignes French), and at the top block 1^% inches (13^ 1. 
 Fr.). (The French measure is the larger, but I prefer the 
 English, 1^ and 1^.) Set off on the gauge 1^ inches, and from 
 the lower surface of the mould trace this breadth round the 
 lower bouts and c's from upper corner to upper corner. Now 
 reducing the gauge to 1-^^, trace a line 1/^^ from the lower 
 surface of the mould, about two inches long, opposite the top 
 block. From the line at 1^^^ to the line at 1^^ the upper edges 
 of the ribs and blocks must gradually decline ; therefore begin 
 by wetting the upper surfaces of the blocks (to make them cut 
 easily), and then level the ribs and blocks down to the top 
 surface of the upper plate of the mould [which is already (vide 
 p. 283) of the proper thicknesses], so that a straight-edge lies 
 true and flat across the top of the mould. Now, by loosening 
 the screws u, v, w, x, y, Plate V., take out the upper plate of 
 the mould and proceed to prepare and fit your side-linings to 
 the upper edges of the ribs, precisely as you did before (page 
 236), first cutting two grooves in the corner blocks, as there set 
 down, in which to fit the linings of the centre bouts. When 
 fitted, proceed to glue and fix them as before described on page 
 237. It is as well to bend both sets of linings, so that when the 
 mould is taken out you will not have another bending job to do. 
 When they are glued it will be necessary to fix the linings of the 
 c's with lining clips (Fig. 137), two or three being necessary. 
 
 If the upper and lower bout linings are well cut they will not 
 require clips, but if a little short they are good as a safeguard, 
 and to make assurance doubly sure. When the linings are fast, 
 cut t]tiem to a wedge shape, as shown and described on page 238 
 (Fig. 145). Next cut the blocks to shape, that is to say, their 
 top halves, which stand above the mould. This is done with, a 
 sharp, broad gouge, cutting down but small splinters at a time, 
 and breaking them off at the surface of the lower plate of the 
 mould. It was observed on page 238 that the Guarnerius block 
 is different to the Stradivarian, being more curved (as in Fig. 
 104), the block, Fig. 181, being rather made by rounding off the 
 angles at the ends of the block. The present (or Guarnerian) 
 block (Fig. 104), is shaped so as to be a continuous curve 
 from lining to lining. Then go round the linings and blocks 
 
 19 
 
290 
 
 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 (as cut) with a file and sand-paper, to smooth and soften their 
 inner surfaces, and, as far as you can go at present, the inside 
 of the fiddle is finished. Finally, go right round the outside 
 of the ribs with a sharp scraper, so as to remove all dirt and 
 inequalities, and make the exterior thoroughly smooth with two 
 degrees of sand-paper, after which, the ribs being, as far as you 
 can go for the present, finished, they can be put away in a drawer 
 or elsewhere out of harm's way till the back is ready to go on. 
 
 Back and Belli/.— The slabs prepared for these being all in 
 one piece, you will not have to join them. It is, however, very 
 important that the entire slab have a fine even grain all over, 
 not close at one edge and wide at the other, as is the case 
 if the slab has been cut from a small tree. It consequently 
 sometimes happens that a piece of wood may be excellent across 
 all its breadth, excepting for the last inch or so, which is conse- 
 quently cut off. In this case, the outline model being placed 
 upon it, the lower bout will overhang one edge (or, in other 
 words, the wood will be too narrow for the model). This may 
 be remedied as follows : Roughly trace the outline on the wood, 
 
 Fia. 181.— Stradivarian Block. 
 
 marking on the edge the part which is too narrow ; you can 
 now, with a bow-saw, cut out a little strip from inside one of 
 the c's, and making both faces plane, glue it edgewise to the 
 edge where the narrowness is apparent. If necessary you can 
 do this on both sides of the slab ; the pieces thus added matching 
 exactly in grain, and being well joined, their presence will be 
 undiscemible under the varnish, especially when further hidden 
 oy the purfling, and by this means you will be able to utilize a 
 slab of wood acoustically and otherwise desirable, that without 
 this expedient you could only use for a smaller instrument, if 
 at all. Your plates being of the proper size, make one side 
 quite plane, as described on page 240. If you are working a 
 slab (as I am presuming you are), the back plate will be of a 
 nearly even thickness throughout, so can be marked at once ; 
 but if it is to be a " whole " back, it will be a long, thin 
 wedge, as in Fig. 177, and must be cut away on one side as 
 there shown (saving the slips thus got, as I have said before, for 
 the ribs), and the tables prepared for marking, as on page 240 
 (Fig. 146). You can now mark the outlines by means of the 
 
THE GUARNEEItrS MODEL. 291 
 
 model, Fig. 173 (o, 0, 0, Plate V.), marking one-half of the 
 outline, and then turning over the model and marking the other 
 (unless you have a whole outline model). This being done, cut 
 it out as .carefully as you possibly can, as before set down (page 
 240). Then shape the model or arching of the back and beUy 
 ■with gouge, oval planes, and scrapers exactly as before, using 
 the arching models 1a, 2a, 3a, 4a, 5a, Plate V., which are the 
 arching models of the characteristic Guarnerius pattern we are 
 working at, and are the same for both back and belly. (It will 
 be remembered that for Stradiuarius we used different arching 
 models for the back and belly.) The points at which the arching 
 models must fit the tables are shown by the numbers on the short 
 lines across the centre line down the mould. When the rough 
 gouging is done, gauge a line round the edge of the plates (i.e., 
 perpendicular to the plane surface), as described on page 241, 
 ■^ from the flat side, and with the gouge and oval planes fine 
 down the rounded surface with the models. Then gauge again 
 another line \ inch from the flat side, and with a knife pare 
 down the edge (so as to form a bevel on the arched side) to 
 this uniform thickness all round; then with an oval plane, plane 
 round the edge of the arched surfaces so as to melt this bevel 
 into the arching you have already got, still working and cor- 
 recting with the models. Now with a file, smooth roimd this 
 outer margin of the arched side, and make a groove and melt 
 it into the arching, as described on page 243. This done, finally 
 get the arching on both plates exactly to coincide with the 
 models, and your plates wiU be ready to scrape. This is done 
 as before described, p. 243, scraping, wetting, and re-scraping 
 until the requisite degree of smoothness and equality has been 
 attained. Now mark the // holes according to the pattern 
 shown in Plate VI., which represents the pair of// holes 
 belonging to the Guarnerius fiddle we are now making. Both 
 // holes, and their position in the belly are shown, as the 
 peculiar character of the fiddle in question is that they are 
 slightly different, and one is higher than the other, all very 
 ugly, doubtless, but very characteristic and interesting, Find 
 the exact centres between the upper, middle, and lower bouts, 
 and connect them with a line as set forth on p. 253. Call this 
 line (on the belly) A b. Make an / hole model by pasting a 
 tracing of the upper figure of Plate VI. on to a leaf of veneer, 
 and cutting out the two //holes. Now set this model on the 
 •belly with the line A b on the model coinciding with the line on 
 the beUy, and trace the two //'s as you did before (p. 254). 
 Next punch out the upper and lower holes of the //'s, as pre- 
 scribed on p. 256, and proceed to gouge out the back and belly 
 
292 violin-making: as it was and is. 
 
 to the requisite thicknesses as set down on pp. 248 and 256, 
 planing, scraping, and finishing the edges as before (p. 248), 
 after which the back will be ready to be glued on. Take 
 the mould (round which the sides are set as they were left on 
 p. 290), and setting it on the back, see if the sides fit the back 
 nicely ; if they do, you can clean off the lower edges of the 
 sides, linings, and blocks, and prepare them for the glue as set 
 down on p. 249, and immediately fit on the back and glue it as 
 before described (p. 250). It is not, however, impossible that 
 the sides or the back may have shrunk a little, so that the edges 
 do not appear even when the ribs (on the mould) are set on the 
 back ; in this case take the ribs off the mould by forcing a 
 table-knife between the glued sides of the blocks and the mould, 
 and carefully easing off the sides. Be sure that the ribs are 
 well separated from the mould before you slip them off. Some- 
 times, in spite of the most careful soaping {vide p. 287), a 
 drop of glue will adhere to the mould, and the ribs will stick to 
 the mould at that point ; in this case the rib must be carefiilly 
 prised off with the table-knife before attempting to slip them 
 off the mould. When slipped off, the ribs must be fitted to the 
 back and glued as described on p. 249. This done, the next 
 thing will be to cut the remaining or upper halves of the top 
 and bottom blocks ordy to shape in the same way as the lower 
 halves were, shaping them exactly so as to be quite perpendicular 
 to the plane of the fiddle ; then proceed to put in the upper side 
 linings. This is done exactly as the lower ones were, only that 
 at the corner-blocks having only half a block to cut into you 
 must be very cautious, and guide the knife very carefully, to 
 avoid splitting them right down in making the grooves in the 
 corner-blocks to receive the linings of the c's or inner bouts. 
 When these are set, the corner-blocks may be cut to shape like 
 the others, and the linings all round bevelled off, and planed and 
 filed down level with the tops of the ribs ; the insides of the 
 ribs are then thoroughly cleaned with water and sand-paper, 
 all which operations have been described before fully, and do 
 not require repetition. The belly duly finished, as described on 
 p. 260, is then set on the ribs in the manner there described, 
 and the body of the fiddle is then completed by the addition of 
 the purfling, as described on p. 262, so that you have now only 
 to carve the scroll, fit it on a neck, and place it on the fiddle in 
 the manner set down below. 
 
 Neck and Scroll. — As the head will first be finished and then 
 spliced on to the neck, we are at present concerned only with 
 the head or scroll, the outline model of which (which should be 
 traced off, pasted on a leaf of wood, and cut out) will be found 
 
THE GUAENEEIUS MODEL. 293 
 
 on Plate V. Having selected a block of maple to match your sides 
 and back of the proper length, i.e., 5 J inches, and being 2^ inches 
 broad, make one side quite plane, and then make one edge quite 
 plane and quite square to the planed side. Then mark with a 
 gauge on this edge a line 1^^ from the true edge, and plane down 
 all wood on the other side in excess of this line, so that you have 
 a squared block 5^ long by 2| broad by 1^^ thick. Mark by the 
 nick A on the two sides of this block the outline of the head in the 
 manner described on page 270, except that there we had a neck 
 to mark as well, whereas here it is cut off just beneath the chin 
 of the scroll. Let this be cut out, keeping very true to the lines 
 on both sides as before (p. 270). This done, the scroll is carved 
 exactly as has been already set forth ; but when carved it must 
 be fitted upon a neck, in the manner carefully described on 
 page 312 (Kepairs). This done, the fiddle is fitted with a false 
 finffer-board (as on page 279), and varnished {vide the next 
 chapter) and fitted up as is set down in Chapter XXII., page 297. 
 This, therefore, completes our second fiddle, with its variations 
 from No. 1. We can now therefore proceed to varnish and fit 
 up the two together ; and how this is to be done is the subject 
 of the next chapter. 
 
 ' (Jarmina ve) ccelo poseimt deduceie iuuiiia; 
 Carminibus Circe socios mutavit tflyssi ; 
 'Frigidns in piatis cantando lumpitiir anguis." 
 
 (Virg., JiJel., Tiii.), 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 VARNISHING AND FITTING UP. 
 
 Staining— Varmshing — Polishing — Fitting tlie Pinger-board-^Fixing the Nut — 
 Finishing the Nut and Finger-board with the Nock — Fitting the .Pegs — 
 Finishing the Pegs — Fitting and Fixing the Tail-pin — Fitting the Tail-piece 
 and Loop — Setting up the Sound-post — The Strings — Cutting and Fitting 
 the Bridge — Finis 1 
 
 "Enfin c'est tin violon." — Our fiddle is finished "in the 
 white," our varnish has been carefully prepared, and we are 
 ready to lay it on. This operation must not be commenced till 
 the end of May, or the beginning of June at the latest, when we 
 can be sure of a spell of fine hot weather in which to do our 
 work. The fiddle^ must be carefully washed with clean water 
 aU over, so as to remove any dirt which may have accumulated ; , 
 the last touches must be put (if required) with sand-paper and file, 
 and the work can proceed at once. Begin by sizing or staining 
 the fiddle all over, bright yellow ; when I say all over, I mean 
 the whole of the body and the shoulder, and the head ; the neck 
 will be left, being subsequently varnished as hereafter set 
 down. The best stain may be made as follows : Get some 
 gamboge, as pure and unadulterated as possible, and some pure 
 spirits of wine ; pound up the gamboge and put it into the 
 spirit in a phial for two or three days, shaking it up whenever 
 you think of it — i.e., as often as possible. The absolutely pure 
 gum will be dissolved, leaving all the impurities and insoluble 
 parts at the bottom of the phial, in the form of sediment ; the 
 solution thus formed will be quite transparent, of a magnificent 
 red colour. Test it by brushing a drop or two on to a piece of 
 wood, when, if it appears a fine yellow colour, it is right, and 
 will do. This solution of gamboge, this coloured sizing, this 
 preliminary stain (call it what you will), must now be carefully 
 laid on, beginning with the head, For this purpose use a camel- 
 hair brush of the finest quality, having a diameter of about half 
 an inch ; at a first-class artists^ colourman's it will cost you from 
 six to eight shillings. Let the brush be well filled with stain 
 (but not over-filled and sopped), and lay it on quickly and 
 carefully all over, missing no spot which it will be necessary to 
 
YAKNISHING AND FITTING UP. ' 295 
 
 go back to : work as quickly as possible, never going over the 
 same ground twice, nor putting one coat over another, for this 
 dye sinks in at once, and if you touch a surface with it twice, or 
 retouch it after it is laid on, it will infallibly turn out streaky 
 and blotchy. Practise, before touching your fiddle, on k planed 
 plank of deal, for once the harm is done it cannot be undone. 
 After doing the scroll, go round the ribs, then all over the back, 
 then all over the belly (not forgetting the inside of the //holes), 
 and finally round the edges, being careful in brushing round the 
 edges not to retouch the back, belly, or sides. This wash will dry 
 very quickly, and as soon as it is dry lay on your first coat of 
 vamisK, proceeding in exactly the same way, excepting that as 
 it does not dry in at once you need not be in a hurry, but can go 
 carefully, backwards and forwards, getting on an even coat, as 
 thin and smooth as possible, not clogged under the edges or in 
 the angles of the scroll. When this coat is laid on, hang up the 
 fiddle to dry in the lightest, hottest, dryest, sunniest place you 
 can ; in the hottest weather it will take at least twenty-four 
 hours ; in poor weather, or if you have laid the varnish on too 
 thick, it will take longer. When it is quite dry, go over the 
 fiddle carefully with a fine knife, removing auy blacks, dust, 
 hairs, flies, etc., etc., which may have stuck to it, and lay on 
 another coat in the same manner as at first, the neck being 
 always left bare (by which it may be held), and a spike, stick, or 
 brush handle being pushed into the hole made to receive the 
 tail-pin (when it is finished), also to hold it by ; in this way the 
 varnished fiddle may be freely handled without fear of touch- 
 ing the varnish and leaving marks, wbich is a fatality most 
 strenuously to be guarded against. The fiddle should be hung 
 up by a string tied tightly round the unvarnished neck, with 
 a loop in front to hang on a nail ; it must hang quite free, and 
 so as not to touch anything. When the second coat is quite 
 dry, proceed as before to remove every trace of blacks or other 
 impurities, and after that go over the entire fiddle with a piece 
 of the very finest sand-paper, not hard enough to bring off the 
 varnish, but just so as to polish the surface thereof, and remove 
 the fine layer of dust which almost infallibly will adhere to the 
 varnish in dr3dng. This done, proceed to lay on two more 
 coats (the third and fourth) in a precisely similar manner. 
 These two should consist of a rather deeper-coloured varnish 
 than the first two, and it will be already noticed that the flaring 
 yellow of the preliminary wash is becoming tempered and 
 modified by the varnish, of which it is not necessary to say 
 anything further in this place. Gro on varnishing in this way, 
 using a deeper-coloured varnish for each two coats till the fiddle 
 
296 violin-making: as it was anb is. 
 
 has seven or eight coats, always being careful to remove any 
 dust, blacks, flies, or other impurities which may have stuck to 
 the fiddle before laying on a coat, and between each two coats 
 levelling any lumps or ridges with a piece of the finest sand- 
 paper. After the seventh or eighth coat, take a knife and scrape 
 the varnish off doion to the wood round the bevelled outline of the 
 scroll, and along the edges of the ribs where they meet at the 
 corners, at right angles to the plane of the instrument. These 
 lines must now be covered with black, so that when finished the 
 outline of the scroll (back, front, and volute) and the ends of the 
 bouts (at the corners) will be accentuated by a black line ; the 
 proper black with which to do this is the ordinary stick Indian 
 ink, which is to be had of any artists' colour merchant. After 
 this, finish the varnishing by continuing to lay on coat after 
 coat, as thin as possible, and always taking care that one coat 
 is dry, clean, and smooth before laying on another, until the 
 requisite tone and substance are obtained. This will require 
 from twelve to fifteen coats, according to the nature and quality 
 of the wood and varnish. 
 
 The fiddle is now finished and varnished ; it must be hung up 
 for at least a month, if not two or three, to dry thoroughly 
 before fitting it up. Personally, I prefer the rich, creamy 
 appearance of the varnish in its present state to the unnatural 
 mirror-like polish which is generally seen on a new fiddle, but 
 if this is desired the varnish must be allowed to dry thoroughly, 
 and after some months carefully polished as below described, till 
 it is smooth as glass. Otherwise, after a month or so the fiddle 
 mia.y be fitted up as is hereafter set down ; before doing so, how- 
 ever, it is well to remove the extreme roughness or cakiness which 
 will be present unless the varnish is of a particularly perfect 
 description, by dipping a slip of the finest sand-paper in water 
 and rubbing it quickly over the surface of the belly ; the back 
 may remain as it is unless it is particularly lumpy. When the 
 varnish is very thoroughly dry, you can polish it to produce that 
 glassy smoothness which is by some considered a great beauty: 
 jtJegin by rubbing the surface of the varnish carefully with a 
 rag dipped in finely-powdered pumice-stone, having first dropped 
 a few drops of oil on the surface of the fiddle ; this must be done 
 carefully all over the fiddle where varnished till the surface is 
 quite smooth. But be most careful not to bring off the varnish. 
 Then repeat the process with oil and finely-pulverized Tripoli 
 till the surfaces are quite polished; now rub the fiddle 
 smartly a,ll over with an old silk handkerchief tiU the surface 
 is quite glasSy; finally go over the polished surfaces with a fine 
 linen rag and dry Tripoli, b}' which time the polish will b» 
 
VAENISHING AND FITTING UP. 297 
 
 perfect, and needs only an occasional rub with an old silk hand- 
 kerchief to preserve its mirror-like appearance. 
 
 Fitting up. — Now follows the adaptation to your fiddle of 
 those fittings of which I have exhaustively treated in a former 
 chapter ; and the "first operation is the fitting of the finger-board. 
 At one time it was necessary for violin-makers to make their 
 own finger-boards out of the sohd ebony, which was a great 
 labour, but now they may be bought ready-made of firstr-rate 
 quality, and only require fitting to the fiddle in hand. Their 
 dimensions as thus sold are 10^ inches long, 1 inch broad at the 
 top, l^T inch at the broad end, and having an uniform thickness 
 down the sides of f inch. They are sold properly curved on 
 the upper surface, but their correctness may be checked by 
 means of the neck-guide, Fig. 172; the scallops, and D, at the 
 sidies of the guide representing the top and bottom of the 
 finger-board properly curved. If you are fitting a finger- 
 board to a new fiddle, it is as you left it on page 281, with 
 a false finger-board on it : this must be prised off with an 
 old table-knife; if you are fitting a finger-board to a new 
 neck only, as set forth in Chapter XXIII., this will not be 
 required. Commence by planing the front of the neck quite 
 clear of all glue, pencil marks, or indentations formed by the 
 pressure of the cramp by which it has been fixed to the fiddle. 
 Then at a height of exactly 5^ inches from the ribs (not 
 from the edge of the fiddle) mark a line across the neck, 
 which will be the upper boundary of the finger-board, and 
 consequently the lower boundary of the nut. Now take your 
 finger-board and make the top (or narrow end) exactly square, 
 by means of the " false square " in the ordinary manner ; this 
 done, set the finger-board, cvirved side downwards, in the holder. 
 Fig. 171, in which we made our false finger-board, and with a 
 fine plane make the under surface quite plane and smooth. 
 Now place the upper end on the nut line, and see how 
 we are getting on ; a straight-edge laid along the finger- 
 board ought to extend 1| inch above the belly in the centre 
 between the nicks of the //holes. If it does not do so, the 
 lower end of the face of tibe neck and the under surface of the 
 finger-board must be planed away until this required height is 
 attained. Now find the exact centre between the nicks of the 
 /^/ holes in the' usual way with compasses, and prick a small 
 mark. Assuming tiiat the lower end of the finger-board is 
 truly square to the length (as ascertained by the false square), 
 the two lower corners of the finger-board will be at an equal 
 distance from this mark — i.e., a compass opened from this point 
 to one corner of the finger-board, exactly reaches the other also 
 
298 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 from the point, and the finger-board must be shifted till this 
 true setting is obtained. On a full-sized fiddle the length from 
 the nut line to this point (the bridge) is just 13 inches ; of 
 course in a large or small model this length will vary, so do 
 not mind if you have not got it. The curved lower end of 
 the finger-board is always hollowed out, and the edge thus 
 presented should be a shade thinner than the thickness down 
 the sides. 
 
 On the ready-made finger-boards of commerce, this end is 
 generally thick, so it must be reduced to proper proportions by 
 gauging round this lower end to the thickness of the sides with 
 the gauging compasses A, Fig. 126, and cutting out and finishing 
 the hollowing out of the under surface just beyond the line thus 
 gauged ; this hollowing is begun with the knife and a small 
 gouge, and finished off neatly and smoothly with a round file, 
 (Fig. 117), a scraper, and sand-paper of various degrees. Now 
 with the toothed plane just plane over, so as slightly to rough the 
 under side of the finger-board where it is to touch the face of 
 the neck itself. Warm the under side of the finger-board well 
 over a lamp, so that it shall not chill the glue directly it is put 
 on (for ebony is very cold wood), coat the 
 
 \, .^^1 face of the neck with glue, and quickly rub 
 
 ^ ^r\ T^^x., , on the finger-board, so that the top iust 
 
 Tig. 182.— Section of block , , ,,° , t ^ ,i^''n 
 
 used for cramping on touches the uut line you drew on the neck, 
 
 tteKnger-board. ^^^ ^^.^^^ -j. j^ j^.^ ^^^^^ ^^ ^^^^^ ^^ 
 
 a cramping iron, and a block represented in section at Fig. 
 182, which follows and cramps the curve of the upper surface 
 of the finger-board. Before putting on the other two cramps, 
 see for the last time that the top of the finger-board is level 
 with the nut line, and that the lower corners are even to the 
 point in the centre of the belly. Then set it aside to dry, 
 cramped firmly in its place by three strong cramps. 
 
 The Nut is the next fitting to be applied, and fills up the 
 interval between the top of the finger-board and the bottom of 
 the peg-box. It is made and fitted as follows : Take a little, 
 slip of ebony about 1^ inches long, ^ inch wide, and \ inch) 
 deep, and make one side and one edge square to one another 
 and smooth, so as to fit exactly against the face of the neck and 
 top of the finger-board ; then with a chisel and file get it to the 
 exact thickness required — i.e., the thickness of the space between 
 the top of the finger-board and the edge of the peg-box, which 
 space it must exactly fill ; this done, set it in its place and mark 
 the length required — i.e., the top of the finger-board, and cut it 
 with a fine tenon saw just over the right length so as just to 
 project at the ends. When it exactly fits, set it in its place, and 
 
VARNISHING AND FITTING UP. 299 
 
 with a pencil, mark on its front the curve of the top of the 
 finger-board, and with a knife cut away the wood above it till it 
 stands about a full ^ inch above the finger-board, following the 
 curve. This done, glue it well, and just stick it into its place, 
 when, if well fitted, it will hold quite tight. 
 
 It has been asked me by a correspondent why the nut is a 
 piece separate from the finger-board. It is, of course, that the 
 grain of the finger-board being parallel to the tension of the 
 strings, it could not stand the strain of the strings, but would 
 become dented by them at the upper end ; the nut is therefore 
 placed at this point so that the strings on leaving the peg-box 
 encounter only the cross-grained piece of ebony constituting 
 the nut, on which they can make no impression as they would 
 on the soft parallel grain of the finger-board. 
 
 Finishing the Nut and Finger-hoard with the Neck. — Your 
 finger-board and nut are now fixed to the fiddle in the rough. 
 The finger-board probably overlaps the sides of the neck, and 
 must be shaved down till it is even with it, with a knife. If the 
 neck is broader than the finger-board it is too large, and must 
 be cut down level to the sides of the finger-board, and the two 
 together to the right breadth. Then cut the nut down to shape, 
 finishing it with a file, and leaving it rather large. There 
 cannot be laid down any rule for shaping the nut ; the only 
 plan is to have another fitted fiddle by your side and copy that. 
 Now take the neck gauge, Fig. 172, and finally regulate the 
 thickness of the neck with the finger-board. The neck must be 
 cut away underneath in little shavings with a knife, until the 
 small end. A, of the guide, Fig. 172, will just go over the neck 
 and finger-board sideways, from the chin to about 1 inch above 
 the shoulder ; the large end B of the gauge must come right 
 down to the shoulder. When the proportion has been got, 
 finish the shaping of the chin and shoulder, working by eye 
 from a finished instrument till the right shaping is attained. 
 The work is begun with a knife, but finished and principally 
 done with a rasp or good file ; in this operation you will file 
 all the varnish ofi' the chin of the scroll and the shoulder, the 
 neck being revarnished, as laid down further on (p. 318). When 
 with the biting file you have got the right shape, go all over the 
 neck (including, of course, the edges of the finger-board) with a 
 finer file, then finish with a scraper and sand-paper. Now with 
 a file round off the upper edges of the finger-board and the nut 
 at all its angles, as you see it done on a finished fiddle. The 
 neck (including the edges of the finger-board) is then thoroughly 
 sand-papered with different finenesses of paper till the requisite 
 smoothness is attained, then varnish and polish it as laid down in 
 
300 
 
 VIOLra-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 Pis. 183.— Guide for marking 
 string grooves on the Nut. 
 
 Fie. 184.— Peg. 
 hole Borer. 
 
 the concluding chapter on Repairs (Par.: " Varnishing Repairs"). 
 When this is done, and the varnish is dry, polish it with oil and 
 pumice powder, and then with oil and Tripoli in the same way 
 as the rest of the fiddle was varnished {vide supra). Now scrape 
 off all traces of varnish from the edges of the finger-hoard (being 
 careful in doing so not to remove the varnish of the neck), and 
 polish it and the nut with pumice and Tripoli as before, but 
 rubbing it over first with a slip of the finest sand- 
 paper and a few drops 
 of oil. The last touch to 
 be given to the nut is the 
 making of the four little 
 grooves which take the 
 strings. The position of 
 these can be measured out 
 from a finished finger-board with compasses, but 
 sometimes a guide is used (represented actual size 
 in Fig. 183), which is made of hard wood or steel, and by 
 which the four points are marked. When they are marked, 
 these little grooves are made with a very small mouse-tail file. 
 Next fit the pegs. 
 
 Fitting the Pegs. — The first things required for this are a 
 borer and finisher for the holes in the peg-box, in which the 
 pegs are to fit. The former is represented at Fig. 184, and 
 consists of a steel rod, with a cross handle like a gimlet or 
 tuning key, A, bearing a tapered cutter, like a 
 cheese-taster, E. The finisher is represented at 
 
 A, Fig. 185, and consists 
 similarly of a steel rod, 
 bearing a tapered piece, 
 
 B, which is fluted so as 
 to present all round its , 
 circumference a series of 
 sharp edges. With these 
 
 you will proceed to make the peg-fitter. Fig. 186. 
 This is done as follows : Take a piece of solid 
 hard maple, 2^ inches square, and 5 or 6 inches 
 
 long, and cut out of it the piece A a', which is in the form 
 of a solid block A, having at one end the high rounded piece 
 A'. In this part (a') at the point B, make a hole just large 
 enough for the thin end of the part.B of the peg-hole borer 
 {Fig. 184) to fit in ; and, by turning the borer, make a tapered 
 hole through the block A A', at the point B, just large enough 
 to receive the finisher (Fig. 185), up to the top of B, and no 
 farther, so that you have a tapered hole B through A', Fig. 186. 
 
 Pio. 186.— Peg Fitter. 
 
 Pig 18B.— teg-hole 
 Finisher. 
 
VARNISHING AND FITTING UP. 301 
 
 C IS an ordinary steel plane-iron, which must lie along A, 
 so as just to project into B by means of a narrow passage 
 cut into B at D, on the principle of the pencil-sharpeners 
 into which you put the end of a pencil and turn against 
 a blade. C is kept fast in its place by another slab of maple, 
 E, which holds it fast against A by means of a screw F, which 
 passes through the slab E, and the oblong hole or slot in the 
 plane iron _c, into the block A. A moment's thought will make it 
 clear that if a rough peg be put into B, and turned (against c) 
 till it exactly fits into the hole B, it will also exactly fit into 
 any hole made by B, the fluted borer of the boring tool, Fig. 185. 
 You can now, therefore, make the four holes in the peg-box to 
 receive the pegs, two on each side, by beginning them with 
 a drill, and finishing them with the boring tool and finisher. 
 Be careful over this, or you will split away the wood inside 
 the peg-box, or split the head to pieces ; the positions of the 
 holes must be, of course, regulated by the model of the scroll, 
 the only things to be regarded being, that the holes on 
 either side must be exactly in the middle, and very exactly 
 opposite one another, and so set relatively to one another 
 that the pegs can be turned easily with the fingers without 
 interfering with one another. Be careful to begin the holes on 
 the proper sides (i.e., the G and d on the left, and the E 
 and A on the right) ; it is not uncommon for a thoughtless 
 beginner to start wrong. (I did this once : it made me 
 extremely angry.) The G and e holes, and the d and a holes, 
 it will be noticed, are closer together than the E and d, so be 
 careful not to commit the error of making the spaces an equal 
 distance all the way up. When the holes are made, remove 
 any roughnesses left round the edges by the finisher with a fine 
 knife, and finish the insides of the holes with a piece of fine 
 sand-paper rolled up small. A glance at any well-arranged 
 peg-box will enable you to measure the places of the holes and 
 their relative distances better than pages of explanation ; but 
 Fig. 187 represents the most usual setting, actual size, the 
 letters representing the respective pegs. Now fit the pegs 
 one by one into the peg-fitter. Fig. 186, till they fit exactly 
 into the holes in the peg-box made by the borer and finisher, 
 Figs. 184 and 185. By fitting exactly, I mean that they 
 must turn stiffly, but without jerking, in the holes thus 
 made, and the " thumb-pieces " of the pegs must be even with 
 one another when the " scroll is held up before the eye, id est, 
 one peg must not go in further than another. The ends of the 
 thumb-pieces must be just /^^ of an inch from the cheek of the 
 scroll. The ends of the pegs projecting beyond the outer face 
 
302 
 
 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND Ig. 
 
 of the opposite cheek of the peg-box must now be cut off about 
 ^^ of an inch beyond the outer face, and this projecting -^^ of 
 an inch must be nicely rounded with a file, sand-papered, and 
 may be polished by licking it and rubbing it hard up and down 
 the apron stretched across one's leg. The whole shaft of the peg 
 must then be nicely smoothed with fine sand-paper, and a hole 
 drilled through it rather near the cheek of the peg-box, on the 
 side of the "thumb-piece," or head of the peg. These opera- 
 tions being repeated four times, your set of pegs is fitted. 
 Sometimes it is found that the peg-box is too shallow to allow 
 
 the pegs, loith the strings 
 coiled on them, to turn easily; 
 this has a tendency to smash 
 the head. In this case the 
 peg-box must immediately 
 be deepened with a chisel ; 
 it is always as well before 
 leaving the pegs to test each 
 thus, by winding a piece of 
 thick D string round it in- 
 side the box, and remedying 
 any defect so found. If the 
 pegs were put in just as they 
 are, they would, of course, 
 stick, and be very stiff to 
 turn ; you must, therefore, 
 put them in and turn them 
 round a few times so as to 
 mark them a little where 
 they turn in the cheeks of 
 the peg-box. Then at these 
 points rub them with a piece 
 of soap, and then with 
 whitening. This will make 
 them turn easily, but hold 
 fast when screwed up to pitch. Clean away all trace of this 
 operation inside and outside the peg-box — first with a dry 
 brush, and then with one slightly moistened. Finally, give 
 the thumb-pieces and shafts of the pegs a good rubbing with 
 a slightly-oiled rag, and your pegs are fitted ready to receive 
 the strings. 
 
 Fitting the Tail-pin. — Tail-pins are sold everywhere for a few 
 pence, and are very easily fitted into the lower block by en- 
 larging the hole already there with the borer, Fig. 184, and 
 fitting the short shaft of the tail-pin into the hole thus made by 
 
 Fig. 187.— Setting of the pegs in the cheeks of the 
 scroll. 
 
VAENISHING AND FITTING UP. 303 
 
 means of the peg-fitter, Fig. 186, as if it were a peg. ( Vide 
 Figs. 104 and 105, p. 195.) It must not, however,' be glued 
 in its place till the vert/ last moment (when you want to put on 
 the tail-piece by its loop), for the hole is the luthier's peep-hole, 
 through which he can see the whole inside of his fiddle by 
 applying his eye to it. Indeed, it is better not to glue it at all. 
 Merely leave the shaft of the tail-pin as long as you can, fit it 
 nicely, and put it in. It cannot come out of itself ; but you can 
 pull it out if you want to, to look inside the fiddle. 
 
 The Tail-piece. — These are sold ready-made by all violin- 
 makers, so you will only have to fit it on. Procure a piece of 
 the black gut string used for the F or G of a harp, and let it 
 through the holes made to receive the loop ; bring one end well 
 through, and with a spirit-lamp burn the extreme end until it 
 swells up to double its size, flatten it whilst soft and tie round it 
 tightly, just below the swelling, a twist or two of A string, the 
 ends of which must be similarly burnt to prevent its knot 
 slipping. This makes a knob big and strong enough to prevent 
 the loop slipping through the holes in the tail-piece. Now put 
 the loop on the tail-pin, and lengthen it 
 till the wood of the tail-piece just clears 
 the " rest," take it off carefully (so as not 
 to slip), mark it, leaving enough to make 
 the knob, which must be made by burning pis. iss.— sound-post setter 
 the end and tying a piece of A string (front and side views). 
 
 round it as before. This done, the tail-piece is fitted. 
 
 Tlie Sound-post, on the importance of which I have always 
 said so much (p. 149), must next be made from a piece of fine- 
 grained pine, and fitted to the fiddle. It must be perfectly 
 circular, ^ inch in diameter, and in the rough about 2f inches 
 long. You should have a set of about six or more " trial posts," 
 Tanging in length from 2^ inches to If inch, and according to 
 the build of your fiddle, you will, in tui'n, put in one after 
 another of these graduated " dummies " till you find the one 
 that fits exactly according to the rules laid down on p. 151. 
 When this is found, cut your real sound-post to that length, 
 with a slant at the top and bottom of the post, so as to fit close 
 against the back and belly, following the arching of the model, 
 and set it in its place in the fiddle with the sound-post setter 
 {Fig. 188), on the sharp end of which it is stuck for the pur- 
 pose of putting it into the instrument. Remember in putting 
 it in that it slants a little outwards — i.e., towards the /hole, and 
 that the grain of the post goes at right angles to that of the 
 belly. Be very careful not to injure the edges of the/ hole by 
 notching it with the sound-post setter (Fig. 188) whilst you 
 
304 violin-making: as it was and is. 
 
 are putting the post in, for inexperienced hands nearly always 
 do this. 
 
 Now put on the strings, selecting them to your instrument 
 (vide p. 204) ; but, of course, do not attempt to screw them up 
 till the/inal operation is performed, namely : — 
 
 Fitting the Brid.ge. — This is the last operation of all, and 
 must be carried out with careful regard to the remarks contained 
 on page 161. First carefully select your bridge ; the first thing 
 is to shave off the surfaces of the little " inverted T," which 
 gives the " kidney " or " heart " shape to the hole cut in the 
 centre. This must be shaved down with a fine knife, so as to be 
 just he\ow the levels of the back and front of the bridge, other- 
 wise its delicate points catch in things {e.g., the handkerchief 
 which wipes the fiddle), and it gets snipped off. Now take an 
 old bridge and prop up the strings with it, setting it against the 
 bottom of the finger-board, and protecting the varnish from its 
 feet with a slip of paper; this enables you to fit the new bridge 
 easier. The strings are only just tightened enough to hold 
 
 ^ the bridge up, without pressing 
 
 on it. First reduce and shape 
 V ^ the feet, so that when put upon 
 
 the fiddle, and held in a line with 
 
 the eye, the feet fit closely and 
 
 absolutely to the arching of the 
 
 „ T TTl Z- 1 Z^ . bellv ; this is a most important 
 
 Fio. 188a.— Giude for cutting the arching of ■' , . i ■ n mi- p n 
 
 the Bridge. esscntial in the nttmg or the 
 
 bridge. When they fit absolutely, they should be about 
 Jg- inch (or less) in their thickest parts; but they will, of 
 course, be thinner towards the centre of the fiddle, because 
 they have to be cut away to suit the arching. When they are 
 fitted, mark their exact outlines on the varnish with a point, and 
 scrape away all the varnish exactly beneath them, so that the 
 feet touch the bare wood of the belly. By this a better tone is 
 obtained ; and if it is not done the feet will slip on the varnish, 
 tearing it off as they shift about with the constant vibration. 
 Now take the model of the arching of the bridge, Fig. 188a, and 
 mark the proper curve of the bridge at the right height. This 
 is determined by holding the fiddle (scroll towards you) on 
 a line with the eye, and looking along the finger-board. The 
 top of the bridge (when finished) should appear to the eye to 
 be about ^ inch above the end of the finger-board at the G, 
 a little less at the e. (Of course it must be understood through- 
 out the fitting of the bridge that the old dummy bridge always 
 supports the strings when the real one is being manipulated ; 
 and when the latter is put up for a moment the former comes 
 
VAENISHING AND FITTING UP. 305 
 
 down.) When the arching is properly adjusted, round off with 
 a file all the corners and edges of the bridge, making the top 
 quite round, and fliinning it gradually to the top from the 
 " waist " (so to speak) of the bridge ; the whole is finished with 
 fine sand-paper till it is perfectly smooth. The niches for the 
 strings are then made with the " mouse-tail " file you used for 
 the nicks in the nut, the dummy bridge is taken down, the new 
 one is put up, the A is screwed up to pitch, the other strings 
 tuned to the A, and your fiddle is finished. 
 
 • Hie fidibus, soriptis Claris, hie magnis alnmnia, 
 Cni par nemo fuit forte, neo ullus erit." 
 
 (^n Tartini's "Trattato di Musioa, etc." [Padua, 1754].) 
 
 20 
 
CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 KEPAIKS. 
 
 Kemoving the Belly of the Fiddle — Cracks in the Back or Belly — Cracks in 
 Wings of //Holes — Cracked Corners — Crack at the Joint or Un-gluing of the 
 Tables— Cracked Edges, and Bits Split off the Outline— Crack from the 
 Pressure of the Sound-post — -Veneering New Wood into a Piddle — Loosening 
 of the Belly from the Heat of the Chin or Hand — Split Blook— Splicing the 
 Head on to a Neck, and Fitting it on a Fiddle — Varnishing Repairs — 
 Conclusion. 
 
 It would hardly be right to complete a practical treatise on the 
 fiddle-makers' art without turning for a few moments to the 
 consideration of one of its most important branches — viz., 
 Repairs. Unlimited though the care you take of your fiddle 
 may be, as years of hard work thereon go by, you will be 
 exceptionally fortunate if your instrument, delicate and nervous 
 in temperament as it is, escapes entirely the ravages of time and 
 misfortune, which in a thousand and one forms assail the existence 
 of the productions of Cremona and Mirecourt alike, just as 
 perseveringly as they do that of their masters and makers. If 
 your fiddle is what Gemiinder would call " a master-violin," its 
 repairs should only be trusted to a great higb-priest of the fiddle- 
 making faculty, just as to our doctor-princes we confide the 
 well-being of a dear child or relation ; but if your violin is not 
 an historical instrument, and you are yourself a fiddle-maker, 
 amateur or otherwise, you will find yourself quite capable of 
 following the below-given directions for ministering to the minor 
 vicissitudes of your instrument. Always repair an injury, or 
 have the injury, whatever it be, repaired, without a moment's 
 delay ; every moment between the accident and the reparation 
 increases the damage. 
 
 " Principiis obsta ; sero medicina paratur, 
 I Cum mala per longas convaluere moras." 
 
 As a first step towards a diagnosis you must be able : — 
 
 To Remove the Belly of a Violin. — The back is never removed ; 
 as I have pointed out on p. 260, the belly is put on with much 
 thinner glue, and therefore may be easily taken off with a 
 
EEPAIKS. 307 
 
 moderately blunt, short table-knife. It must first be forced 
 between the belly and the sides, in one of the c's, or inner bouts. 
 After separating about two or three inches there, go to the curves 
 pf the upper and lower bouts, and when the beginnings have been 
 made thus, push the knife right round, separating the belly in 
 a similar manner from the corner and bottom blocks. When 
 you get to the neck you will have to make two short cuts (one 
 on each side) at right angles to the edge, to loosen the table 
 from the sides of the shoulder, which is here mortised into the 
 top block through the ribs (or sides) and edge. When it is 
 thus loosened all round, the belly may be pulled off from under 
 the finger-board ; and the belly being removed, all the ills which 
 violins are heir to will, if they exist, be exposed to your scrutiny. 
 You will find it almost impossible to take off a belly without 
 splitting off little splinters from the under surface of its edges 
 (especially at the blocks) ; if these are very bad and pronounced, 
 you must carefully remove them from the sides and blocks to 
 which they adhere with a sharp knife, and re-glue them into the 
 belly with a cramp and two slips of deal to protect the surfaces; 
 but to reduce their production to a minimum the knife must be 
 held very flat, and pressed close on to the side and blocks on its 
 journey round the fiddle. And, also, you must not be too fond of 
 " tinkering up " your violin ; every time you take the belly off 
 it is bad, so you must never do it unless absolutely forced by the 
 nature of the evil, for many (indeed most) repairs require no 
 more disarrangement of the fiddle than merely unstringing. 
 Having therefore explained to you how to get inside your, 
 instrument, let us turn to the consideration of the actual' 
 remedies which are applied to sick fiddles. 
 
 Cracks in Back or Belly. — These are often sufficiently serious 
 to render it necessary to take off the belly for the purpose of 
 getting at them, but generally they may be got at and repaired 
 with no more disarrangement of the fi.ddle than merely unstring- 
 ing it. In the latter case the crack must merely be encouraged 
 by pressing, the instrument so as to open the crack a little, and a 
 little thin pure glue run along it. The two sides must be pressed 
 level, which may be done with a stick of wood inserted in an/ 
 hole; and when the superfluous glue is washed away, and the 
 whole has dried, the damage will be practically invisible. Cracks 
 which may be mended thus are generally those arising from the 
 pressure of the bridge, or from cramming music, etc., into the 
 lid of the case, or from the bow, as described on page 202, and 
 from a multitude of other causes. 
 
 Cracks in Wing of f-hole. — These, which are represented in 
 Fig. 189, arise from many contingencies, it being a most delicate 
 
308 
 
 VIOLIN-MAKING: AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 and brittle portion of the instrument. The wing must be lightly- 
 pressed down so as to open the crack, a little glue streaked into 
 it, and the crack pressed together by slipping in a little strip of 
 thin wood, fixing it under a screw put on the side, or under 
 the finger-board as in the figure. 
 
 Cfaehed Corners. — The corners of the fiddle frequently get 
 split) as shown in Fig. 189, either (1) by the pressure of some 
 heavy weight, or (2) whilst gluing the tables to the sides, if in 
 jputting on the screws the corners are not carefully avoided they 
 will split in this manner. To remedy the defect the extreme end 
 
 of the corner must be pressed 
 so as to open the crack,5 a little 
 glue must be streaked in, and a 
 violin screw applied just so as to 
 hold it together as in Fig. 189. 
 A little post just the length of 
 the depth of the sides being set 
 between the upper and lower 
 corners to aid and counteract 
 the pressure of the violin screw. 
 Crdck at Joint, or Ungluing of 
 the Tables. — This is an accident 
 which sometimes occurs, and is 
 the result generally of a severe 
 jar or fall ; the back (or belly) 
 coming apart, often throughout 
 its length, along the centre join of 
 the table. It not unfrequently 
 happens that the bottom block 
 is also split half through by the 
 same mishap ; but this is not dis- 
 covered till the belly is removed, 
 which is the first step towards 
 a repair of this kind. The belly 
 being removed, the loosened joint is pressed open, a streak of 
 glue applied throughout its length (and to the split cranny in 
 the block, where this -has also sufiered), and the two halves of 
 the tables are pressed together by means of cramps and the 
 edge-holders described in the next paragraph. When the 
 wood is very old and tender, it will often be necessary to 
 strengthen the table after such a repair as this by gluing little 
 studs of strong new wood (each about \ inch square) all along 
 the crack at intervals at about 1 inch or | inch. They are 
 made of maple, and the outer surfaces should be nicely bevelled 
 off, the sides glued to the table being quite flat. I think it 
 
 Tie. 189.— Cracks in the "wings " of the 
 //holes, and split comer. 
 
REPAIRS. 
 
 30d 
 
 better to dispense with these if possible, but often the age of 
 the wood renders their application imperative. 
 
 Cracked Edges, or Bits $plit from the Outline. — The edge which 
 projects beyond the sides of a fiddle, though a great beauty to 
 the instrument, and of the highest importance to preserve the 
 symmetry of the outline, is often damaged by the fiddle falling 
 down, or being forced into or out of a case too small for it, 
 Ubtle slips of it getting split off just at the outer curves of the 
 upper and lower bouts, where the edges of the grain are on both 
 sides exposed, as at a in B, Pig. 190. The beginner will also 
 be very liable to be troubled by this mishap, when in finally 
 adjusting the outline and arching of the back and belly ; the 
 knife, chisel, or plane slipping off little chips, as at a' in c. 
 Fig. 190 ; c representing a slab of maple orpine arched and cut 
 out, but not yet scooped. (Both in B and c the pieces a d are 
 not shown, the pieces really chipped ofi' being generally very 
 small.) This chip must be 
 immediately searched for 
 and secured, or if it cannot 
 be found, the edge must be 
 shaved straight and flat, 
 and another small slip of 
 wood glued on. Both the 
 original chip, or the new 
 slip having been glued, it 
 must be fixed to the side, 
 and held there] by an 
 edge-holder (or possibly 
 two). This apparatus, 
 which can be cut out of any strip of \ inch deal in a few 
 moments, is represented alone at A, Fig. 190, applied to an 
 unscooped slab at c, and applied to the edge of a completed 
 fiddle at B in the same figure. The holder itself is in each case 
 lettered h ; one end of it is placed on the glued chip, and the 
 other end being just shorter than the breadth of the fiddle, it is 
 drawn down the curved edge of the other side till it is firmly 
 set, the outline of the fiddle being thus wedged fast into the 
 holder by its own curvature. When the glue is dry and the 
 holder is removed, the place where the split was will be in- 
 visible. If, however, you had lost the chip and had to apply a 
 new slip of wood, the outer surface of the latter must be cut 
 and shaped to conform to the outline of the table. 
 
 Crack in Sack or Belly resulting from Pressure of Sound-pest. 
 — This is a damage often found on old violins, especially on ones 
 of not very excellent make, or which have been ignorantly fitted 
 
 Cr^ 
 
 the outline of the nddle. 
 
 Ut 
 
310 
 
 VIOLIN-MAKING: AS IT^ WAS AND IS. 
 
 with too long a sound-post. The cracks in these cases generally 
 occur nearly the whole length of the plate, and to repair them 
 you must proceed as follows : Having taken off the belly, the 
 full extent of the crack will become visible, and it will be found 
 that the wood at the point from which the crack seems to start 
 away on either side has worked thin, so that besides mending the 
 crack, the wood must here be replaced by careful veneering. 
 The crack must firkt be mended by pressing it slightly open, and 
 running a streak of clear glue down it in the ordinary manner, 
 with an old knife or thin strip of wood ; when you are sure 
 
 i^/ 
 
 FiQ. 191.— Apparatus for strengthening an old table witli a yeneer of new wood. 
 
 that the glue has run well through all along the crack, wipe 
 away superfluous glue and set the fiddle aside to dry. 
 
 When the glue is perfectly dry, you may proceed to veneer in 
 a plate of wood in the following manner. For this purpose you 
 will require a mould-plate and press, represented by Fig. 191. 
 In this figure A represents a mould-plate — i.e., a plate of hard wood 
 an inch and a half or so thick, into which is sunk, or rather out of 
 which is scooped, the approximate arching of a back or belly ; 
 B therefore represents a section down the centre of the mould- 
 plate. You will find that if you cut it round as shown by the 
 dotted line on A, it will be much easier to work with ; but mind 
 and cut it well clear of the scooped part, c represents the press 
 itself, which consists of a lower plate, i, connected by the two 
 
EBPAIES. 311 
 
 iiprights d d, d d, with the cross-bar j, which is perforated to 
 aamit the screw a a, which has a broad, smooth end b, which can 
 be screwed down on to the mould-plate c, which is placed under 
 it as in the figure. The lower plate i must be broad enough for 
 the mould-plate c to be so moved about that the end b can be 
 made to impinge upon it at any point on it, and thus when the 
 table e is set in the mould-plate A, and A is set in c (c in c and 
 d), any portion of it can be thus pressed as shown at D. This 
 being therefore understood, and the gluing of the long crack 
 ^iy> yo^ Dia^y ^ow veneer in a slab where the table is worked 
 thin (over or under the sound-post) as follows : First cut a 
 slip of brown paper about two inches by one, and glue it on 
 the outside of the table where the thinness is to be corrected. 
 Now take an oval and convex plane, with very fine teeth, and 
 thin out the old wood in a little oval patch, as at k in d. Next, 
 by means of a chisel, file, plane, and glass-paper, prepare a 
 little oval slab of wood E exactly to fit the hollowing k, in back 
 or belly (e), as the case may be, making it exactly true by 
 rubbing it into the hole with chalk and fine sand. 
 
 When this is done, and both surfaces are clean and smooth, 
 place the table into the mould-plate, set the mould-plate in the 
 press, set the piece e into its place, thinly covered with warm 
 strong glue, as at h in d, place over it a piece of cork,^ of similar 
 size, place over that a similar piece of \ inch wood/, bring the 
 hoUow k, with the three strata (of wood, cork, and wood), under 
 the point b in the press c, and apply a strong pressure by means 
 of the screw a. The wood and cork equalize the pressure of b 
 all over h. Mind and make the grain of the new wood match 
 and coincide in direction with that of the table to prevent it 
 being too obvious (for one likes to hide a repair on the ars est 
 celare artem principle). When all is dry, remove the table e from 
 the plate c, and remove the wood and cork, / and g, and, with 
 a small fine plane, plane down the new wood h till it coincides 
 with, and is of proper thickness for, the table in which it has 
 been set. If you dirty the new surface with your fingers and 
 a little dust, and your new wood has been well chosen, and the 
 repair has been (as the bootmakers say) " neatly executed," the 
 locale of your remedy will be hardly visible, and the fiddle will 
 be greatly improved. 
 
 Loosening of the Belly in consequence of the heat of the Hand 
 or Chin. — It being remembered that the belly is put on with 
 glue of a much thinner consistency than that used in putting on 
 the back, it is not surprising that in hot weather, and with 
 players who are troubled with hot hands, or profuse perspiration 
 consequent on nervousness, the belly is apt to become unglued 
 
312 violin-making: as it was and is. 
 
 at the place where the pressure of the chin is applied, and at 
 the part on the side of the neck where the hand rests, when 
 playing in the third position. The first of these contingencies 
 seldom occur to players who use the appliance known as a 
 chin-rest, as this contrivance serves in a manner to hold the 
 belly fast and prevent its becoming unglued. In either case the 
 damage is rectified as follows : Take an ordinary old table- 
 knife, and thrusting it in as if about to take the belly off the 
 instrument, ascertain the exact extent of the harm done, but be 
 careful not by this means to increase it. If you turn to the 
 directions which have been given for gluing on the belly, you 
 will find how, the belly being held in position by screws, the 
 thin glue is applied with the blade of a table-knife, gluing a 
 piece at a time. Proceed here precisely similarly, thinning 
 down the glue with warm water, and using plenty of it. The 
 glue which holds the belly on everywhere else, in this operation 
 takes the place of the screws, but some repairers put on a couple 
 of screws, one on each side of the loosened part, to prevent the 
 operation of applying the glue from extending the injury. 
 Wipe off the superfluous glue as usual, and apply three or four 
 screws to the part glued, which are taken off when the glue is 
 dry and your repair is complete. 
 
 Split Block.— It sometimes occurs, from accident or careless- 
 ness, that when the ribs of a fiddle are being worked upon 
 without either the back or belly attached (as, for instance, new- 
 made ribs before the tables have been fixed on), the upper or 
 lower block will split perpendicularly throughout its depth ; in 
 this case the split being opened, and a sufiiciency of good glue 
 being run in, the two split halves must be squeezed together 
 with the fingers, and cramped into that position with an iron 
 cramp and two slips of pine, the cramp being fixed at right 
 angles to the ribs. 
 
 Hqw to Splice a Head upon a Nech and fit same to a Fiddle. 
 — In making a fiddle on a given model, it is generally the 
 custom not to make the head in one piece with the neck, but 
 separate from it, and " spliced " on to it, as is hereinafter 
 described. And again, this delicate operation is often required 
 to be performed on old violins ; for it must be remembered that 
 (as I have said before) on old instruments the original neck is 
 always too short, consequent on the alteration in the present 
 pitch, and requires to be replaced by a new neck suited to 
 modem requirements. And again, as a simple repair, it is one 
 of the most frequently required and important ; for it constantly 
 happens that from bad choice of wood, or inferior fitting, the Deck 
 sinks forward (so as to make the end of the finger-board too 
 
REPAIRS. 
 
 313 
 
 low), or twists, or inclines to one side, in all of which cases a 
 new neck must be adjusted rather than resort to the clumsy 
 expedients of veneering and refitting the original neck. And 
 this repair or operation is performed as follows : If you are 
 fitting a new neck to an old fiddle, begin by prising off the 
 finger-board and nut with an old table-knife, then cut the head 
 off the old neck close up under the chin, and cut the old neck 
 
 off the fiddle as close as possible above the 
 
 shoulder. Thus, whether your head is old 
 
 or new, yon have the head as at A, Figs. 
 
 192 and 193, or as on Plate V. 
 Now take a block for 
 
 the neck, and prepare and 
 
 square it as described in 
 
 page 269. Take the neck 
 
 model, Fig. 168 (Plate VI.), 
 
 and cramping it to the 
 
 plain surface of the block, 
 
 as described in page 277, 
 
 with a marking point 
 
 mark this outline on the 
 
 block and cut it out. The 
 
 materials you have there- 
 fore to hand are — (i.) the 
 
 scroll, and (ii.) the rough 
 
 neck, which is about 7| 
 
 inches long. If inch deep 
 
 at the shoulder, and 1^ 
 
 inch wide on the face, 
 
 down the exact centre of 
 
 the surface of which you 
 
 must draw a straight line, 
 
 which will be the line a a, 
 
 Figs. 193, 195, and 196. First prepare the 
 
 head to receive the splice, as follows: Fig. 
 
 194 represents the base of the front of the 
 
 peg-box (b, Fig. 196). With a fine tenon 
 saw make the two cuts a b, a' b', Fig. 194, as deep as the 
 bottom of the pe^-box, perhaps a trifle deeper, as at a a, 
 Fig. 192 (the shaded part, Fig. 192, representing the peg-box), 
 and cut out with the saw, knife, and chisel all the part c, 
 Fig. 194, until the chamber thus formed is quite clean and square, 
 thi lines a b, a' V, are quite straight, and the points 6, 6, are 
 sharp and fine as the edge of a knife. The distance of these 
 points (6, V) from one another should be as nearly as possible 
 
 Fio. 193.-7 Operation of 
 Splicing head on to 
 neck (front view). 
 
 Fi&. 192.— Operation of 
 splicing head on to 
 neck (side ylew). 
 
314 
 
 violin-making: as it was and is. 
 
 K'^ 
 
 f/S- 
 
 f— 
 
 —^ 
 
 1 inch, but of course this depends on the breadth of the model 
 of the scroll. When this chamber is finished smooth and clean, 
 you can proceed to prepare the neck (b, Figs. 192, 193, and 196) 
 with the conical plug, Fig. 195, to fit into this chamber. Take 
 the breadth between the sides of the peg-box at a, a', Fig. 194^ 
 with a pair of compasses, measure this breadth on a rule, and 
 divide it exactly by half (so that if the breadth was f inch, you 
 have your compasses open |^ inch). Mark off this distance 
 b b', Fig. 195, on each side of the line a a', Fig. 195, which repre- 
 sents the face of the neck block before the plug is cut. Now 
 take the breadth at b V, Fig. 194, and mark off half of it, c c'. 
 Fig. 195, on each side of the line a a', Fig. 195, and taking the 
 points b c, and h' d, Fig. 195, as guides, draw on the surface of 
 Fig. 195 the lines d e and d' e'. Now cut away with a chisel and 
 plane all the parts//' outside the lines d e, d' e', Fig. 195, and 
 go on shaving and fitting till the plug (Fig. 195) exactly fits into 
 
 the chamber (Fig. 194) fast 
 
 and close all round, as in Figs. 
 
 193 and 196. And N.B., the 
 
 distance from b to c, Fig. 192, 
 
 is as nearly as possible 4j 
 
 inches, the shoulder being in 
 
 the rough state. E special care 
 
 must be taken tJiroughout this 
 
 fitting that the line a a', Figs. 
 
 193 and 196, is in an exactly 
 
 straight line with the centre 
 
 ridge d of the front of the 
 
 scroll A, Fig. 193 (otherwise, 
 of course, the head will not be straight on the neck). When this 
 has been done, the next thing is to glue the plug into the chamber, 
 which is done as follows : Mark on the side of b. Fig. 192, a line 
 where the point b, Figs. 194 and 196, reaches on it as at e, Fig. 
 193. This is to know how far to push the plug into the chamber ; 
 for when it is glued the glue acts as a lubricant, and there is 
 great danger of pushing it too far, and thus splitting off the 
 cheeks of the scroll. Now glue the sides and bottom of the plug 
 and the inside of the chamber, and push the plug into its place, 
 wiping off superfluous glue and cramping it tight into its place 
 by means of two cramping irons and cramping blocks / // 
 Fig. 193, which must be protected by cork surfaces c/ cf ; and 
 between the cork surfaces and the sides of the scroll must also 
 be put slips of paper to protect the varnish of the scroll. 
 Similarly place another cramping iron with cramping blocks at 
 right angles to the first pair, the blocks being shaped and set 
 
 cv 
 
 / 
 
 FiQ. 194,— Base of peg- 
 box prepared to 
 splice on to neck. 
 
 Fig.] 
 
 I 
 
 ^ of neck 
 prepared to receive 
 
 head. 
 
EEPAIES. 
 
 315 
 
 as at d e, d' e', Fig. 192, and the whole must be set aside to 
 dry thoroughly. 
 
 When it is dry the first thing is to plane down the face of b, 
 Figs. 192, 193, and 196, with the plane, fit to receive the 
 finger-board. First plane it smooth throughout its length, till 
 at the splice the new wood is just flush with the old, then 
 (by leaving or planing down the lower end of B, Figs, 192 
 and 196) the surface B must so be left that a steaight-edge, 
 //, Fig. 192, just clears the centre ridge of the scroll, as at 
 the point G, Fig. 192, by about ^V of ^^ ^^^^' This last 
 planing will of course have cut away the marking of the 
 line a a' on the surface B, Fig. 196. A new 
 centre line must therefore be made by taking 
 the exact centre of the surface of the block B, 
 Fig. 196, at the upper h, Fig. 196, finding same 
 with a pair of compasses in the usual way, and 
 then from the point h, Fig. 192, by the point 
 d, Fig. 193, drawing the new line a a' on B, 
 Fig. 196. Now with the small square laid 
 on the side of B, Fig. 192, mark a point on the 
 face of B, Fig. 196, eaiactlvlevel with the end of 
 the chin of the scroll b, Fig. 192, and at this 
 point draw the line b V across B, Fig. 196, 
 and the line c c, \ inch above it, and prolong 
 the lines formed by the inner surfaces (d d, 
 Fig. 196) of the cheeks of the peg-box, till 
 they meet c d. Fig. 196, drawing by eye as 
 well as possible, thus completing on the face 
 of the plug the outline of the peg-box. Now 
 at the three points indicated on the line a a', 
 on the plug above the line c c', drill three 
 holes, _/, Fig. 196, as deep as the bottom of the 
 peg-box, and as wide as the plug will hold 
 (care must be taken not to injure the sides or bottom of the peg- 
 box, as these holes are only made so as to have less wood to cut 
 out with the knife and chisel afterwards) [and similarly bore 
 through the peg-holes already in the head (if it is an old scroll), 
 as this will remove yet more of the wood] ; the plug b is always 
 tapered enough to block up the holes of the G and E pegs. 
 Now proceed to mark the boundaries of the neck on the face 
 of B, Fig. 196. First on the line a a' mark a point e, Fig. 196, 
 exactly 5^ inches from b b', and with a square rule a line, 
 h U, across B at this point, then, placing the neck model, Fig. 
 168 (Plate VI.), along the side of B, Fig. 192, so that the shoulder 
 end (A, Fig. 168) is even with the line h h, Fig. 196, draw the 
 
 FlQ. 186 
 
 Operation of 
 splicing nead on to 
 neck. 
 
316 violin-making: as it was and is. 
 
 liae i, Fig. 192, which gives you the proper " set " of the shoulder 
 base. Repeat this line on the other side, and then carefully 
 with a fine tenon saw and toothed plane cut away all the wood 
 below these lines. Now opening the compasses ^ inch, from the 
 point h (on the nut line), Fig. 196, on the line a a' (where it is 
 crossed by b b'), set off ^ inch on each side of h on the line b b', 
 which will give us the points//'. Again' opening the com- 
 passes \^ in., set off, and in a similar manner mark two points, 
 ff g', from the point e on the line h h', and connect by means 
 of a fine line the points / and g, and /' and g', Fig. 196. 
 These last two lines give the correct proportions of the neck 
 ready to finish. This is done by cutting away all the wood 
 represented by the shaded parts i i', Fig. 196, with a knife and 
 chisel, and then with a knife roughly rounding the neck and 
 shoulder to the approximate shape of the finished neck and 
 shoulder, but leaving plenty of wood to cut away and finish 
 when the neck is set on the fiddle ; also, be very careful in 
 cutting along close to the lines / g, f g', not to bring out the 
 curls of the wood with the knife. If this does unfortunately 
 happen, you must at once glue back the chip thus pulled out, 
 and when dry, complete the operation. 
 
 Now finish the peg-box by cutting out with knife and small 
 chisel all the part of the plug_; (Fig. 196) which fills it up. This 
 is to a great extent already done by the drill holes above 
 mentioned, but the thus honey-combed wood must be carefully 
 chiselled and picked out so as to make a perfect and cleanly- 
 proportioned peg-box, as shown at d, Fig. 194 (and described in 
 page 275). The little wings, j, Fig. 192, left above the curve 
 of the peg-box by this operation must be carefully chiselled 
 down to the old wood e, Fig. 194, and the whole of the interior 
 and front of the new base of the peg-box thus made being 
 neatly finished with a file, the head and neck are finished ready 
 to set on the fiddle. During the whole of the operation of 
 finishing the peg-box, the back of the scroll should be held 
 firmly against the edge, of the bench, protected with many folds 
 of cloth to prevent injury to the varnish if it is an old fiddle, or 
 to the carving if it is a new one. 
 
 How to set the Head and Neck upon the Body of the Fiddle. — 
 If the fiddle is a new one, the chamber to receive the neck must 
 be cut as described in p. 277 ; if, however, it is an old fiddle 
 to which you are fitting a new neck, the remains of the old 
 shoulder must be cut away to receive the new. Begin by taking 
 a fine tenon saw, and cut down the shoulder close to the button, 
 almost as far as the sides; then make another cut at right angles 
 to this one from the front of the shoulder, so as to leave- only 
 
REPAIRS. 317 
 
 the base of the original shoulder sticking in the chamber in 
 which it was fitted. This " root," so to speak, must be cut out 
 in small chips, holding the fiddle by the waist between your 
 knees, with its back towards yourself, and carefully chipping 
 out the root of the old shoulder with a small chisel, tapping it 
 with a hammer till the whole of the chamber is cleared out, and 
 is in the condition of the chamber finished in p. 278. Great 
 care must be taken not to chip away pieces of the belly of 
 the fiddle with the first few chips of this operation, an accident 
 which may be obviated by making two little cuts between the 
 root of the old shoulder and the edges of the belly into which it 
 has been let. 
 
 When the chamber has been cut, as described in p. 278, or 
 has been cleaned out as above, the base of the shoulder must be 
 carefully cut to fit closely into it, regulating the cutting, which 
 is done with a plane and chisel, by the chamber, and making 
 the slope equal on both sides by means of the false square. The 
 base of the shoulder must be cut away when fitted, till from the 
 rihs (not the edge of the fiddle) to the nut (i.e., to the line b V, 
 Fig. 196) the distance is exactly h^^ of an inch. In cutting away 
 the base, great care must be taken not to split pieces oflp the 
 sides thereof ; and this is obviated by always wetting the ends of 
 the grain before cutting it, and working against the broad edge 
 of the bench. The bach of the shoulder must be cut to fit closely 
 against the button, and the base must be so cut to fit the 
 chamber, that holding the fiddle horizontally to the eye, the 
 front of the shoulder projects just \ of an inch above the belly, 
 and be exactly even all across — i.e., \ of an inch above, both at 
 h and h', Fig. 196. The proper " set back " of the neck is attained 
 when a straight-edge perpendicularly laid along the line a a', 
 Figs. 123 and 196, is just ^ of an inch above the belly between the 
 nicks of the //holes. Now find the exact centre between the 
 // holes in me ordinary way, with compasses, and make a small 
 point. A straight-edge must coincide, with this point, with the 
 base of the line a a' at e, Fig. 196, and with the centre ridge of the 
 scroll d, Fig. 193 : if it does this, the neck is set straight ; also, 
 place a wedge on a flat surface, and put the fiddle with the neck 
 in position (it should fit tight enough to be able to carry the 
 fiddle about by it, without shifting or coming out) sideways on 
 the table, pushing it to the wedge till the "eye" of the scroll 
 touches the inclined surface of the wedge, at which point on the 
 inclined surface make a mark. Now turn the fiddle over, so as 
 to repeat the process, and if the other " eye " touches the inclined 
 surface at the same mark, the neck is set straight on the fiddle. 
 This supplemental test is not so certain as the first, as sometimes 
 
318 violin-making: as it was and is. 
 
 a scroll may have one eye shorter than the other. Between the 
 chin, b, Fig. 192, and the top of the button, the distance should 
 be just 4^ of an inch, though this will sometimes vary slightly 
 with the model. 
 
 All these conditions having been observed, finish the joint with 
 a fine file, glue both shoulder, chamber, and button quickly and 
 plentifully, and cramp the neck in its place with an iron, 
 protecting the button with cramping blocks, as usual. Before 
 the glue sets, and before the cramp is fixed, see finally that the 
 neck is set straight by the above tests, and set aside the whole 
 when fixed to dry ; when, the operation being completed, we are 
 ready to put on the finger-board, as described in page 297. 
 
 Varnishing Repairs. — It stands to reason that the great art 
 and secret of successful repairing is to conceal the fact of 
 a repair having taken place at all ; and the way in which all 
 trace may be effectually hidden is by scientific and artistic 
 varnishing. 
 
 We will suppose that a new neck has been fitted to an original 
 head and set in the fiddle, as described above ; the object to be at- 
 tained is to conceal the fact of its being a new neck by so varnish- 
 ing and colouring the new wood as to render it indistinguishable 
 from the old, to which it is attached, and to replace the original 
 varnish, which must necessarily have been sand-papered ofi' the 
 old wood immediately, contiguous to the join. In the case of a 
 new neck, this will be at the button, the top of the ribs, and round 
 the chin of the scroll. The new neck being finished and fitted in 
 the manner that I have described, commence by just washing over 
 the new wood with a slight stain to darken it a little before var- 
 nishing. This stain may be composed of saffron or burnt umber 
 dissolved in water, or of saflron and burnt umber mixed (which 
 is better) ; but it must be concocted and applied so as not to 
 make the fiddle neck look either too yellow or too brown. Then 
 take an ordinary spirit varnish, composed of shellac dissolved in 
 spirits of wine, and varnish all over the new wood and where 
 the original varnish has been removed ; two Hght coats of this 
 will be sufficient. Now take a darker spirit Varnish (that sold 
 ready made by Messrs. J. Eea and Co., of Wardour Street, under 
 the name of " VioUn Varnish," and which is a well-constructed 
 shellac varnish, coloured with a vegetable pigment, and tempered 
 with a tenderer gum, will do very well) and varnish well, so as to 
 deepen in colour the shoulder of the new neck and the chin of 
 the old scroll with the new wood adjacent to it. You will now 
 want a little powdered dragon's blood and a little burnt umber, 
 mixing these according to the shade required by the rest of 
 the fiddle, with the shellac varnish. If the fiddle is red in tone, 
 
REPAIRS. 319 
 
 as, for instance, a Vuillaume or Guadagnini, you will require 
 more dragon's blood ; if brown, like a Ruggerius, or old 
 English fiddle, you must deepen your varnish with the burnt 
 umber, till a satisfactory imitation of the rest of the fiddle and 
 scroll is attained. Then take some burnt umber, and making 
 with it a thick brown varnish, tip and touch the new wood lightly 
 with it, especially over the joins where the old and new wood 
 must contrast, so as effectually to disguise the same. Whea 
 a piece of new wood has simply been let into a fiddle, the process 
 of varnishing the repair is precisely similar, using lighter or 
 darker varnish and pigments, according to the colour of the 
 instrument, the dirt, dents, etc., of the rest of the fiddle being 
 imitated artistically with burnt umber, especially, as before, 
 round the edges of the new wood. I have seen fiddles thus 
 patched and varnished so as to defy the closest scrutiny in 
 searching for traces of the repair. 
 
 "I did an idyll on Joachim's fiddle, 
 At a classical soiree in June, 
 While jolly dogs laughed at themes from Spohr, 
 And longed for a popular tune." 
 
Conclusion. 
 
 My task is finished. 
 
 It is with a genuine regret that I lay down my pen, for as 1 
 have gone through in my mind the various processes of fiddle- 
 making, and " made my fiddles o'er again," the deep and 
 absorbing interest which for me attaches itself to all things 
 connected with : — 
 
 " This small, sweet thing, 
 Devised in Iots and fashioned cunningly 
 Of wood and strings," 
 
 has made me linger lovingly over the minutiae of the operations 
 which call its wondrous powers into being. 
 
 Until he has pursued the art no one can imagine the fascina- 
 tion of violin-making, — the thousand pains the player never 
 dreams of, the thousand touches the uninitiated eye never 
 appreciates, the exquisite work of the interior which no eyes, 
 save those of the maker and repairer, ever will be privileged 
 to see. These are the things which make the Luthier love the 
 work of his hands, as if it were his own child. 
 
 Years ago (it is said) there lived in Bremen a watchmaker, 
 whose fame was universal, for his watches were the most perfect 
 in the world. No one could discover the secret of his pre- 
 eminence. At last he sickened and died, and the secret was 
 revealed, for all his watches stopped one by one : — he had 
 wrought a little of his own Soul into each timepiece, and when 
 he died — they died also ! 
 
 So it is with the Fiddle-maker: his whole soul is put into 
 his work ; hut his work does not die with him ; it lives, divinely 
 sweet, till sheer old age crumbles it away, — till long after his 
 grandchildren's grandchildren have lived out their allotted 
 threescore years and ten, in blissful ignorance of their ancestor 
 who "made fiddles." 
 
 Gentle Reader, au plaisir de vous revoir : give me rest now. 
 Let me lay down the goose-quill to take up the gouge, and for a 
 space let me resume again the solution of the problem : — 
 
 "Given: a Hob of aHHooTi : — Make: 3 JFiBIiU." 
 
 "^anU hart batz la itxts, c il tislo, t roitia, 
 (SJttanti ncctnti il iolot, la gioia, t Vixn, 
 %ntia ait taiuabfl Usno in fiwmbo ntcoslit.'' 
 
 Felice Romani, 
 
appenDices 
 
 21 
 
TO A CHILD TIRTUOSA. 
 (Bepriuted from The Lute, September 1884.) 
 I. 
 
 Child, when to-night alone upon the stage 
 
 With tiny hands you woke the fev'rish chords 
 In streams of harmony which might assuage 
 
 Passion, pain, longing, out of reach of words ; 
 When (ev'n as Amphion in the old time jdayed, 
 
 Drawing dead ships which fraught with being seemed) 
 You wielded the deft bow my life was stayed. 
 
 And I sat tranced, and, as I listened, dreamed. 
 
 II. 
 
 I see you now as then, child-like and fair. 
 
 Lost in the clouds of harmony you made, 
 Whilst the light streaming from your sunny hair 
 
 Revealed the dimple by its lurking shade ; 
 And the soft cadence of the theme you breathed 
 
 Well might have made the tortured sottI forget ! 
 Raising sweet living memories which wreathed 
 
 With garlands new the ashes of Regret. 
 
 III. 
 
 I saw you when some other stronger hand 
 
 Imprisons that which lately sped the bow ; 
 (And this ere yet the running of life's sand 
 
 Had marked a decade by Its silent flow) : 
 And then — ^when bow and " croude " are laid aside, 
 
 And children's hands wake fresh those echoes bright, — 
 Will you remember your life's moming-tide. 
 
 Will memory bear you back, dear, to to-night? 
 
 Envoi. 
 
 Child, thus I dreamed ; and suddenly I woke, 
 Roused by the thunders of applause which broke 
 From all who heard you. — ^Ah! in the To-be 
 Will praise delight you ev'n as now, m'amie. 
 
 Ed. Heson-Allen, 
 
APPENDIX A. 
 
 GUMS, EESINS, AND OTHER SUBSTANCES USED IN 
 COMPOUNDING VIOLIN VARNISHES. 
 
 {a) Benzoin, Benjamin, or Gum Benzoic. The dried milky juice 
 of the Lithocarpus Benzoin, a tree indigenous to Siam and the Indian 
 Archipelago. It arrives in reddish-yellow lumps, the whitest being 
 the best. Benzoin consists of 10 to 14 per cent, of Benzoic acid, and 
 the rest resin. It is used in perfumery and medicine, and is a 
 component of court plaister. It fuses easily, and is soluble in alcohol. 
 
 (6) Saffron. The dried stigmas of the Crocus sativua. An acre 
 wiU yield 5 lbs. the first, and 24 lbs. the second year, after which it 
 must be renewed. Its value is £2 an ounce. 
 
 (c) Venetian Turpentine is the most esteemed kind of turpentine, 
 and is a dear pale yellow viscous mass. On distUUng it with water 
 the essential oil (or spirits) of turpentine is obtained, which is a 
 colourless volatile oU, soluble in alcohol, ether, and other oils, and is 
 a ready solvent of nearly all resins. The residue left in the retort 
 after distilling is the rosin, or colophony, which is familiar to every 
 violinist. 
 
 (d) Frankincense is the exudation of the Epicea pectinata (silver 
 fir), a gum of a pinkish colour and agreeable odour. The frankincense 
 of the Scriptures was the gum of the BosweUia thurifera, now known 
 as olibanum. 
 
 (e) Gwm mastic is the resin of the Pistacia lentiscus, from which 
 it oozes in pale yellow tears. If not collected in time, it falls to the 
 ground and becomes impure, and, consequently, it is best in tears. 
 It is soluble in alcohol and oil of turpentine. 
 
 (/) Aloes hepatica is a species of resin of a liver-brown colour, 
 obtained from several sorts of Aloes, particularly the Aloe socotrina, 
 a native of the island of Socotra, whence it is imported into Bombay, 
 where it acquires the name of Bombay aloes. 
 
 (g) Sandal wood. The name, as here used, signifies the wood of 
 the Pterocarpus samtalinus (and not of the Santalwm Yasi), which 
 grows in Southern India and Ceylon ; the heart wood is dark red, 
 and so heavy as to sink in water ; it is much used as a dye. 
 
 (A) Dragon's blood (or Gum Dragon) is a gum obtained from 
 several trees, but principally the Pteroca/rpus draco, a native of 
 South America. It is also obtained from the Pterocarpus samtalinus 
 (vide note g), but the most esteemed kind comes from the Calamus 
 draco. It is of a deep reddish-brown colour, very opaque and brittle. 
 
324 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 smelling like benzoin when burned ; it is soluble in alcohol and most 
 oils and turpentine. 
 
 {i) Madder is a colour obtained from the peeled roots of the Ruhia 
 tinctorum, a shrub grown principally in Holland. The roots are 
 lifted in October or November, the brown epidermis is removed by a 
 process called " robage," and the inner part is cut into small pieces 
 and packed off to the countries where it is ground into a fine powder 
 for use. 
 
 (J) Logwood is the dark red heart-wood of the Hoematoxylon 
 campechianiMn, a tree which grows in Mexico and Central America. 
 The sapwood and bark are peeled off, and the heart- wood is imported 
 in billets. The colour dissolves readily in boiling water. 
 
 {k) Brazil wood is obtained from various species of CcBsalpina 
 growing in Brazil. The best is that of the Ccesalpina echinata or 
 Pernambuco wood, which is much used for making violin bows. 
 The dark yellowish-red heart-wood is the valuable part. 
 
 (f) Cinnabar (or Vermilion). An ore of mercury, found in 
 crystals, masses, and powder. Chemically it is bisulphuret of mercury. 
 
 (to) Orpiment, a combination of arsenic with sulphur, of a brilliant 
 yellow colour known as king's yellow. 
 
 (n) Elemi is a fragrant resin obtained chiefly from the Amyris 
 elemifera of Egypt (whence it arrives wrapped in cane or palm 
 leaves), and from the Elaphriwm elemiferum of Mexico. It is 
 collected once a day from incisions made in the bark in warm 
 weather, and put into casks. It is at first soft and sticky, but 
 becomes in time hard and brittle. It is usually in greenish-yellow, 
 semi-transparent masses with dark streaks in them, which soften 
 when held in the hand. 
 
 (o) Aninie, or hard copal, is the resin which exudes from the 
 Hymenoea courbaril, a native of South America. A gum obtained from 
 the Vateria Indica, known as gum anim6, is very like true copal (only 
 more soluble in alcohol), with which it is frequently confused in 
 commerce. 
 
 (p) Copal is a name given rather indiscriminately to various gums, 
 especially that known as anim6 (o). The best, or Mexican copal, 
 is obtained from a species of Hymencea, but it is also obtained 
 from Africa, India, Madagascar, and Brazil. It arrives in round, 
 tasteless, odourless, lemon-yellow masses ; it is readily fusible and 
 inflammable, and though only slightly soluble in alcohol and oil of 
 turpentine naturally, it is readily so when it has been fused. In 
 hardness, as a gum, it ranks next to amber. It is easily soluble in 
 oils of spike and rosemary, and the addition of either of these to 
 alcohol promotes its solubility. It is also soluble in oil of turpentine 
 which has been exposed to the air {vide p. 181). 
 
 (q) Chim tragacanth is yielded by the shrub Astragalus tragaeantha ; 
 it occurs in opaque whitish flakes, only partially soluble in water ; it 
 grows chiefly in Persia and Asia Minor, and comes to us from 
 Smyrna and Constantinople. 
 
APPENDIX. 325 
 
 (»•) Oil of lavender is obtained by distilling flowers of lavender 
 with water ; the variety used chiefly for varnishes is called oil of 
 spike, and is obtained from the Lavandula latifolia, or spica. 
 
 (s) Cyprian turpertfine is that variety yielded by the Pistaaia 
 lentisous. It is inferior to the Venice turpentine. 
 
 (t) Gum loo is the product of an insect (the Coccus lacca) which 
 lives on the twigs of various trees (such as Butea, Ficue, Croton, etc.), 
 which it gradually covers with a resinous coating which contains 
 their dead bodies, eggs, and a purple colouring matter which they 
 secrete. The eggs germinate inside the resinous covering drawn from 
 the trees by the parent insect, and the insects eat their way through • 
 and continue to build up the coating of resin (or gum lac), which 
 often becomes as thick as half an inch, being honeycombed by the 
 dead bodies of succeeding generations. When well covered, the twigs 
 are gathered by natives and soaked and kneaded in hot water, which 
 operation dissolves the colouring matter, and purifies the mass from 
 the dead bodies of the insects. It is then put into coarse bags and. 
 melted before a fire till it oozes out over sticks on which it dries and 
 forms shell-lac ; what falls through the sticks is called tear-lac, and 
 plate or tablet-lac. Stick-lac is the twigs just as they are gathered, 
 shipped with all impurities. That which is shaken to the ground 
 from the trees by wind, etc., is collected, and called seed-lac. It is 
 of various shades of colour, from clear orange to opaque liver-colour. 
 It comes principally from South-Eastern Asia, and is imported at 
 the rate of about 1,500 tons annually. 
 
 (w) Samdarach (so-called) is a brittle, yellowish, transparent resin 
 miported from North Africa, where it exudes from the bark of the 
 CaUitris quadrivalvis. It is more soluble in oil of turpentine than 
 alcohol, and in excess renders the varnish soft and brittle. True 
 sandarach is got from the common juniper, and is the same as juniper 
 gum (vide p. 175, Note i). 
 
 (d) Amber is the fossil gum, probably of an extinct coniferous tree, 
 found generally in conjunction with coal, in lumps or tears of a 
 yellow or opaque colour. It biirns brightly, and is rather brittle. 
 It melts at 550° Fahr. It is found principally on the shores of the 
 Baltic, cast up by the sea, gathered in nets, and dug up. It is also 
 sometimes found on the east coast of England. It is partially soluble 
 in alcohol, and totally in chloroform. 
 
 (w) Asphalt is a kind of bituminous pitch, obtained chiefly from 
 Trinidad, though it is also found in many other parts of the world. 
 An artificial asphalt is obtained from the residue left in the retort 
 after the evolution of coal-gas. It resembles pitch, but does not 
 soil the fingers; it is sparingly soluble in alcohol, but more so in 
 oil of turpentine, ether, and naphtha. 
 
 («) Gum a/rahic is obtained from the Acacia a/raiica and vera, 
 both natives of North Africa and Eastern Asia, whence it is imported 
 to us from Barbary and Turkey. It varies in colour from straw- 
 yellow to deep red. 
 
326 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 (y) Gamhoffe is the gum resin of the Camhogia guUifera of the 
 East Indies. It is a thick yellow juice, which reaches us in pipes, 
 cylinders, and masses, of which the two former are the purest. The 
 best comes from Siam. 
 
 («) Myrrh is the resin of the Balsamodendron myrrha, a native 
 of Arabia and Abyssinia. It exudes from the tree in thick yellow 
 drops, which harden and darken on exposure to the air. It reaches 
 us in tears and lumps, varying from yellow to reddish-brown. It 
 is brittle and waxy, with a balsamic smell, and an aromatic and 
 bitter taste. 
 
 (a a) Opoponax is obtained by puncturing the roots of the Pas- 
 tinaca opoponax, a kind of parsnip, indigenous to Southern Europe. 
 Except as a perfume, this gum is not now much used. 
 
 (6 b) Gopdiha (or Gopdiva) is the volatile oil flowing from trees of 
 the species Gopaifera growing in tropical South America. It is 
 principally used as a medicine. 
 
 APPENDIX B. 
 
 THE PEESBRVATION OF THE INSTEUMENT. 
 
 Many and various are the suggestions made to, and the duties 
 imposed upon, amateurs, with a view to keeping their fiddles in good 
 condition and playing order. Although it is certain that a vioUnist 
 who does not take care of, and do everything conducive to the 
 welfare of, his violin, can never expect to make a good performer, 
 many of the operations set down in the books are ridiculous and 
 unnecessary, such, for instance, as the practice recommended by 
 Otto, of rubbing the strings from nut to bridge, with a piece of 
 silk moistened with almond oil, before putting the instrument away, 
 after playing on it, and rubbing them dry again with a linen rag 
 before again using it. It is always hopeless to expect owners of new 
 fiddles to pay that attention to bran new instruments that they 
 bestow upon their already dilapidated and time-worn masterpieces of 
 Cremona, partly because they do not consider them worth it, and 
 partly because they like to see them looking old and service-marked. 
 It would be a great boon to future generations if amateurs would 
 preserve their new fiddles in all their pristine "spick and span" 
 beauty, and this object may be obtained by following and adhering 
 to the following rules. 
 
 The violin should, after being played on, be dusted free from all 
 impurities and accumulated rosin dust, with a soft silk hand- 
 kerchief, for rosin dust, if allowed to remain in a white layer, 
 is apt to check the vibrations of the belly, to say nothing of its 
 
APPENDIX. 327 
 
 unsightly appearance. It should be then wrapped in a silk hand- 
 kerchief, and laid in a baize or velvet-Hned case, and not tied up 
 in a bag, or hung on a nail, as is the fate of many fiddles, especially 
 tenors, though there is no doubt about it, that if a new fiddle can 
 always be kept lying out of the case in some safe place, in a well- 
 ventilated and warm room, where it will not be knocked about or 
 run a risk of draughts, it will mature and mellow very much quicker 
 than if shut up from the first in a case. An additional protection is 
 gained by a quilted satin " fiddle blanket" cut to fit the case, which 
 " blanket " affords much scope for ingenuity and beauty of design in 
 the embroidery work of our sisters and others (especially others). 
 The case should not be set on the floor under a piano, as it usually 
 is, because there is nearly always a draught along the floor, and the 
 fiddle must never, if possible, be in a draught, but it must be put 
 on a shelf or table three or four feet from the ground, in a dry warm 
 place, and in fine weather (if practicable) the case should be left 
 open, and the fiddle unwrapped for a few hours every day. This 
 goes far towards mellowing the tone, and preserving the instrument. 
 It must be remembered that the close, dried pores of an old violin 
 are extremely susceptible to damp, for they open, and absorb the 
 moisture of the atmosphere, and this has a tendency to loosen the 
 joints by melting the glue. 
 
 The fiddle should not be subjected to sudden changes of tem- 
 perature ; the tone of a delicate instrument may for a time be 
 completely spoilt by carrying it through the open air to a concert 
 room, by reason of the sudden contraction of the instrument from 
 the cold and subsequent expansion from the heat of the room, 
 which have the effect of throwing the instrument out of its har- 
 monic eqxiilibrium, and thus rendering the tone harsh. Again; 
 the pores of the wood being full of cold air, the sudden transition 
 to a warm atmosphere turns this cold air into steam or perspiration, 
 and, as a consequence, the strings (especially the D) lose their tone 
 and become nazal. Periodically it is good to pour a handful of 
 barley slightly warmed in at one of the// holes, a process which cleans 
 out the inside effectually, removing the coating of fine dust which 
 would otherwise retard the thorough seasoning of the wood. The 
 strings should always be kept stretched up to pitch : the practice 
 observed by some players of relaxing the strings after playing (with 
 a view to economy in the matter of strings) is absolute ruination to 
 the instrument in the matter of tone, for the equilibrium being 
 constantly disturbed, the fiddle never gets thoroughly settled and 
 free in its vibrations. 
 
 In addition to this, you should watch your fiddle as if it ■^ere 
 a delicate child — i.e., whenever you play on it, you should look it 
 over to see if anything is going wrong (vide p. 306). Never let a 
 want of repair go on till it makes itself apparent in the tone; 
 therefore, examine the bridge to see that it is quite perpendicular ; 
 if not, press it forward or back as the case may require. See that 
 
328 TIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 the sound-post is also quite straight up, and that the neck has 
 not sunk forward a Kttle, as it sometimes will when a new neck 
 has been set on the instrument, or the fiddle has not long left the 
 maker's hands. This will also sometimes happen when a fiddle is 
 suddenly carried from a warm into a cold temperature, the glue 
 being by this means loosened, as above mentioned. This becomes 
 apparent by the strings appearing too high above the finger-board, 
 and consequently an awkwardness being experienced when playing 
 in the high shifts. When this happens, the only thing to do is to 
 have a new neck put on by a good workman ; some players get over 
 the difficulty by lowering the bridge, but this is always a dangerous 
 and unsatisfactory expedient (vide p. 161). See that the belly has 
 not become unglued on the left of the tail-piece, as is sometimes the 
 case consequent upon the heat of the chin, or on the right of the 
 shoulder, which sometimes results from a hot hand playing in the 
 third and higher positions. By tapping the fiddle lightly round the 
 edges, any contingency of this description becomes immediately 
 apparent by the sound. If by any mischance the sound-post falls 
 down, or the fiddle gets unglued at any of the blocks, relax all the 
 strings at once ; it is better to put up with the temporary disturbance 
 of the instrument thus occasioned, than to risk the deleterious strain 
 otherwise put upon the belly. 
 
 I have said, never let a want of repair go too long, but, on the 
 other hand, do not be too anxious to have your fiddle tinkered about; 
 remember that as with the human subject amputation is the very last 
 resort to be tried when all other remedies are hopeless, so with the 
 fiddle; To take off the belly is a most serious thing, and to meddle 
 with the bar, or scoop out the wood, worse still ; therefore, never 
 sufier your fiddle to undergo these operations unless every other 
 means has failed, never have the belly taken off except in the case of 
 a bad crack, a loosening of a block (and even then it may be dispensed 
 with sometimes [vide, p. 307] ), or unless the obstinate ghastUness of 
 the tone tells you there is some serious internal complaint torturing 
 your darling. On the same principle, never shift about the bridge 
 and sound-post yourself (irresistible as is the tendency to do so when 
 the tone goes wrong) ; confide all such matters to some high-priest of 
 the art of hdherie, whom you can trust with the well-being of your 
 instrument. 
 
 By attending to these things a good fiddle can be kept in perfect 
 order for an indefinite length of time. The above directions may 
 seem to the reader to be unnecessarily minute and " faddy," but as a 
 matter of fact, the points I have set down to be attended to ought 
 not to require setting down at all, but are instinctively observed by 
 any fiddler who really worships his fiddle as (alas !) a fiddler always 
 does sooner or later. By attention to the above-mentioned par- 
 ticulars, your instrument is kept in good temper and tone, and you 
 are saved the cmoful expense of first-class fiddle repairing. 
 
APPENDIX. 329 
 
 APPENDIX C. 
 
 THE BIBLIOGRAPHY OP THE VIOLI27. 
 
 The following catalogue of works on the violin cannot, I know, 
 pretend to anything like completeness, but I think I am justified in 
 saying that it is the largest list hitherto published, of works 
 exclusively devoted to the history, theory, construction of, and 
 miscellanea connected with, the Violin. It aims at being no more 
 than a transcript of the catalogue of my violin-hbrary, a library 
 which, for some years past, I have grudged neither time nor expense 
 to make as complete as possible, and I ^all esteem it a great favour 
 if any of my readers, who know of any works not included in the 
 following list, will send me a note of their title, etc., so that I may, 
 with this valuable help, still fiirther complete this bibliography. I 
 have arranged the titles in chronological order in preference to 
 alphabetical, for I think the former is the more interesting arrange- 
 ment for students of the literature of the violin, and I have placed 
 the authors' names in an index of the names contained in this and the 
 following appendices in front of the index to this volume, so that any 
 author's work may be found at once, without necessarily knowing the 
 date thereof, or searching through the whole Ust. So as further to 
 aid my readers in their search, I have divided the principal countries 
 from one another, a plan which unfortunately shows me my 
 poverty as regards the violin-literature of some of the nations. I 
 have been obhged, by want of space, to exclude magazine articles, 
 extra<^s from other works, patent specifications, and many other 
 matters connected with the violin which must necessarily have 
 interested those whom such things concern : at some future date, 
 however, I propose to embody aU these in a complete analytical 
 bibliography of the violin in the form of a separate volume. Li the 
 meantime, I present my readers with the following catalogue, which 
 has been hitherto jealously guarded from prying eyes, and which 
 comprises the titles of many works never before referred to in any 
 work on the instrument. 
 
 ENGLISH WORKS 
 
 1. Hamilton, J. A. Hamilton's Catechism for the Violin. London, 
 
 n.d. : H. Cocks & Go. 12mo. The fifth edition appeared in 
 1848. The fifteenth edition (n.d.) has an appendix by John 
 Bishop, and appeared about 1883. 
 
 2. FiiTis, Fram^ois Joseph. Biographical Notice of Nicolo Faganini. 
 
 Followed by an analysis of his compoMtions, and preceded 
 by a sketch of the histoi-y of the violin. Translated by 
 Wellington G-uemsey. London, n.d. : Schott ds Co. 8vo. 
 {VideTSo. 26.) 
 
330 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 3. MOYSIKH-IATPEIA ; or a Kddle the best Doctor. London, 
 
 1775 : Kearsley. 
 
 4. JoussE, J . Theory and Practice of the Violin. London, 
 
 1811. 
 
 5. Maodonald, John. A Treatise Explanatory of the Principles 
 
 cbnstitutiag the Practice and Theory of the Violoncello. 
 London, 1811. Appendix 1815. FoUo. 
 
 6. Anonymous. The Lay of the Poor Fiddler, a Parody on the Lay 
 
 of the Last Minstrel. With notes and illustrations : by an 
 admirer of Walter Scott. London, 1814 : Crosby. 8vo. 
 
 7. Maodonald, John. A Treatise on the Harmonic System, 
 
 arising from the vibrations of the aliquot divisions of strings, 
 etc., etc. Giving an easy and familiar adaptation of the whole 
 to the purposes of composition and of instrumental music, and 
 more particularly to the practice of the violin, tenor, violon- 
 cello, and double-bass, on aU the strings in every compass of 
 these instruments by every practical mode of execution, etc. 
 London, 1822. Printed for the Author. Folio. 
 
 8. Imbert db LAPHALtQUE, G. Some Account of the Celebrated 
 
 Violinist Nicolo Paganini. Translated from the French of 
 G. I. de L., with additional notes. London, 1830 : Ghappell, 
 etc. Large 8vo. (a translation of No. 83). 
 
 9. Anonymous. Practical Rules for producing Harmonic Notes on 
 
 the Violin, etc. Bury St. Edmund's and London, 1831 : 
 Cramer. 
 
 10. Otto, Jacob Augustris. Treatise on the ConstructioUj Preserva- 
 
 tion, Repairs, and Improvement of the Violin, and all bow- 
 instruments, together with a Dissertation on the most 
 Eminent Makers, pointing out the surest marks by which a 
 genuine instrument may be distinguished. Translated from 
 the German, with notes and additions by Thomas Fardeley, 
 prof essor of languages, Leeds. London: Xowg^mttws. Leeds: 
 J. Gross, 1833. Large 8vo. (vide No. 16, to which it is 
 greatly inferior). (Translation of No. 130.) 
 
 11. DuBOUEG, George. The Violin. Being an account of that 
 
 leading instrument and its most eminent professors, from its 
 earliest date to the present time, including hints to amateurs, 
 anecdotes, etc. London, 1836 : Hy. Golhurn. Small 8vo. 
 Second Edition. London, 1837 : Hy. Colbum. Small 8vo. 
 Third Edition. London, n.d. (1850) : B. Cooks. Small 8vo. 
 Fourth Edition. Revised and considerably enlarged, 1852 : 
 E. Cocks. 8vo. 
 
 Fifth Edition. Newly revised and enlarged by John Bishop, of 
 Cheltenham, 1878 : R. Cocks. 8vo. 
 
 12. Mackintosh, . Remarks on the Construction of, and 
 
 Materials employed in, the Manufacture of Violins. Dublin, 
 1837: 8vo Pamphlet. 
 
 13. Anonymous. The Handbook of the Violin, its Theory and 
 
APPENDIX. 331 
 
 Practice. London, 1843 : H. G. Clarke. Small 16mo 
 Pamphlet. 
 
 14. Anonymous. Handbook of the Violin. London, 1845 : Whit- 
 
 taker. Small 16mo Pamphlet. 
 
 15. James, S . Camillo Sivori. A Sketch of his Life, Talent, 
 
 Travels, and Successes, liondon, 184:5 : P. Rolamdi. Large 
 Svo Pamphlet. 
 
 16. Otto, Jacob Augustus. A Treatise on the Structure and Preser- 
 
 vation of the Violin and all other Bow Instruments. 
 Together with an account of the most celebrated makers, 
 and of the genuine characteristics of their instruments. 
 Translated from the original, with additions and illustrations 
 by John Bishop, of Cheltenham. London, 1848 : 2?» Goohs 
 & Go. Large Svo. 
 Second Edition, 1860; Lwrger or Third Edition, 1875 : B. Goohs 
 <fc Go. Small Svo (translation of No. 130). 
 
 17. Paine, John. A Treatise on the Violin. Showing how to ascer- 
 
 tain the true degrees of time, and an exact method of 
 bowing, exemplified by various examples in each degree ; 
 Ukewise the easiest method of keeping correctly in tune, 
 with directions in shifting and transposition; interspersed 
 with entertaining poetry and anecdotes in a dialogue between 
 a master and his pupU. London, n.d. Published /or the 
 Author. Three or four editions prior to 1S50. Svo. 
 
 18. PuRDT, George. A Few Words on the Violin. Being the result 
 
 of thirty years' experience as a teacher of that instrument. 
 London, 1858 : W. G. Goulbourn, imp. Svo. 
 
 19. Sandys, William, and Forster, Simon Andrew. The History of 
 
 the Violin and other Instruments played on with the Bow, 
 from the remotest times to the present. Also an account of 
 the principal makers, English and Foreign, with numerous 
 illustrations. London, 1864 : J. R. Smith, Addison <Ss Lucas. 
 Large Svo. 
 
 20. Ffcns, Francois Joseph. Notice of Anthony Stradivari the 
 
 celebrated Violin-maker, known by the name of Stradi- 
 varius. Preceded by Historical and Critical Researches on the 
 Origin and Transformations of Bow Instruments, and followed 
 by a Theoretical Analysis of the Bow, and remarks on Francis 
 Tourte, the author of its final improvements, by F. J. Fdtis, 
 etc. Translated (with the permission of the author) by 
 John Bishop, of Cheltenham. London, 1864: P. Gooks. 
 Large Svo (translation of No. 95). 
 
 21. "Pearce, Joseph, jum. Violins and Violin-makers. Biographcial 
 
 dictionary of the great Italian artistes, their followers and 
 imitators to the present time, with essays on important 
 subjects connected with the violin. London, 1866 : Long- 
 mans. Sheffield : J. Pewrce. Svo. 
 
 22. Adye, Willet. Musical Notes. I. The Great Composers. .II 
 
332 violin-making: as it was and is. 
 
 Violinists and the Violin. III. The Violin and its History. 
 London, 1869 : R. Bentley. 8vo. 
 
 23. Davidson, Peier. The Violin. A concise exposition of the general 
 
 principles of construction, theoretically and practically treated, 
 including the important researches of Savart and an epitome 
 of the lives of the most eminent Artists, and an alphabetical 
 list of violin-makers. Illustrated with lithographic vignette, 
 and numerous woodcuts. Glasgow : Porteous. London : 
 PitmoM. Edinburgh, Aberdeen, etc., 1871. Small 8vo. 
 
 Second Edition (?). 
 
 Third Edition (?). 
 
 Fowrth Edition. The Violin. Its construction theoretically and 
 practically treated, etc., etc. London : F. Pitmcm. Edinburgh, 
 Glasgow, Dundee, 1881. Small 8vo. 
 
 24. Rbade, Charles. A Lost Art Revived. Cremona Violins and 
 
 Varnish. Four letters descriptive of those exhibited in 
 1873 {sic, should be 1872) at the South Kensington Museum, 
 also giving the data for producing the true varnishes used 
 by the great Cremona makers. Reprinted from the Pall 
 MaU Gazette by George H. M. Muntz, Birchfield. Gloucester, 
 1873 : John Bellows. Large 8vo Pamphlet. 
 
 25. Baknaed, Charles. Camilla, a Tale of a Violin. Being the artist- 
 
 Hfeof Camilla TJrso. Boston, U.S.A., n.d. (1874): Zortrag'. 8vo. 
 
 26. FfiTis, Francois Joseph. Biographical Notice of Nicolo Paganini. 
 
 With an analysis of his compositions and a sketch of the 
 history of the violin by F. J. F6tis. With portrait and 
 wood engravings. London, Second Edition of No. 2, n.d. 
 (1876) : Schott & Co. 8vo (translation of No. 90). 
 
 27. GoFFEiE, Charles. The VioUn. A condensed history of the 
 
 violin, its perfection and its famous makers. Importance of 
 bridge and sound-post arrangement. Philadelphia, U.S.A., 
 1876 : G. And/re & Co. 8vo Pamphlet. 
 27a. Smith, H. P. The Construction of the Violiii. Gives full 
 and complete Directions, by the aid of which any Amateur 
 Mechanic can construct a perfect Violin. Syracuse, U.S.A., 
 n.d. (1877) : J. Rohlee. 
 
 28. ScHEBEK, Br. Edmund. The Violin Manufacture in Italy and 
 
 its German Origin. An historical sketch. Translated from 
 the German by Walter E. Lawson. Reprinted from The 
 Musical Standard. London, 1877 : W. Beeves. Large 8vo 
 Pamphlet (translation of No. 145). 
 
 29. Phipson, Br. Thomas Zamb. Biographical Sketches and Anec- 
 
 dotes of Celebrated Violinists. London, 1877 : B. Bentley. 
 8vo. 
 
 30. [FoTHERGiLL, Jessie.] The First Violin. A novel. London, 
 
 1878 : B. Bentley. 3 vols., 8vo. 
 
 31. Frederic, Henrietta. The Enchanted VioUn. A comedy in 
 
 two acts, for male characters. London, 1879 : Washbomne. 
 
APPENDIX. 333 
 
 32. Beoadhouse, John. Facts about Fiddles. Violins old and new. 
 
 Reprinted from The Musical Stomdard. London, n.d. (1879) : 
 W. Reeves. 8vo Pamphlet. 
 Second Edition, enlarged, n.d. (1882), ib. 
 
 33. Porter, Thomas. How to Choose a Violin. With directions 
 
 for keeping the instrument in order and for repairing and 
 improving faulty instruments. London, n.d. (1879) : F. 
 Pitman. Svo Pamphlet. 
 
 34. CouRVOisiER, Karl. The Technics of Violin-playing. Edited 
 
 and translated by H. E. Krehbiel, of the Cincinnati College. 
 London, n.d. (1880) : W. Reeves. 8vo (translation of No. 
 149 ; vide also No. 144). 
 
 35. Anonymous. The Singular Life and Surprising Adventures of 
 
 Joseph Thompson, known by the name of Fiddler Thompson, 
 of Halifax, etc. Wakefield, n.d. (1880) : W. McMson. 
 16mo {vide note *, p. 12). 
 
 36. Anonymous. The Blind Fiddler. By the author of Wee 
 
 Hunchie, etc. Edinburgh, n.d. (1880): Religious Tract 
 Society of Scotlamd. 12mo. 
 
 37. Thomas, Bertha. The Violin Player. A Novel. London, 1880 : 
 
 R. Bentley. 3 vols., Svo. 
 
 38. [Nicholson, /.] Designs and Plans for the Construction and 
 
 Arrangement of the New Model Violin. London, 1880: 
 H. K. Levjis, imp. Large folio. 
 
 39. Haet, George. The Violin, its Famous Makers and their 
 
 Imitators. With numerous wood engravings from photo- 
 graphs of the works of Stradivarius, Guarnerius, Amati, and 
 others. London, 1875 : Dulau & Schott. Large post 4to, 
 small post Svo, pp. xziv. and 352. 
 
 Second Edition, greatly enlarged, 1884. 
 
 Popviar Edition, 1880, pp. vi. and 310. 
 
 40. Gemunder, George. George Gemiinder's Progress in Violin- 
 
 Making. With interesting facts concerning the art and its 
 critics in general. Astoria, New York, 1881. Published by 
 the Author. Svo. 
 
 41. [Hone YM AN, W."] The Violin : How to Master it. By a pro- 
 
 fessional player. 'Editor oi Kbhler's Repository. Edinburgh: 
 E.Eohler. London, Jarrold, n.d. (1881). Svo. Six or 
 seven editions already published. 
 
 42. Haet, George. The Violin and its Music. With several 
 
 engraved portraits on steel of eminent violinists, whose style 
 both in plajring and in composition may be regarded as 
 representative. London, 1881 : Dulau ds Schott. Large 
 post 4to, small post Svo. 
 
 43. Mitchell, G H . How to Hold a VioUn and Bow. 
 
 With instructions in bowing. London, First Edition, 18 — ; 
 Seeond Edition, 1882 : F. Pitman. Svo Pamphlet. 
 
 44. Readb, Charles. Jack of all Trades. A matter of fact romance. 
 
334 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 London, 1882: Ghatto & Windua. (The biography of J. F. 
 Lott ; vide page 84. ) 
 
 45. Heeon-Allen, Edwourd. Opuscula Kdicularum. No. 1. The 
 
 Ancestry of the Violin. Being a discourse delivered, at the 
 Preemasons' Tavern, on IViday, June 2nd, 1882, to the 
 Sette of Odd Volumes. Part I. The Origin of the Violin. 
 Part II. The Welsh Crwth. London, 1882. Printed for the 
 Author by Mitchell & Hughes. 8vo Pamphlet {mde note ^, 
 p. 29, and note \ p. 67). 
 
 46. Chanot, Georges. Hodges v. Chanot. Criticisms and Remarks 
 
 on the Great Violin Case, March 1882. London, 1882 : 
 Mitchell & Huglies. Large 8vo Pamphlet. 
 
 47. Engel, Carl. Researches into the Early History of the Violin 
 
 Family. London, 1883: Novella, Ewer, & Go. 8vo {vide 
 note ', p. 67). 
 
 48. Fleming, James M . Old Violins and their Makers. 
 
 Including some references to those of modern times, with 
 facsimiles of tickets, sound-holes, etc. London, 1883 : 
 L. Upcott Gill. 
 
 49. Heeon-Allen, Edward. De Fidiculis Opusculum II. Hodges 
 
 against Chanot. Being the history of a celebrated case, 
 collected from the newspapers and from personal observation 
 and annotated. Part I. Biographical. Part II. The Cause 
 of Action. Part III. The Trial. Part IV. The Opinions 
 of the Press. London, 1883. Printed for the Author by 
 Mitchell & Hughes. 8vo Pamphlet. 
 
 50. Fereis, George J. Sketches of Great Pianists and Great 
 
 Violinists, Biographical and Anecdotal, with account of the 
 Violin and Early Violinists. London, 1884: Fl -Seeves. 8vo. 
 
 Note. — I have headed the ahove list with two works (Nos. 1 and 3) whose 
 dates of publication I have not been able to ascertain. Nos. 3, 6, 30, 31, 35, 36, 
 37, and 44 I have inserted (though unconnected with the history, theory, or 
 practice of the viohn), as likely to be of interest to those suflSoiently concerned 
 with the instrument to make them take an interest in any literature of the violin. 
 In excluding all mere instruction books I doubted for some time whether to 
 insert the works of Christopher Simpson : (i) " The Division VioUat ; or, an 
 Introduction to the Playing upon a Ground " (London, 1659 : W. Oodbid, folio), 
 and (ii) " The Division Viol ; or, the Art of Playing extempore upon a Ground " 
 (London, 1667 : H. Brom^, folio) ; so I have compromised by noting them here. 
 Having mentioned Charles Eeade's "Jack of all Trades" (No. 44) I ought, 
 perhaps, to have noted the anonymous novel "Charles Auchester" (London, 
 1879 : Chapman ^ HalV), which is said to be a biography of Herr Joachim, 
 all the characters in the book being intended to represent well-known musical 
 celebrities (Mendelssohn, Stemdale-Benuett, Sainton, Moscheles, Ferd. David, 
 etc.), though the portraits are somewhat indistinct. 
 
 ITALIAN WORKS. 
 
 50a. Zannetti, Gasparo. II Scolaro, di G. Z. per imperare a suonare 
 di violino ed altri stromenti. Milan, 1645. 
 
APPENDIX. 335 
 
 51. Fanzago, Francesco. Orazione del Signer Abate Francesco 
 
 Fanzago, Padovano, deUe lodi di Giuseppe Tartini, Reoitata 
 nella Chiesa de' R.R. Serviti in Padova li 31 di Marzo I'anno 
 
 1770. Con varie note, illustrata, e con un breve Oompendio 
 della Vita del Medesimo. Padua, 1770: Oonzatti. 4to. 
 
 52. Tartini, Giuseppe. Lettera del defonto Signor Giuseppe Tartini 
 
 aUa Signora Maddalena Lombardini inserviente ad una 
 importante lezione per i Suonatori di Violino. Londra, 
 
 1771. Second {tramslation) Title. A letter from the late 
 Signor Tartini to Signora Maddalena Lombardini (now 
 Signora Sirmen), published as an important lesson to per- 
 formers on the violin, translated by Dr. Bumey. London, 
 1771 : R. Bremner. Second Edition, do., 1779. Large 8vo 
 (mdeNo. 126). 
 
 53. Bagatella, Antonio. Regole per la Costruzione de' VioUni, 
 
 Viole, ViolonceUi, et Violoni. Memoria presentata all' Acca- 
 demia di Scienzi, Lettere, ed Arti di Padova, al Concorso 
 del premio dell' Arti dell' anno MDCCLXXXII. Padova, 
 1786 : A spese delV Accademia. Svo {vide No. 128). 
 
 54. [Thubn and Taxis, Prince q/".] Risposta di un animo al celebre 
 
 Signor Bousseau circa il suo sentimento in proposito d'alcune 
 proposizioni del Sig. G. Tartini. Venice, 1789. 8vo 
 Pamphlet. 
 
 55. Eangoni, Giovanni Battista. Essai sur le gout de la Musique 
 
 avec le caract^re des trois c616bres joueurs de Violon, 
 Messieurs Nardini, LolU, et Pugnani. Livourne, 1790 : 
 T. Masi. In French and Italian. Second Title: Saggio 
 sul gusto della Musica col carattere di tre celebri sonatori di 
 Violino, i signori I^ardini, LoUi, e Pugnani. Livorno, 
 1790 : T. Masi. 
 
 56. Vallotti, Francesco Antonio. Elogi di Giuseppe Tartini, primo 
 
 Violonista nella CapeUa del' Santo di Padova. Padua, 1792 : 
 Conzatti. 12mo, 
 67. Leoni di Pibnza, A Bcdmondo. Elogio di Pietro Nardini, 
 
 celebratissimo professore di Violini. Florence, 1793 : 
 Camhiagi. 8vo. 
 
 58. Antolini, Francesco. Osservazzioni su due Violini esposti neUe 
 
 sale dell' I. E. Palazzo di Brera uno de' quali di forma non 
 communa. Milan, 1832 : L. di G. Ferola. Svo Pamphlet. 
 
 59. Pancaldi, Carlo. Progress© Italiano nella Costruzione del 
 
 Violino operate da Antonio Gibertini da Parma, Cenno 
 Artistico. Palermo, 1845 : Tipografia Maddalena. Small 
 8ve Pamphlet. 
 
 60. CoiTEST ABJVE, Gicmcarlo. Vita di Nicolo Paganini da Geneva, 
 
 Scritta ed Illustrata di(?.C. Perugia, 1851 : r.5ar«eZfo'. 8ve. 
 
 61. Eegli, Francesco. Storia del Violino in Piemonte, intitolata 
 
 A. S. M. Vittorio Emanuele II., Re d'ltalia. Turin, 1863 : 
 Enrico Dahnazzo. Large Svo. 
 
336 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 62. LoMBARDiNi, Paolo. Cenni sulla celebre souola Cremonese^ degli 
 
 stromenti ad arco, non che sui lavori e sulla famiglia del 
 sommo Antonio Stradivari. Cremona, 1872 : Tipograjia 
 dalla Noce. Large 8vo. 
 
 63. RiNALDi, Benedetto-Gioffredo. Classica Fabbricazione di Violini 
 
 in Piemonte. Turin, 1873 : Rinaldi. Large 8vo Pamphlet, 
 
 64. Valdrighi, Lidgi Frcmcesco. D'un arpa e di un Violino e Violon- 
 
 cello intagliati da D. Galli. (Museo Estense.) Modena, 
 1878 ; Tip Moneti e Mamias. 8vo. 
 
 65. Valdeighi, Luigi Francesco. Liuteria Modenese antica e moderna 
 
 con Catalogo di Liutari. Modena, 1878 : Toschi. 8vo. 
 
 66. CoNSiLi, D . II Poggia- Violino, invenzione meccanica 
 
 brevettata applicata al Violino: brevi cenni sulla ulilitata 
 di essa sotto il rapporto del arte in Italiano e Tedesco. 
 Bologna, 1879 : Tip. soc. Azzoquidi. Large 8vo. Three 
 pamphlets of 12 pp. each, bound together, one in Italian, 
 one in French, and one in German. 
 
 67. Valdrighi, I/uigi Francesco. Musurgiana No. 4. II Violon- 
 
 celUsta Tonelli e suor' Maria Illuminata corista ed organista 
 delle clarisse di carpi nel Secolo XVIII. Modena, 1880 : 
 G. T. Vincenzi e Nep. Large 8vo Pamphlet. 
 
 68. Valdrighi, Luigi Francesco. Musurgiana No. 9. Strumenti 
 
 ad arco Kinforzati. Modena, 1881 : Tipograjia Legale, 
 Large 8vo Pamphlet. 
 
 69. Walden, E. Dworzah von. II VioJino ossia Analisi del suo 
 
 Meccanismo. Naples, 1883 : F. Furcheim. 
 69a. Valdrighi, Lwigi Francesco. Nomocheliurgografia, antica e 
 moderna ossia elenco di Fabbricatori di Strumenti armonici, 
 etc. Modena, 1884 : Sodetct, Tipograjia. 
 
 Note. — It is a fact not without a certain significance that so few books should 
 have reached this country from that to which the instrument owes its invention 
 and highest development. It may be that I am particularly poor in the 
 Italian literature of the subject. 
 
 FKBNCH WOEKS. 
 
 70. Rousseau, Jea/n. Trait6 de la Viole qui contient, IJne Disser- 
 
 tation Curieuse sur son origine, Une Demonstration g6n6rale 
 de son Manche, etc. Paris, 1687 : Ghr. Ballard. 8vo. 
 
 71. Leblanc, Hubert. Defense de la basse de Viole contre les 
 
 Entreprises du Violon et les pretensions du Violoncelle. 
 Amsterdam, 1740: P. Mortier. 16mo. 
 
 72. Teeeasson, a . Dissertation Historique sur la Vielle. 
 
 Paris, 1741. 
 
 73. Domenjoud, Jean Baptiste. De la pr6f 6rence des vis aux chevilles 
 
 pour les instruments de musique ; et un essai sur la manifere 
 de changer I'A-mi-la en tendant ou detendant toutes les 
 cordes k la fois sans d6truire I'harmonie ; ce qui donne lieu k 
 
APPENDIX. 337 
 
 des manclies d'une forme nouvelle, beaucoup plus commodes 
 que les anciens. Paris, 1757 : Thibomt. 8vo. 
 
 74. Brijon,^ R . Reflexions sur la musique et la 
 
 vraie manifere de I'executer sur le Violon, Paris, 1763. 4to 
 
 75. Leclaie, Jean Marie. Tablature ideale du Violon, jug6e par 
 
 feu M. le Clair I'aine Stre la veritable. Paris, 1766. 8vo. 
 
 76. Eymar, a M . Anecdotes sur Viotti; precede 
 
 de quelques reflexions sur I'expression en musique. Milan, 
 n.d. (1801) : Zeno. 8vo. 
 
 77. Baud, et GrOSSEc, Frangoia Joseph. Observations sur 
 
 les cordes k instruments de musique tant de Boyau que de 
 Sole, suivi d'une lettre du oitoyen Gossec au eitoyen Baud, du 
 rapport du dtoyen Gossec k I'lnstitut National sur les cordes 
 de sole du eitoyen Baud, et de I'extrait du proc6s-verbal de 
 I'lnstitut National relatif k ce rapport. Versailles, 1803 : 
 P. D. Pierres. 8vo. 
 
 78. SiBiEE, L'Abbe. La Chelonomie, ou le Parfait Luthier. Paris, 
 
 1806. chez VAuteur et Millet. 8vo. 
 Second Edition. Brussels, 1823 : Weissenbruch. 8vo. 
 
 79. Fayollb, Francois. Notices sur Corelli, Tartini, Pugnani, 
 
 Gavinies, et Viotti. Paris, 1810. E. Bmtu. 12mo (vide 
 No. 152). ^ 
 
 80. Chanot, Francois. Institut de France. Acad6mie Eoyale des 
 
 Beaux Arts. Rapport fait k I'Academie des Beaux Arts 
 dans la Stance du 3 Avril 1819 au nom de la Section de 
 Musique sur les nouveaux instruments de musique (violons, 
 altos, violonceUes et contre-basses), suivant la facture brevet6e 
 de M. Chanot, Officier au Corps du G^nie maritime, insere 
 au Moniteur. Paris, 1819. 4to, 4 pp. 
 
 81. Savaet, Felix. Memoire sur la Construction des Instruments k 
 
 Cordes et k Archet. Suivi du Rapport qui en a ete fait 
 aux deux Academies des Sciences et des Beaux Arts. Paris, 
 n.d. (1819): Soret. 8vo. 
 
 82. Baillot, Pierre Frangois Marie de Sales. Notice sur J. B. Viotti, 
 
 n6 en 1775 k Fontanetto en Pi6mont, mort k Londres le 
 3 Mars, 1824. Paris, 1825. 8vo. 
 
 83. IliiBERT DE LaphalAque, G . Notice sur le c616bre 
 
 Violoniste N. Paganini. FaTis^ 18S0 : Guyot. 8vo (mtZe No. 8). 
 
 84. Fayolle, Frangois. Paganini et Beriot; ou Avis aux Jeunes 
 
 Artistes qui se destinent k I'enseignemeut du Violon. Paris, 
 1831 : M. Legouest. 8vo Pamphlet. 
 
 85. Anders, G E . Nicolo Paganini, sa Vie, sa 
 
 Personne; et quelques mots sur son secret. Paris, 1831: 
 Delaunay. 1 2mo. 
 
 86. Maugin, J C . Manuel du Luthier, contenant 1° 
 
 la construction int6rieure et exterieure des Instruments ^ 
 arohet, tels que Violons, Altos, Basses et Contrebasses ; 2° la 
 construction de la guitarre; 5° («c) la confection de TAjchet. 
 Ouvrage om6 de figures. Paris, 1834 : Roret. 12mo. 
 
 22 
 
338 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 87. Desmaeais, Cyprien. Aroheologie du Violon. Description d'un 
 
 Violon Bfistorique et Monumental. Paris, 1836 : Bentu d 
 Sapia. Large 8vo Pamphlet. 
 
 88. St. George and Leuven, H . Le Luthier de Vienne, op6ra 
 
 comique en 1 acte. Paris, 1836. 
 
 89. Delhasse, Felix Joseph. Henri Vieuxtemps. Erratum de la 
 
 " Biographie Universelle des Musiciens " par M. F6tis. 
 Brussels, 1844 : Wouters. Large 8vo Pamphlet. 
 
 90. Fi:Tis, Frangois Joseph. Notice Biographique sur Nicolo Paga- 
 
 nini, suivi de I'Analyse de ses Ouvrages et pr6c6d6 d'une 
 esquisse de I'histoire du Violon. Paris, 1851 : Schoenenherger. 
 Large 8vo (vide Nos. 2 and 26). 
 
 91. Benedit, Gt . C. Sivori. Extrait du Semaphore du 7 
 
 Mars, 1854. Marseilles, 1854 : Barlatier-Feissaf. Large 
 8vo Pamphlet. 
 
 92. Miel, Edmd. Francois Antoine Marie. Notice Historique sur 
 
 J. B. Viotti. (Extrait de la Biographie Universelle de 
 M. P. J. Fetis, T. II., p. 49). Paris, 1856 : Everat. 
 
 93. FouRGEAUD, Alexandre. Les Violons de Dalayrac. Paris, 1856 : 
 
 J. Leclerc. Large 8vo Pamphlet. 
 
 94. [Youssoupow (or Jousoupof), Prince.'] Luthomoiiographie 
 
 Historique et Raisonnee. Essai sur I'Histoire du Violon et 
 sur les ouvrages des Anciens Luthiers C61ebres du temps de 
 la Efinaissance, par un Amateur. Frankfort s/m., 1856 : 
 Oh. Jugel. Large 8vo. 
 
 95. FiTis, Francois Joseph. Antoine Stradivari. Luthier C61febre, 
 
 connu sous le nom de Stradivarius, pr6c6d6 de Recherches 
 Historiques et Critiques sur I'origine et les transformations 
 des Instruments k archet, et suivi d' Analyses Theoriques sur 
 I'Archet et sur Fran9ois Tourte, Auteur de ses derniers 
 perfectionnements. Paris, 1856; VvMawme. Large 8vo 
 (vide No. 20). 
 
 96. Desfossez, a . Henri Wieniawski. I. Education. 
 
 II. Premieres tournees artistiques en Russie, en Allemagne, 
 en Belgique, et en HoUande. III. Parallfele entre Paganini et 
 Wieniawski. IV. Conclusion, le Passe, le Present, et I'Avenir. 
 Esquisse. LaHaye, 1856: Belvnfante. Large 8vo Pamphlet. 
 
 97. Mailand, Eugene. Bibliothfeque des Professions IndustrieUes et 
 
 Agriooles. S6rie G-., No. 17. Decouverte des Anciens Vernia 
 Italiens, employes pour les instruments k Cordes et k Archet. 
 Paris, 1859 : E. Lacroix. 8vo. 
 Second Edition. Paris, 1874 : E. Lacroix. 8vo. / 
 
 98. Sauzay, Eugene. A Monsieur Ingres. Haydn, Mozart, Beet- 
 
 hoven, Etude sur le Quatuor. Paris, 1861 : chez F Auteur. 
 Large 8vo. 
 
 99. BuRBURE, Lion de. Recherches sur les Factures de Clavecins et 
 
 les Luthiers d' An vers depuia le XVI° si^cle jusqu'au XIX°. 
 Paris, 1863. 8vo. 
 
APPENDIX. 339 
 
 100. Thoinan, Ernest (pseudonym of Antoine Ernest Roquet). 
 
 Maugars, Celfebre Joueur de Viole, musicien du Cardinal 
 Eichelieu, etc. Sa biographie suivie de sa reponse faite k 
 un curieux sur le sentiment de la musique d'ltaiie. Paris, 
 1865 : Glavdin. Square 8vo. 
 
 101. GrALLAY, Jides. Les Instruments k Archet k TExposition 
 
 Universelle de 1867. Paris, 1867 : Jouaust. 8vo. 
 
 102. Rknier, J S . L'Enfance de Vieuxtemps. (Ex- 
 
 trait de I'Annuaire de la Societe libre d'emulation de Li6ge). 
 liege, 1867. One leaf, small 8vo. 
 
 103. BoiSTEL, . Societe de Statistiques des Sciences et des 
 
 Arts de Grenoble. Rapport sur le Vernis invents par 
 M. yictor Grivel. Gr6noble, 1867 : F. Allier. 8vo. 
 
 104. Griybl, Victor. Vernis des Anciens Luthiers d'ltaiie, peiviu 
 
 depuis le milieu du XVIII= sifecle, retrouve par V. Grivel, 
 Artiste i Grenoble. Grvinohle, \%?>1 ; F. Allier. 8vo. 
 
 105. RiCHBLME, Marius. Etudes et Observations sur la Lutherie 
 
 Ancienne et Moderne. Marseilles, 1868: i?'. CaTOg-wom. 8vo. 
 
 106. Maugin, J C et Maigne, W . Nouveau 
 
 Manuel Complet du Luthier. Contenant la construction 
 interieure et exterieure des instruments k archet, tels que 
 le Violon, I'Alto, la Basse et la Contre-basse, ainsi que celle 
 de la Guitare ; et traitant de la fabrication des Cordes 
 Harmoniques employees par le luthier et de la fabrication 
 des diverses cordes dites a boyaux, employees dans I'lhdus- 
 trie. Ouvrage accompagn6 de Planches. Paris, 1869 : 
 Roret. 12mo. Second Edition of No. 86. 
 
 107. Gallay, Jules. Les Luthiers Italians aux XVII° et XVIII' 
 
 siteles. Nouvelle Edition du Parfait Luthier de I'Abb^ 
 Sibire, suivie de Notes sur les Maitres des Diverses ficoles. 
 Paris, 1869 : Academie des Bibliophiles {vide No. 78).- ' 
 
 108. Gallay, Jules. Les Instruments des Ecoles Italiennes. Catii- 
 
 logue precede d'une Introduction et suivi de notes sur les 
 ■ principaux maitres. Paris, 1872: Gancl et Bernardel. " 8vo. 
 
 109. Baillot, Pierre Marie Francis de Sales. Observations relatives 
 
 aux Concours de Violon du Conservatoire de Musique. 
 Oeuvre Posthume. Paris, 1872 : Firmin Didot. 8vo. 
 110; PouGiN, Arthur. Notice sur Rode, Violoniste Frangais. Paris, 
 1874 : Fattier de Laleine. ' ; ■. 
 
 111. Bentzon, TAeotiore. Le Violon de Job. Paris, 1875 : M. Levy. 
 
 8vo. 
 
 112. Plassiabd, J A . Des Cordes du Violon. Talle, 
 
 1876: Darnel. 
 
 113. ViDAL, Antoine. Les Instruments k Archet, les Faiseura, les 
 
 Joueurs d'Instruments, leur Histoire sur le Continetit 
 Europeen. Suivi d'un Catalogue generale de la Musique de 
 Chambre. Om6 de planches gravees k I'eau forte ' par 
 Frederic Hillemacher. Paris, 1876: /. Glaye, 3 vols., 
 4to. Edition de Luxe. 
 
340 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 114. Fleury, Jwfe (Champfleuky). Le Violon de Faience. Dessins 
 
 en couleur par M. Emile Eenard de la manufacture de 
 Sevres, eaux-fortes, par M. J. Adeline. Paris, 1877 : E. 
 Dentu. 8vo. Edition de Grand Luxe. 
 
 115. Fanakt, Z S . Rapport lu 4 1'Academie Nationale 
 
 de Reims dans sa seance publique du 3 Aout, 1876, sur les 
 Violons de M. Emile Menesson, Luthier k Reims. Reims, 
 1877 ; Second Edition, Gepy. 
 
 116. ViDAL, Antoine. Les Visiles Corporations de Paris. La 
 
 Chapelle St. Julien des Menestriers et les Menestriers de 
 Paris. Paris, 1878 : Quantin. 4to. (A reprint of Chaps. 
 I-VI. of Part II. of No. 113, i.e., Vol. I., p. 289 to end, 
 and Vol. II., pp. 1-51, with Plates 47, 49, 50, 52, 53. 55). 
 
 117. Thoinan, Ernest (vide No. 100). Louis Constantin, Roi des 
 
 Violons, avec un fac-simile de brevet de maitre jouenr 
 d'instruments de la Ville de Paris. Paris, 1878 : Bav/r. 
 
 118. Plassiard, J A . Des Cordes Harmoniques en 
 
 general et sp6cialement de celles des instruments k Archet. 
 Paris, 1880: ThibouvUle-Lamy. Mirecourt, 1880: Ghassel. 
 8vo. 
 
 119. HuET, Felix. Etude sur les differentes Ecoles de Violon depuis 
 
 Corelli jusqu'A, Baillot. Pr6e6dee d'un examen sur I'art de 
 jouer des instruments k archet au XVII° si6cle. Chalons- 
 sur-Marne, 1880 : F. Thouille. Large 8vo. 
 
 120. Gr^ville, Hewry. Un Violon Russe. 2 vols. Paris, 1880, 
 
 Tenth Edition : E. Plon. 8vo. 
 
 121. CoBMON, , and GrangA, E . Le Violon de P6re 
 
 Dimanche. Pifece en trois actes, etc. Representee pour la 
 premiere f ois k Paris sur le Th6&tre des Folies Dramatiques 
 le 31 Octobre, 1854. Paris, 1881 : Tresse. Large 8vo. 
 
 122. CovvtE, Frampis. Le Luthier de Cremone. With explanatory 
 
 Notes, Historical, Biographical, etc., by Alphonse Mariette. 
 London, 1880: Dulau & Go. 12mo. 
 
 123. SiMouTRE, N E ' . Aux Amateurs du Violon. 
 
 Historique, Construction, Reparation et Conservation de 
 cet Instrument. Bale, 1883 : G. A. Bonfantini. 8vo. 
 
 Note. — No. 70 is the oldest T/ork on bow instruments known, and like No. 71 
 is of very great rarity ; Nos. 88, 121 and 122 being dramatic works, and Nos. 93, 
 111, 114, and 120 being romances have, perhaps, no serions place in this 
 bibliography, but 1 insert them as likely to be of interest to my readers. 
 
 GEKMAN VVOKKS. 
 
 124. 'REicukunr, Johann Friedrich. Ueber die Pilichten des Ripien- 
 
 Violinisten. Berlin und Leipzig, 1776 : G. J. Decker, 
 
 125. [Taubeb, Caw «o>i.] Ueber meine Violine (a poem). Vienna, 
 
 1780 : J. Edlin. 
 
APPENDIX. 341 
 
 126. Tartini, Giuseppe. Brief an Magdalen Lombardini. Hanover, 
 
 1786. (FWeNo.52.) 
 
 127. HiLLER, Johann Adam. Anweisung zum Violinspielen fiir 
 
 Schulen iind zum Selbstunterrichte, etc. Leipzig, n.d. 
 ■^' {1792) : Breitkopf und Hdrtel. 
 
 128. Bagatella, Antonio. Ueber den Bau der VioHne, Bratsche, 
 
 ViolonceU, und Yiolons. Translation of No, 53 by J. 0. H. 
 Schaum. Leipzig, n.d. (1806) : ICuhnel. 8vo. 
 
 129. Otto, Jacob Augustus. Ueber den Bau und die Erhaltung 
 
 der Gleige und aller Bogeninstrumente. Nebst einer TJeber- 
 sicbt der vorziiglichsten Kunstler und der sicbersten 
 Kennzeichen ihrer Arbeiten. Halle und Leipzig, 1817. 8vo. 
 
 130. Otto, Jacob Augustus. Ueber den Bau der Bogeninstrumente 
 
 und liber die Arbeiten der vorziiglicnsten Instrumenten- 
 maclier, zur Belehrung fiir Musiker. ISTebst Andeutung zur 
 Erhaltung der Violine in gutem Zustande. Jena, 1828 : 
 Bran. Second Edition of No. 129. 
 
 131. Wettengel, Gktstav Adolph. Neuer Scbauplatz der Kunste und 
 
 Handwerke: Band 37. VoUstandiges theoretisch-prakti- 
 sches, auf dem Grundsatze der Akustik begriindetes, etc., 
 Lehrbuch der Anfertigung und Beparatur aller noch jetzt 
 gebrauchlichen Gattungen von italienischen und deutschen 
 Geigen, etc. Mit secbzehn lithograpbirten Tafeln. Ilmenau, 
 1828: B. F. Voigt. {Vide No. 142.) 
 
 132. Harrys, Georg. Paganini in seinem B«isewagen und Zimmer, 
 
 in seinen redseligen Stunden, in gesellschaftlichen Zirkeln, 
 und seinen Concerten. Aus dem E«isejournaI von G. H. 
 Brunswick, 1830 : F. Vieweg. 12mo. 
 
 133. ScHtJTZ, Friedrich Carl Julius. Leben, Charakter, und Kunst 
 
 N. Paganini's, eine Skizze. Ilmenau, 1830 : Voigt. 8vo. 
 
 134. ScHOTTKY, Julius Max. Paganini's Leben and Treiben als 
 
 Kunstler und als Mensch, mit unpartheiiscber Beriicksich- 
 tigung der Meinungen seiner Anh'anger und Gegner. 
 Prag, 1830 : J. G. Calve. 8vo. 
 
 135. Ym-EUi.,Lvdolf. Paganini's Leben und Charakter nach Schottky 
 
 dargestellt. Hamburg, n.d. 8vo. (A condensation of No. 
 134.) 
 
 136. Bachmann, Otto. Theoretisch - praktisches Handbuch des 
 
 Geigenbaues, oder Anweisung italienische, und deutsche 
 Violinen, Bratschen, Violoncellos, Violons zu verfertigen, 
 , . . etc., fiir Geigenmacher und alle diejenigen, welche das 
 Geschaft derselben erlernen wollen. Mit 4 Tafeln Abbil- 
 dungen. Quedlinburg und Leipzig, 1835 : G. Basse. 
 
 137. Blow, Henri. Ole Bull, eine biographische Skizze. Hamburg, 
 
 1838 : J. 0. S. Witt. 
 
 138. Spohr, Louis. Louis Spohr's Selbstbiographie. Cassel und 
 
 Gbttingen, 1860 : H. Wiegand & Co. 8vo. 
 
 139. Abele, Hyacinth. Die Violine. Ihre Geschichte und ihr Bau. 
 
342 VIOLIN-MAKING: AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 Nach Quellen dargestellt (Mit lithographirten Abbildungen 
 und einer musikalischen Beilage). Neiiberg, a/d., 1864 : 
 A. Prechter. Small 8vo. 
 Zweite vermehrte und verbesserte* Auflage. lb. 1874 : ib. 8vo. 
 
 140. Schubert, F L . Die Violine. Ihr Wesen, ihre 
 
 Bedeutung und Behandlung als Solo- und Orchester- 
 Instrument. Leipzig, 1865 : Merseburger. 8vo. 
 
 141. DiEHL, Nicolaus Louis. Die Geigenmacher der Alien ItaUeni- 
 
 schen Schule. Eine TJebersichfc aller bekannten italienischen 
 Geigenmacber der alien Schule, Charakteristic ihrer 
 Arbeiten, geireue Abbildungen von den hervorragendsten 
 unier ihnen gebraucbien Zetieln in den Insirumenien, nebsi 
 einer vorausgehenden Abbaiidlung iiber den Ursprung der 
 Geige. Hamburg, First Edition [?] ; Second Edition, 1866 ; 
 Third Edition, 1877. J. F. Eichter, 12mo. 
 
 142. Wettengel, Gmiav Adolph. G. A. W.'s, weil Violinbogen- 
 
 machers zu Markneukirchen, Lehrbuch der Geigen- und 
 Bogenmacherkunsi ; oder theoreiisch-prakiische Anweisung 
 zur Anfertigung und Reparatur der verschiedenen Arten 
 Geigen und Bogen, etc. Mii einem Ailas enihaltend 10 
 Folio Tafeln. Weimar, 1869 : B. F. Voigt. (New Edition 
 of No. 131.) 
 
 143. Wasielewski, Joseph Wilhelm von. Die Violine und ihre 
 
 Meister. Leipzig, 1869 : Breitkopf und Hdrtel. Large 
 8vo. Second Edition, ib., 1883. 
 
 144. CouRVoisiEE, Car?. Die Grundlage der VioUn-Technik. Frank- 
 
 , fort, s/M., 1873. 8vo (vide No. 34). 
 
 145. Schebek, Dr. Edmund. Der Geigenbau in Itahen und sein 
 
 deuischer Ursprung. Eine historische Skizze. Prag, 1874 : 
 Bohemia-Actien-Geselhchaft. Large 8vo {vide No. 28). 
 
 146. Wasielewski, Joseph Wilhelm von. Die Violine im XVII. 
 
 Jahrhundert und die Anfange der Instrumentalcomposi- 
 tion. Bonn, 1874 : M. Cohen. 8vo. 
 
 147. EiTTER, Hermann. Die Viola Alia. Ihre Geschichte, ihre 
 
 Bedeutung und die Principien ihres Baues. Heidelberg, 
 1876 : G. Weiss. 4to. 
 Second Edition. Die Geschichte der Viola Alia und die Grnnd- 
 saize ihres Baues. Zweite vermehrte und verbesserie 
 Anflage. Mii 5 in den Text gedruckten und 2 Tafeln Ab- 
 bildungen. Leipzig, 1877: J. J. Weber. 8vo [vide No. 150). 
 147a. NiEDERHBiTMANN, Friedrich. Die Meister der Geigenbaukunst 
 in lialien und Tyrol. Vienna, : F. Schreiber. Hamburg : 
 Aug. Cranz., 1876. 12mo. 
 
 148. 'NiBD'ERHEVjm Anns, Friedrich. Cremona. Eine Charakteristik der 
 
 Italienischen Geigenbauer und ihrer Insirumente. Leip- 
 zig, 1877 : Carl Merseburger. 8vo. 
 
 149. CouRVOisiER, Carl. Die Violin-technik. Coin, 1878 : P. J, 
 
 Tonger. 8vo (vide No. 34). 
 
APPENDIX. 343 
 
 150. Adema, E . Hermann Ritter und seine Viola Alta. 
 
 Gesammelte Aufsatze. Supplement zu H. Eitter's Buch, 
 Die Geschichte der Viola Alta und die Grundsatze ihres 
 Baues. Wurzburg, 1881 : A. Stuber. 8vo (vide No. 147). 
 
 151. RtHLMANN, Julius. Die Geschichte der Bogeninstrumente ; 
 
 insbesondere derjenigen des heutigen Streichquartettes von 
 den fruhesten Anfangen an bis auf die heittige Zeit. 
 Eine Monographie. Herausgegeben von dessen Sohn, Dr. 
 Eichard Riihlmann. Mit in den Text eingedruckten 
 Holzstichen und einem Atlas von XIII. Tafeln. Bruns- 
 wick, 1882. Large 8vo. Atlas, oblong 8vo. 
 Note. — Thongli fewer in number, the German works are, as a rule, much 
 more serious and thorough than the English or French. No. 161 particularly, 
 I consider to be, with the exception of Vidal's work (No. 113), the best work 
 written on the Violin. I possess also one Swedish work on the Violin, a 
 translation of No. 79. 
 
 152. Anonymous. Om Violinens Ui-sprung jemte Biografiska 
 
 Anteckningar ofra Corelli, Tartini, Gavinies, Pugnani, 
 och Viotti. Med Portratter. Stockholm, 1811. Carl 
 Delen. 8vo. 
 
 This concludes this Bibliography of the Violin; it may be that 
 there exist, in some cases, subsequent or prior editions to those I have 
 given. I can only ask those of my readers who know of any such, 
 or of any works on the violin not put down in the above list, to do 
 me the very great favour of sending me particulars of them. I need 
 hardly say that a very large proportion of the above works are 
 out of print and extremely difficult to obtain. Mr. B. Quaritoh, of 
 15, Piccadilly, London, W., has, however, got me most of them, and 
 I have no doubt that by applying to him a large number of them 
 might be obtained. 
 
 APPENDIX D. 
 
 A CATALOGUE OF VIOLIN SCHOOLS AND INSTRUCTION 
 
 BOOKS. 
 
 The following table, like the Bibliography (Appendix C), cannot, 
 of course, pretend to anything like completeness, much less so 
 in fact than the Bibliography, for we must remember that the 
 number of violin tutors which have been written in every language 
 is practically unlimited, whilst from their very nature they are 
 less heard of, less taken care of, and sooner lost sight of, than 
 any class of musical publication. I have therefore contented 
 myself with giving a list of those " M6thodes du Violon," which 
 have been sufficiently authoritative to have lasted till to- day -in 
 
344 V10LIN-3IAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 use among violinists, and of those sufficiently well known to have 
 had theii' existences recorded in any of the best musical books of 
 reference. Another great difficulty which I have had to encounter 
 has been the circumstance that hardly any music is ever dated, so 
 that in a majority of cases it is impossible to give the date of publica- 
 tion of a violin school unless it is to be found in some cafaloffiie- 
 raisonne, or in some reference work, such as the "Biographie 
 TJniverselle des Musiciens et Bibliographie Gen^rale de la musique" 
 of M. F^tis (Paris, 1860 to 1865, Ind Edn. Supplement et Com- 
 plement, Paris, 1881), or the " Bibliographie Musicale de la France 
 et de I'Etranger" (Paris, 1822, Niogret). Where by reference to 
 such books, I have been able to date a vi&thode, I have done so, and all 
 such as I have been able to date I have placed in chronological 
 order in the iirst section of this catalogue ; all such as I have been 
 unable to date I have placed alphabetically in the second section 
 thereof. Finally I have included no books, or sets, of studies or 
 exercises (for they are, of course, innumerable), that is to say, I have 
 only named violin schools in which the examples are interspersed 
 with letter-press and illustrations, being, in point of fact, complete 
 directions for the acquisition of technique upon the violin, (pre- 
 sumably) without a master. Thus this list of mJethodes becomes 
 practically a supplement to Appendix C, and might be headed " A 
 Bibliography of Works on the Technique of the Violin," and as 
 such it might be said that Nos. 1, 4, 5, 7, 9, 13, 14, 18, 34, 41, 43, 
 50a, 52, 69, 70, 74, 75, 124, 144, 149, in Appendix C, should be 
 here included ; but I placed them there because they are principally 
 printed instructions, with very few musical examples, whereas here 
 we have works which are principally musical examples to which the 
 printed instructions are practically subordinate. For this reason, 
 seeing that music may be said to be a cosmopolitan language, I 
 have not divided the following works under the heads of their various 
 nationalities. 
 
 SECTIOISr I. 
 
 VIOLIN SCHOOLS IN ORDER OF DATE. 
 
 N.S. — Except where otherwise mentioned, the size of the following works 
 is always understood to be music-size. 
 
 1. Gerle, H. Musica Teusch {sic) auf die Instrument die Grqssen 
 
 unnd {sic) kleynen Geygen auch Lautten, etc. Niirnberg, 
 1532. Second Edition, 1546. 
 
 2. Simpson, C. The Division Violist, or an introduction to the 
 
 playing upon a ground, divided into two parts. London, 
 1659: W. Godhid. Fol. 
 
 3. Simpson, C. The Division Viol, or the Ai't of Playing ex 
 
 tempore upon a ground, divided into three parts. Second 
 Edition of No. 2. London, 1667 : ZT. Brome. Fol. 
 
APPENDIX. 345 
 
 4. Geminiani, F. Art of Playing the Violin. London, 1740. 
 
 5. Geminiani, F. The Entire New and Complete Tutor for the 
 
 Violin, containing the easiest and best methods for learning 
 to obtain a proficiency. London, n.d. (1800) : J. Preston, 
 
 6. Mozart, L. Versuch einer griindlichen Violinschule. Augsburg, 
 
 1756. 
 
 7. Anonymous. The Complete Tutor for the Violin, containing 
 
 the best and easiest Instructions for Learners to obtain a 
 Proficiency, etc. London, n.d. (1765) : Thomvson <& Son. 
 Obi. 
 
 8. Mozart, L. Grundliche Violinschule, Augsburg, 1770 : Lotter, 
 
 4to. 
 M^thode raisomi6e de Violon, par L. Mozart. Translated by V. 
 
 Roeser. Paris, 1770. Boyer. 
 Second Edition, Paris, 1801 : Ch. Pleyel. 
 
 9. Geminiani, F. The Art of Playing on the Violin, containing 
 
 all the rules necessary to attain to a perfection on that 
 Instrument, etc. Op. IX. London, n.d. (1740). Second 
 Edition, 1791 : Bremner. 
 
 10. Saint-Sevin, J. B. Principes de Violon. Bordeaux, 1772. 4to. 
 
 11. Lohlein, G-. S. Anweisung zum VioUnspielen mit praktischen 
 
 Beyspielen und zur Uebung mit 24 kleinen Duetten 
 erklaret. Leipzig, 1774. Second Edition, 1781. Third 
 Edition, 1797. F. Frommiamn. Obi. 
 
 12. Bailleux, A. Methode raisonn6e pour apprendre a jouer du 
 
 Violon, avec le doigte de cet Instrument, et les diflKrens 
 agremens dont il est susceptible. Paris, 1798. Second 
 Edition, 1779. 
 
 13. Milandre{?). Methode facile pour la Viole d' Amour. Paris, 
 
 1782. 4to. 
 
 14 Corrette, M. L'Art de se perfectionner &ur le Violon. Paris, 
 1783. 
 
 16. Leone (?). Methode raisonnee pour passer du Violon a la Man- 
 doline. Paris, 1783. 
 
 16. Bornet (atne). Nouvelle Methode du Violon et de la-Musique. 
 
 Palis, 1788. 
 
 17. Bedard, J. B. Methode de Violon, courte et intelligible. Paris, 
 
 1800; Leduc. 
 
 18. C artier, J. B. L'Art du Violon, ou Division des ecoles, servant 
 
 de complement 4 la Methode de Violon du Conservatoire. 
 Paris, 1801. 
 
 19. Baillot, P., Rode, P., et Kreutzer, R. M6thode de Violon. Pans, 
 
 1803 ; Ozi. English Edition, translated by J. A. Hamilton, 
 London, n.d. 
 
 20. Bering, 0. T. Praktische Violinenschule nach einer neuen, 
 
 leichten und zweckmassigen Stufenfolge. Leipzig, 1810 ; 
 G. Fleisclier. 
 
 21. Billiard {?). Methode de Violon. Paris, 1817. 
 
346 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 22. Baillot, P. L'Art du Violon. Nouvelle M^thode, dediee 4 ses 
 
 "Eleves. Paris, n.d. (1835) : Imprimerie du Conservatoire. 
 
 23. Weat, W. The Art of Playing the Violin on a new Principle by 
 
 which the progress of the learner is greatly facilitated. 
 London, n.d. (1840) : £. S. Williams. Obi. 
 
 24. Bates, J. Bates' Complete Preceptor for the Violin, containing 
 
 the easiest and most modern methods for learning to obtain 
 proficiency. London, n.d. (1845) : T. Bates. Obi. 
 
 25. ijruhr, C. L'Art de Jouer du Violon de Paganini; appendices k 
 
 toutes les m^thodes qui ont paru jusqu'A, ce jour avec un 
 Traite de sons harmoniques simples et doubles. Paris, n.d. 
 (1845); Schonenherger. English Edition translated by Jas. 
 Clarke. London, n.d. : R. Codes. 
 
 26. Anonymous. The Violin Preceptor, or Pocket Guide to the Art 
 
 of Playing the Violin. Glasgow, 1846 : W. Hamilton, obi. 
 
 27. Spohr, L. Violinschule von Louis Spohr mit erlauternden 
 
 Kupfertafeln. Vienna, n.d. (1830) : T. Haslinger. 
 
 Louis Spohr's Grand Violin School from the original 
 German, dedicated to Professors of the Violin by the 
 Translator, C. Eudolphus. London, n.d. (1850) : WesselikCo. 
 
 Spohr's Violin School, Kevised and Edited with additional 
 Text, by Henry Holmes, the translation from the German 
 by Florence Marshall. London, n.d. (1878) : Boosey & Co. 
 
 28. Gampagnoli, B. Kouvelle M^thode de la M6chanique progres- 
 
 sive du jeu du Violon divis^e en 5 parties et distribute en 
 132 Logons progressives pour deux Violons, et 118 Etudes, 
 pour un Violon seul. Hanover, n.d. : Bachmann, 2nd 
 Edition. Leipzig, n.d. (1870): Breitkopf und Hartel. 
 English Edition, translated by John Bishop, of Cheltenham. 
 London, n.d. (1856) : R. Cocks & Co. 
 
 29. Beriot, C. A. de. M6thode de Violon en trois parties. Paris, 
 
 n.d. (1855) : chez I'Auteur. 
 
 30. Bavid, F. Violinschule von Ferdinand David. Leipzig, n.d. 
 
 (1864): Breitkopf und Hartel. Second Edition, \%1 A:. 
 
 31. Tours, B. " Novello's Music Primers." Edited by Dr. Stainer ; 
 
 No. 17, The Violin. London, n.d. (1874): Novella. 4to. 
 
 32. Papini, G. Le M^canisme du jeune Violoniste. Oours com- 
 
 plet et progressif en forme de m^thode pour le violon, divis6 
 en quatre parties. London, n.d. (1883) : F. W. Chanot, 4to. 
 
 33. Mason's Violin Tutor. An easy and simple method for learning 
 
 this popular instrument. London, n.d. (1883). Obi. 
 
 34. Otto Langley's New Violin Tutor. London, n.d. (1884) : Riviere 
 
 & Hawkes. 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 UNDATED MilTHODES IN ALPHABETICAL OBDEB. 
 
 35. Anonymmis. The Art of Playing the Violin without a Master. 
 
APPENDIX. 347 
 
 An improved and complete Tutor for the instrument, 
 etc. Glasgow, n.d. : Cameron dk Ferguson. Small 4to. 
 
 36. Anonymous. The Art of Playing the Violin, with a New Scale 
 
 showing how to stop every Note, Flat or Sharp exactly, and 
 where the Shifts of the Hands should be made, etc. London, 
 n.d. 8vo. 
 
 37. Aday (FSre). Nouvelle M^thode de Violon, contenant les prin- 
 
 cipes d6taill6s de cet instrument, etc. Lyons, n.d. : Gartoux. 
 
 38. Alard, D. !Ecole du Violon. Methode complete et progressive 
 
 4 I'usage du Conservatoire de Paris. Mayence, n.d. : 
 Schott & Go. 
 
 39. Ga/nvpaynoli, B. L'Art d'inventer k I'improviste des fantaisies et 
 
 cadences pour le Violon. Leipsic, n.d. : Breitkopf und Hdrtel. 
 
 40. GhevesaUles (?). Petite M6thode de Violon. Paris, n.d. 
 
 41. JDamda, C. Methode 616mentaire et progressive de Violon. 
 
 Paris, n.d. 
 L'Ecole des cinq Positions. Paris, n.d. 
 L'Ecole de I'Archet. Paris, n.d. 
 
 42. Dupierge, F. T. A. M6thode de Violon. Paris, n.d. : Frere. 
 
 43. Farmer, H. The New Viohn School, wherein the Art of Bow- 
 
 ing and Fingering that Instrument is explained in a series 
 of exercises and scales. London, n.d. : Brewer & Go. 
 
 44. Frey, J. Methode de Violon. Paris, n.d. 
 
 45. FroehKch{?). Methode de Violon. Bonn., n.d.: /SimroA (4th Edn.). 
 
 46. Garaude, A. de. M6thode de Violon, contenant un abr6g6 des 
 
 principes de musique adaptes k cet instrument, les regies 
 gen^rales de la tenue et du doigt6 du Violon, etc. Paris, 
 n.d. : for the Author. 
 
 47. Gehaiter, M. Principes Elementaires de la Musique. Positions 
 
 et Gammes de Violon. Leipsic, n.d. 
 
 48. Hamilton, J. A. A Complete and Easy Course of Instruction 
 
 for the Violin. London, n.d. 
 
 49. Hmry,'B. Methode de Violon, contenant ... la tenue de cet 
 
 instrument et de I'archet, des exercises pour Men placer les 
 doigts, etc., etc. Paris, n.d. : Boildieu <fc Imhaidt. 
 
 50. Hermann, F. Violin-Schule. Leipzig, n.d. 
 
 51. Hone, J. Methode de Violon. London, n.d. 
 
 52. ' EHer, J. B. Method© Elementa Theorico e Pratico para rebeca. 
 
 ' Lisbon, n.d. 
 63. Lachnith, L. W. Exercises sur les quatre cordes du Violon ; ou 
 ' M6thode simple et facile pour appendre les prefniers princi- 
 ' pes de cet instrument. Paris, n.d. : Dufaut & Dubois. 
 
 54. Lottin, D. Principes 616mentaires do musique et de Violon. 
 
 Paris, n.d. : Leduc. 
 
 55. Mar^um, A. Grand Method for the Violin, revised by Saint- 
 
 ' Jacome. London, n.d. 
 
 56. Mazas, J. F. M6thode de Violon, suivie d'un traits des sons 
 
 harmoniques, etc. Paris, n.d. : Frey. 
 
348 violin-making: as it was and is. 
 
 57. Patey, C. A. An Elementary Treatise on the Art of Playing 
 
 the Violin, with Scales, etc. London, n.d. 
 
 58. Prager, H. Elementary and Practical Violin School. In three 
 
 parts. London, n.d. 
 
 59. Ries, H. Violin School. London, n.d. 
 
 60. Sanderson, 3. The Study of the Bow, etc., Exercises in Finger- 
 
 ing and Bowing. London, n.d. : Longmans. 
 
 61. Schall, 0. Etudes de I'archet et du doigte, ou cinquante-huit 
 
 exemples mS16s de caprices pour le violon. Paris : Gh. 
 Pleyel. Hamburg : Bmhm, n.d. 
 
 62. Waud, W. W. Instruction book for the Violin, etc. London, 
 
 n.d. : W. Waud. 
 
 Note. — The dates of the Mithodes in Section II. may be approximately 
 ascertained by reference to any biographical dictionary (such as F6tiB or 
 Grove), which will give us the time at which the composer lived. No. 1 is 
 inserted (perhaps without right of entree) as being the earliest instruction book 
 I have been able to find for stringed instruments. Nos. 2 and 3 again, are 
 schools for the viol da gamba, but I have included them on account of their 
 interest in connection with this subject. No. 13 is interesting also, being an 
 instruction book for the violin proper, but retaining the old name. The 
 earliest violin-tutor I have being able to find, dates from 1654, but as it is 
 only a section of a musical work, I have not been able to include it in the 
 above catalogue, but I have, on account of its fascinating interest, set it out 
 almost in its entirety as Appendix B. 
 
 APPENDIX E. 
 
 AN HISTORIC VIOLIN SCHOOL. 
 
 When one looks through the magnificent " Methodes du Violon," which 
 are published to-day at prices which bring them within the reach of 
 the humblest student of the violin ; when one ransacks the stores of 
 Violin-lore, historical, technical, and practical, contained in the pages 
 of the violin schools of De Beriot, of Berthold Tours, of Ferdinand 
 David, and of many others, my mind often reverts to the days when 
 an instruction book for the " new-fangled fiddle " was a matter of rare 
 expense ; to days when the masters of the Italian schools of vioUn- 
 making were in full vigour, before the violin had established itself 
 as the first instrument in the orchestra ; and when, as Anthony 
 k Wood tells us, " gentlemen played three, four, and five partes with 
 viols, and that they esteemed a violin to be an instrument only 
 belonging to a common fidler, and could not endure that it should 
 come among them for feare of making their meetings to be vaine and 
 fidling." '' I have before me the fourteenth edition (published in 
 
 ' Anthony a Wood, Autobiography in MS. in Ashtnolean TAbrary at Oxford ; 
 written 1653. Published at Oxford in 1772. 
 
APPENDIX. 349 
 
 1700) of a work first published in 1654 ^ by John Playford, stationer, 
 bookseller, musicseller and publisher, "at his shop in the Inner 
 Temple, near the Church door," entitled, "An Introduction to the 
 Skill of Musick, in Three Books." 
 
 The second book consists of "Instructions and Lessons for the 
 Treble, Tenor, and Bass-viols, and also for the TREBLE VIOLIN," 
 the latter section (which occupies pp. 91 — 110) being of great 
 interest to the violin-player of to-day, and headed by a curious and 
 interesting, if rather fanciful, representation of " the treble violin," 
 and the bow with which it was played, the latter being particularly 
 w'orthy the notice of musical archaeologists. The writer commences 
 his discourse as follows : — 
 
 " The Treble Violin is a cheerful and sprightly Instrument, and 
 much practised of late, some by Book, and some without ; which of 
 these two is the best way, may easily be resolved : To learn to play 
 by Bote or Har, without Book, is the way never to play more than 
 what may be gain'd by hearing another Play, which may soon be 
 forgot ; but on the contrary, he which learns and Practises by Book, 
 accprdmg to the Gamut (which is the True Rule for Musick) fails 
 not after he comes to be perfect in those Bules, which guide him to 
 Play more than ever he was Taught or Heard, and also to play his 
 part in consort, which the other can never be capable of. 
 
 " Directions /or timing the VIOLIN". 
 
 "The Violin is iisuaUy strung with four Strings and Tuned by 
 Fifths. For the more plain and easie understanding of it, and 
 stopping all Notes in their right Places, and Time, 'twill be necessary, 
 that there be plac'd on the Neck Or Finger-board of your Violin, six 
 Frets, as 'tis on a Viol : This (tho' 'tis not usual, yet) is the best and 
 easiest way for a Beginner, who has a bad Ear, for those Frets 
 are a certain and direct Bule to guide him to stop all his Notes in 
 exact Tune ; where as, tliose which learn without, seldom have at 
 first so good an Ear, as to stop all Notes in perfect Tune. Therefore 
 for the better understanding thereof, in this following Fxample is 
 assign'd to those six Frets on the Finger-board, six Letters of the 
 Alphabet in their order : The first Fret is b, the second c, the third 
 d, the fourth e, the fifth y, and the sixth g ; ais not assigned to any 
 Fret, but is the string open." 
 
 Then foUows a diagram of the finger-board fretted from the open 
 strings to the sixth semitone (B|? on the 1st string), and the names 
 given to the four strings are : The Treble, the Small Mean, the Grreat 
 Mean, and the Bass. The author then gives, " The scale of MUSICK 
 on the Four Strings of tJie TREBLE VIOLIN, expressed by lettbes 
 and NOTES. 
 
 ' Of this edition only one copy is known ; it was sold at the dispersion of 
 the Ubrary of the late Dr. Eimbault In 1877, for ten guineas. ( Vide Note ', p. 55.) 
 
350 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT WAS AND IS. 
 
 " This Exam2ile doth direct the Places of all the Notes, flat and 
 sharp, each Note being plac'd under the Letter, according to their 
 several Stops upon each String distinctly, beginning at the. lowest 
 Note on the Bass, or Fourth String, and ascending up to the highest 
 on the Treble, or First String according to the Scale or Gamut : ' In 
 which you may also observe, that the Lessons for the Violin by 
 Letters, are prick'd on four Lines according to the four general 
 Strings, but Lessons by Notes are prick'd w^onfive Lines, as appears 
 in the Example above. 
 
 " For the Turning of the Violin is usually by Fifths, that is, five 
 Notes distance betwixt each String ; which according to the Scale or 
 Gamut, the Bass, ot fourth String is called G-sol-re-ut ; the third, or 
 Great Mean, D-la-sol-re ; the second or Small Mean, A-la-mi-re ; the 
 first or Treble, E-la ; as in the following Example." 
 
 Then follows an ordinary table of the notes on each string, 
 intituled " Exam/pie q/'the Tuning, as the five Notes ascend on each oj 
 the four Strings, beginning on the Bass or Fourth String."' Aft^'" 
 which follows a paragraph which wUl strike the modern viblinist as, 
 to say the least of it, original. ' 
 
 " Also, for a Beginner to Tune by Eighths, will be easier than by 
 Fifths, if his Violin he: fretted ; to begin which, he must wind up his 
 first, or Treble String as high as it will bear, then stop it in j*"," {i.e., 
 the 5th fret) " and Tune his second an Eighth below it ; then stop 
 the second vnf, and Tune the third an Eighth under it ; then stop the 
 third iaf, and tune the fourth an Eighth below that ; and so your 
 Strings will be in perfect Tune." 
 
 Then follows an "Example of Tuning by Fifths and Eighths'" &nd 
 "Another Scale /or the VIOLIN, Directing the Places of the Notes on 
 each String, and the Stops by each Finger." After which the author 
 continues : — • 
 
 "Having thus given you the Tuning of the Treble-Violin, it will 
 be necessary here to set down the Tuning of the Tenor and Bass- 
 Violins, hemg both used in Consort. 
 
 The Tenor or Mean is a larger Violin than the Treble, and is Tuned 
 fi/tte notes lower than it : The Cliff is sometimes put on the middle, 
 and sometimes on the second Line." 
 
 We have then tables of the open strings of the Viola as it- is now 
 tuned, and of the Violoncello, the first string being G instead of A, 
 
 ■ Down to the seventeenth century the shift on the violin was unknown, the 
 players of those times confining themselves to the first position. M. I'Abbe Sibire 
 tells us that the sole departure therefrom, which they seldom allowed themselves 
 to attempt, was the extension of the little finger to C on the first string. This was 
 looked upon as a great and marvellous feat, so much so, that when the audience 
 knew it was coming they would murmur aloud, as the terrible moment arrived, 
 " Gare I'Ut " I and player and listeners were in a fever of excitement. If the 
 unlucky virtuoso failed to strike the 77i pure, a storm of disapproval would make 
 him bitterly repent his temerity ; but if successful, a whirlwind of applause 
 greeted this striking exhibition of his powers.-^L'Abb6 Sibire, "La Chelonomie, 
 ou le Parfait Luthier " (Paris, 1806.) Vide Note ', p. viii., preface 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 351 
 
 the other three respectively C, P, and B the lowest note. The 
 principles of the Treble Violin then conclude as follows : — 
 
 " Thus I have (after the plainest methods could be set down) 
 given you several Bules and Directions for the Treble-Violin by way 
 of Freting, which I have known used by Eminent Teachers on this 
 Instrument, as the most facile and easie to Initiate their Scholars ; 
 and also Directions for Pricking down Lessons in Letters : Yet I do 
 not approve of this way of Plajring by Letters, save only as a Ctuide 
 to Young Practitioners, to bring them the more readily to know all 
 the Stops and places oi the Notes, hoih flat and sha/rp, and' being 
 perfect therein, to lay the TJse of Letters aside, and keep to their 
 Practice by Notes and Rules of the Gamut only : For this Keason, I 
 have added some few Lessons both ways, that after you can play 
 them by Letters, you may play the same by Notes." 
 
 At the foot is placed the following note : — " Those that desire more 
 Lessons for this Instrument, I refer to the First and Second Parts oj 
 Apollo's Banquet, containing the Newest Tunes for the Violin, with 
 the most iisuaZ French Dances used at Court and Dancing-Schools : 
 (sic) And also in the Dancing- Master ; Both which are now doing in 
 the New Tied-Note, with additions being both more compleaji than 
 ever." 
 
 Some General Rules ybr the Treble- VioJ 
 
 " First, The Violin is usually play'd above-hani 
 being held by the left Hand, the lower Part mu/5t be re^tei 
 left Breast, a little below the Shoulder. The 
 right Hand, between the ends of the Thumb anc 
 Thumb being stay'd upon the Hair at the Nut , and t 
 resting upon the Wood. Your Bow being thus ix'd, yoi 
 draw an even Stroak over each String severally, making 
 yield a clear and distinct sound. 
 
 ' Secondly, For the posture of your left Hand,place 
 
 the Neci 
 
 .el( 
 the 3 Fin 
 
 5010 IS 
 
 ereof 
 
 on the 
 
 the 
 
 .the 
 
 ]^ingers 
 
 •e first to 
 
 h Siring 
 
 Thudjb 
 on the back of the Neck, opposite to your Fore-'Finder/(«ic) so vidll 
 your Fingers have the more liberty to move up aiyi'down on th\ 
 several Stops. / _ _ , 
 
 " thirdly, for true Fingering, observe these Directions ; (which 
 will appear more easie to your Understanding, if in your first Practice 
 you have your Violin Fretted, as is before mention'd :) That where 
 you skip a Fret or stop, there to leave a Finger, for every Stop is but 
 half a Tone or Note ; for from b to c, is but half a note, but from 6 to 
 d, is a whole note ; (!) therefore the leaving of a Finger is necessary, to 
 be in readiness when half notes happen, which is by Flats and Sharps. 
 
 " Fourthly, When you have any high Notes which reach lower tha,n 
 your usual Frets, or Stops, there you are to shift your Fingers ; if 
 there be but two Notes, then the first is stopp'd with the second 
 Finger, and the rest by the next Fingers.' 
 
 ' It will strike the reader that this is, to say the least of it, a oonoise method 
 o£ explaining the whole science of shifting. 
 
352 VIOLIN-MAKING : AS IT -VVAS AND IS. 
 
 "Fifthly, in the moving your Bow vip and down, observe this 
 Ride : When you see an wen Number of Quavers and Semiquavers, as 
 
 2, 4, 6, or 8, tied together, your Bow must move up, the it was up 
 at the Note immediately before ; but if you have an odd Number, as 
 
 3, 5, or 7 (which happens very often by reason of a Prick'd Note, or 
 an odd Quaver-Rest), there your Bow must be drawn downwards at 
 the first Note.{\) 
 
 " Lastly, In the Practice of any Lesson, play it slow at first, and 
 by often Practice, it will bring your Hand to a more swift motion. 
 
 " As for the several Graces and Flourishes that are used, ( Viz. 
 Shakes, BachfaMs, and Double Relishes) this following TABLE will 
 be some help to your Practice ; for there is, first, the Note plain ; and 
 after, the Grace express'd by Notes at length." 
 
 This "Violin-School" then concludes with "A Table of Graces 
 proper to the Viol or Violin," which include " A Beat, A Back-fall, 
 A Double Bach-fall, Elevation, A Springer, A Cadent, A Back-fall 
 Shaked, A close Shake, a Shaked Beat," and " A Double Relish." 
 
 A sort of Appendix consists oi " Short TU'S'Ei^ for the Treble 
 Violin by Letters and Notes," and " Some TUNES of the most ustial 
 PSALMS Broken for the VIOLIN," and completes this Historic 
 Violin-school. I think it cannot fail to interest the Violinist of 
 to-day, and to convince the most inveterate laudator temporis acti, 
 that in the matter of musical instruction, we have at any rate cause 
 to be thankful that we do not live in the " good old days," when at 
 a music meeting at Oxford, at which Thomas Baltzar (or Baltzarini) 
 exhibited his marvellous feat, the whole shift,' Professor Wilson 
 stooped down to see whether he terminated in hoofs ! 
 
 ' Thomas Baltzar, bom at LUbeck in 1630, came to England in 1655, and is 
 Baid to have been the first who taught the use of the whole shift. He had is 
 eonsequenoe a reputation only equalled by that of Paganini, 
 
 ■ In former days we had the Viol in. 
 
 Ere the true instrument had come about ; 
 But now we say since tliig all ears doth win, 
 Tlie Yinlin hath put the Viol out." 
 
 (^Old Bjjigram, 17th century.; 
 
3ntitce0. 
 
" ®t tet tomphtrts ptt ffibttatbnm 35«r<rn-^Uttt hit etttmbo giobtmbtie, 
 ^nno "^omni m.b.ttt.lxxxiiij., pra cpta sit 'gme <Slorios»s ctim ^«tw 
 ®jaa ®lxim»a, btntbwttts in »«£ttl» asettleram. 3^-i"««-" 
 
 (BiBi.. Arond. MS. 430.) 
 
INDEX OF AUTHOES 
 NAMED IN APPENDICES C AND D. 
 
 The letters after the names in the following index refer to the Appendix (C or 
 D) in which the Author's works occur ; in some instances they occur in both 
 (e.j'., " Baillot"). The numbers refer to the chronological order of the works, 
 preserved throughout the Appendices where possible. 
 
 Abele, H. (o), 139. 
 
 Aday (D), 37. 
 
 Adema, E. (o), ISO. 
 
 Adye, W. (o), 22. 
 
 Alard, D. (D), 38. 
 
 Anders, Gr. £. (c), 85. 
 
 Antolini, F. (o), 58. 
 
 Anonymous (c), 3, 6, 9, 13, 
 14, 30, 35, 36, 38, 41, S4, 
 94, 125, 152 ; (D), 7, 26, 
 35, 36. 
 
 Bachmans, O. (o), 136. 
 Bagatella, O. (q), 53, 128. 
 Bailleux, A., (d), 12. 
 BaiUot, P. F. M. de S. (c), 
 
 82, 109 ; (d), 19, 22. 
 Barnard, C. (o), 25. 
 Bates, J. (d), 24. 
 Band (o), 77. 
 Bedard, J^ B. 
 Benedit, 
 Bentzon, 
 
 B6riot, C. A.'de (d), 29. 
 BUliard-(D), 21. 
 Biow, H. (&), 137. 
 Boistel (0), 103. 
 Boruet (d), 16. 
 Brijon, B. (c), 74. 
 Broadhouse, J. (p), 32. 
 Burbure, L. de (O), 99. 
 
 Campagnoli, B. (d), 28, 39. 
 Cartier, J. B. (d), 18. 
 " Champfleury " (c), 114. 
 Chanot, F. (o), 90. 
 Chanot, G. (c), 46. 
 Chevesaillea (d), 40. 
 Gonestabile, O. (c), 60. 
 Consili, D. (o), 66. 
 Ooppte, F. (c), 122. 
 
 I, J. B. (d), 17. 
 t, G. (c), 91. 
 in, T. (0), 111. 
 
 Cormon (c), 121. 
 Correlli, A. (d), 14. 
 Courvoisier (C), 34, 144, 149. 
 
 Danola, C. (d), 41. 
 David, F. (D), 30. 
 Davidson, P. (c), 23. 
 Delhasse,F. J. (c), 89. 
 Desfossez, A. (o) 96. 
 Desmarais, 0. (C), 87. 
 Diehl, N. L. (c), 141. 
 Domenjond, J. B. (o), 73. 
 Dubourg, G. (c) 11. 
 Dupierge, F. T. A. (d), 42. 
 
 Engel, C. (c), 47. 
 Eymar, A. M. (c), 76. 
 
 Fanart, L. S. (o), 115. 
 Fanzago, F. (c), 51. 
 Farmer, H. (d), 43. 
 FayoUe, F. (o), 79, 84. 
 Ferris, G. J. (C), 50. 
 F^tis, F. J. (0), 2, 20, 26, 
 
 90. 95. 
 Fleming, J. M. (c), 48. 
 Fleury, J. (o), 114. 
 Forster, S. A. (c), 19. 
 Fothergill, J. (o), 30. 
 Fourgeaud, A. (o), 93. 
 Frederic, H. (o), 31. 
 Frey, J. (d), 44. 
 Froehlich, (d), 45. 
 
 Gallay, J. (C),101,107,108. 
 Garaud^, A. de (d), 46. 
 Gebauer, M. (»), 47, 
 Geminiani (D), 4, 5, 9. 
 Gemiinder, G. (c), 40. 
 Gerle, H. (d), 1. 
 GofErie, C. (c), 27. 
 
 Gossec (o), 77. 
 Grange, E. (o), 121. 
 GreviUe, H. (c), 120. 
 Grivel, T. (c), 104. 
 Guhr, C. (d), 25. 
 
 Hamilton, J. A. (o) 1 ; (d), 
 
 48. 
 Harrys, G. (o), 132. 
 Hart, G. (o) 39, 42. 
 Henry, B. (d), 49. 
 Hering, C. (n), 20. 
 Hermann, F. (p), 50. 
 Heron-AUen, E. (o), 45, 49. 
 
 HiUer, J. A. (c), 127; 
 Hone, J. (d), 51. 
 Huet, F. (0), 119. 
 
 Imbert de Laphaleque, 6. 
 (cj, 8, 83. 
 
 James, E. (c), 15. 
 Jousoupof, Pr. (o), 94. 
 Jousse, J. (c), 4. 
 
 Klier, J. B. (n), 52. 
 Kreutzer (d), 19. 
 
 Lachnith, L. W. (d), 53. 
 Langley, 0. (d), 34. 
 Leblanc, H. (c), 71. 
 Leclair, J. M. (o), 75. 
 Leone (D), 15. 
 Leoni di Pienza, A. B. (c), 
 
 57. 
 Leuven, H. (c), 88. 
 Lbhleiu, G. S. (d), 11 
 liombaidini, P. (c), B*"- 
 Lottin, D. (D), 54. 
 
 Maodouald (O), 5, 7, 
 
356 
 
 INDEX OF AUTHORS. 
 
 Mackenzie (c), 41. 
 Mackintosh (c), 1'/. 
 Maigne, W., 106. 
 Mailand, E. (0),97. 
 Marque, A. (d), 55. 
 Mason (D), 33. 
 Maugln, J. C. (c), 86, 106. 
 Mazas, J. F. (d), 56. 
 Miel, E. F. A. W. (o), 92. 
 Milandre (d), 13. 
 MitoheU, C. H. (c), 43. 
 Mozart, L. (d), 6, 8. 
 
 Nicholson, J. (o), 38. 
 Niederheitmann, F. (c), 147, 
 (D), 148. 
 
 Otto, J. A. (c), 10, 16, 129, 
 130. 
 
 Paine, J. (c), 17. 
 Pancaldi, C. (c), 59. 
 Papini, G. (D), 32. 
 Patey, C. A. (d), 57. 
 Pearce, J. (o), 21. 
 Phipson, T. L. (c), 29. 
 Plassiard, J. A. (o), 112, 
 
 118. 
 Porter, C. (c), 33. 
 
 Pougin, A. (c), 110. 
 Prseger, H. (d), 58. 
 Purdy, G. (q), 18. 
 
 Rangoni, G. B. (c), 55. 
 Reade, 0. (o), 24, 44. 
 Regli, F. (C), 61. 
 Reichardt, J. F. (o), 124. 
 Renier, J. S. (c), 102. 
 Richelme, M. (o), 105. 
 Ries, H. (D), 59. 
 Rinaldi, B. G. (o), 63. 
 Ritter, H (o), 147, 160. 
 Rode (D), 19. 
 Roasseau, J. (c), 70. 
 Riihlmann, J. (c), 151. 
 
 Saint-Sevin, J. B. (d), 10. 
 Sanderson, J. (D), 60. 
 Sandys, W. (c), 19. 
 Sauzay, E. (o), 98. 
 Savart, P. (o), 81. 
 SchaUjO. (D), 61. 
 Schehek, E. (c), 28, 145. 
 Schottky, J. M. (c), 134. 
 Schubert, F. L. (o), 140. 
 Schiitz, F. C. J. (0), 133. 
 Sibire, L'Abb6 (o), 78. 
 Simoutre, N. E. (c), 123. 
 
 Simpson, 0. (d), 2, 3. 
 Smith, H. P. (0), 270. 
 Sp(*r, L. (0), 138; (d), 27, 
 St. George (c), 88. 
 
 Tarlini, G. (c), 52, 125, 126 
 Tauber, C. v. (O), 126. 
 Terraason, A. (c), 72. 
 Thoinan, E. (o), 100, 117. 
 Thomas, B. (c), 37. 
 Thurp u. Taxis, Pr. (c), 54. 
 T6urs, B. (d), 31. 
 
 Valdrighi, L. F. (c), 64, 65, 
 
 67. 68. 
 Vallotti, F. A. (o), 56. 
 VidaLA. (o), 113, 116. 
 Vinela, L. (o), 135. 
 
 Walden, B. D. v. (o), 69. 
 Wasielewski, J. W. (c), 
 
 143, 146. 
 Waud, W. W. (d), 62. 
 West, W. (d), 23. 
 Wettengel, G. A. (c), 131, 
 
 142. 
 
 Toussoupow, Pr. (o), 94. 
 
GENERAL INDEX. 
 
 In the following Index the names of Authors to whose works reference Is made 
 in this volume are printed in italios, to the end that the Index may be so 
 complete as possible, and include both Subject and Bibliographical Indices. 
 
 Abd-vl-cadir, 40. 
 
 Abel, C. F., 54. 
 
 AbeU, H., 131. 
 
 Acribelle Strings, 214. 
 
 Action of the Sound-Bar, 153. 
 
 Action of the Sound-Post, 151. 
 
 Adulterated Materials for Tarnishes, 179. 
 
 Advertisements, 15, 25. 
 
 .fflmilia Gens, The, 35. 
 
 African Lyre, The, 58. 
 
 Age in Violins, 20, 21, 22. 
 
 Age, Premature, 143. 
 
 Agricola, M., 48, 49, 91. 
 
 Air contained in Fiddle, Mass of, 144, 157. 
 
 Air Ti-ilin, 107. 
 
 Albani, M., 77. 
 
 Albinns, 31. 
 
 Alcuin, 32. 
 
 Alday le jeune, 17. 
 
 Alexia of Piedmont, 173, 
 
 Al F^rabi, 41. 
 
 Allgemeine Musilcalische Zeitung,Wa,Ui. 
 
 Aloes Hepatica, 323. 
 
 Altdorfer, 91. 
 
 Amateur Orchestras, 13. 
 
 Amateurs, 7. 
 
 Amati, Andreas, 8, 73. 
 
 Amati, Antonius and Hieronymus, 74. 
 
 Amati, Nicolaus, 75, 77. 
 
 Amber, 326. 
 
 Amber, Fusing, 177. 
 
 Amber Varnish, 169, 177. 
 
 American Cloth Case, 202. 
 
 Amherst, W. A. Tyssen-, 72. 
 
 Amiens Cathedral, Sculpture at, 63. 
 
 Amphion, 35. 
 
 Analysis of Varnish, Difficulty of, 173. 
 
 " Ancettrvof tlie Violin, The," 66. 
 
 Ancient Egyptians, The, 42. 
 
 Anda, 174. 
 
 Auime, 324. 
 
 Antique Bridges, 160. 
 
 Antolini, F., 114. 
 
 Appearance of a Good String, 20r. 
 
 Appearance of Good Wood, 131. 
 
 Appliances, 196. 
 
 Application of Varnish, 185. 
 
 Arbuthnot, Dr. J., 205. 
 
 Arching Guides, 228. 
 
 Arching, Method of Copying, 135. 
 
 Arching, The, 291. 
 
 Armstrong, E., 35. 
 
 Arne, Dr., 4. 
 
 Arrabel, The, 41. 
 
 Artistic Imagination, 92. 
 
 Ash-shakand^ 41. 
 
 Asphalte, 325. 
 
 Assyrian Trigonon, 44. 
 
 Atlantic Monthly, The, 21, 
 
 Augurellius, J. A., 48. 
 
 " Azarole," 131. 
 
 Bach, S., 18, 54. 
 Back, The, 247. 
 Back, The whole, 285. 
 Back and Belly, Difference of Tone, 132 
 Bacon. Francis, 6. 
 Bale, J., 33.' 
 
 " A Ballad on the Parliament," 11. 
 Baltzarini, T., 63, 352. 
 BandinelU, 62. 
 
 Banks, Benjamin, 83, 114, 16S. 
 Banuester, J., 19. 
 Baptistini, 53. 
 , Barbitos, The, 59. 
 Barnes,Dr., 11. 
 Barrington Daines, 64. 
 " Bartholomew Fayre," 56. 
 Bartoloccius, J., 34. 
 Baryton, The, 65. 
 Basque viol, 41, 45. 
 Bass-Bar, The, 152, 258. 
 Bass-Bar, Setting of the, 152. 
 Baud's Bar-less Violins, 154. 
 Bazaar, Exchange and Mart, 23. 
 Beaumont and Fletcher, 11, 13. 
 "Beggar's Opera, The," 10. 
 BeU,H.. 110. 
 
358 
 
 GENERAL INDEX. 
 
 Belly; The, 253. 
 
 Bending Irons, 221. 
 
 Bending the Bibs, 231. 
 
 Benedict, Sir Juliiu, 8. 
 
 Beni Hassan, Tomb at, 68. 
 
 Benjamin, Gum, 323. 
 
 Bente, 73. 
 
 Benzoin, Gum, 323. 
 
 Bergonzi, Carlo, 79. 
 
 B6riot, C. de, 24, 73. 
 
 Best Localities for Wood, 125. 
 
 Bevelling the Edge of the Belly 260. 
 
 Bevelling the Edges of the Scroll, 274. 
 
 Bevelling the Inside Edge of the Back, 
 
 249. 
 Biblej The, 33. 
 
 Bibliography of the Violin, 329. 
 Bingky, W., 65. 
 Birch, 8., 43. 
 
 BisJiop, J., 5, 20, 37, 95, 136. 
 Blacking the Edges, 296. 
 Bleaching Strings, 212. 
 Blocks, The, 147, 234, 285, 289, 292. 
 Bonanni, 176. 
 
 Bottom Join of Eibs, The, 233, 261, 288. 
 Bourdelot, 9. 
 Bourdon, 56. 
 Bow, The, 66. 
 Bows, Ancient, 38. 
 Bow Compasses, 224. 
 Bow, Dimensions of, 96. 
 Bow, Etymology of, 87. 
 Bow, Hairing or Be-hairing, 99. 
 Bow-hairs, 96. 
 Bow, Introduction of, 44. 
 Bow, Method of Bending the, 96. 
 Bow, The Modern, 97. 
 Bows, Patent, lOt. 
 Bows, Prices of, 95. 
 Bows, Primitive, 87. 
 Bows, Tourte's, 96. 
 Bow, Progressive History of the, 88. 
 Bow, Self-hairing, 101. 
 Boxwood Pegs, 188. 
 Boxwood Violin, 5, 110. 
 Br.anded Violins, 166. 
 Bravoura Playing, 13, 14. 
 Brazil Wood, 324. 
 Brent, Miss, 4. 
 Breton Viol, The, 65. 
 Brewer, A., 29. 
 Bridged Lyres, 59. 
 Broadhouae, J., 20. 
 Bridge, The, 169, 304. 
 Bridge, Design of the, 161. 
 Bridge, Functions of the, 161, 
 . Bridge, Height of the, 161. 
 Bridge, Weight on the, 126. 
 Bridges, Patent, 163. 
 Brooks' Finger-board, 191. 
 Brooman's Mnger-board, 191. 
 Buddiani, 73. 
 Bull, Ole, 72, 167. 
 Burney, Dr., 6. 
 Butler, Samuel, 11, 63. 
 Button, The, 281. 
 
 Caldecott, Randolph, 1, 
 
 Cauino, Prince of, 3S. 
 
 Carracci, A., 53. 
 
 Carter, J., 63. 
 
 Cartier, J. B., 74. 
 
 Carved Heads, 165. 
 
 Carved Violin, 110. 
 
 Carving the Scroll, 273. 
 
 Cassell's Family Magazine, 12, 
 
 "A Cat came Fiddling out of a Bam," 2. 
 
 " Catgut," 209. 
 
 « Catch cm. The," 55. 
 
 Cause of Falseness in Strings, 206. 
 
 Cellini, B., 72. 
 
 Cellini, G., 62. 
 
 " Champfleury," 105. 
 
 Changing Strings, 215. 
 
 Chanot, G., 65, 84. 
 
 Chanot, G. Aine, 21. 
 
 Chanot's (G. A.) Patent Violin Bag, 202. 
 
 Chanot, F., 107, 114. 
 
 Chanot's Bosin, 199. 
 
 ChappeU, Wm., 43, 210. 
 
 Charles I., 7. 
 
 Charles IL, 4, 19. 
 
 Charles IV. of Lorraine, 8. 
 
 Charles IX. of France, 8, 74. 
 
 Charles the Bald, 61. 
 
 Chartres, Sculpture at, 46. 
 
 Chaiealmeuf, Abbe de, 35. 
 
 Chancer, G„ 3. 
 
 Chemically Prepared Woods, 129. 
 
 Chests of Viols, 55. 
 
 Chinese, The, 39. 
 
 Chin of the Scroll, The, 274. 
 
 Chinese Water-cord Strings, 214. 
 
 Chin Pad, 201. 
 
 Chin Best, The, 196. 
 
 Choice of Strings, 203. 
 
 Chordometer, The, 200. 
 
 Christianowitch, A., 40. 
 
 Chrotta, The, 62, 64. 
 
 Church Bsstoration, 30. 
 
 Cinnabar, 324. 
 
 Cithara, The, 59. 
 
 Claggett, T., 116. 
 
 Cleaning the Bibs, etc., 239. 
 
 Clergymen, 8. 
 
 Clerke of Oxenforde, The, 3. 
 
 " CockadoodledoQ," 2. 
 
 Collections of Violins, 22. 
 
 Collins, M. H., 111. 
 
 Collins' Patent Peg, 189. 
 
 Colonization of France and England, 60. 
 
 Colophony, 198. 
 
 Colouring Essences, Method of. 180. 
 
 Common Tools Bequir«d, 219. 
 
 Components of Strings, 209. 
 
 Composition of Purfling, 163. 
 
 Compounding of Varnishes, 181, 184. 
 
 Concealing Repairs, 318. 
 
 Conclusion, 319. 
 
 Cooke's Patent Peg, 189. 
 
 Copatta, 326. 
 
 Copal, 324. 
 
 Coperario, J., 7. 
 
GENEBAL INDEX. 
 
 359 
 
 Copies, 143. 
 
 Copying//Holes, Method of, 155. 
 
 CJoreUi, A., 53, 94. 
 
 Coiner Blocks, The, 286. 
 
 Comers, The, 262. 
 
 Cotton MBS., The, 45, 61. 
 
 Coulisses, The, 274. 
 
 Cousstmaker, C. E. H. de, 49, 63, 65. 
 
 Covered Strings, 213. 
 
 Crack Over or Under Sound-post, 309. 
 
 Cracked Block, 312. 
 
 Cracked Comers, 308. 
 
 Cracked Edges, 309. 
 
 Cracked Joint, 308. 
 
 Cracks in the Back or Belly, 307. 
 
 Cracks in the Wing of the/ Hole, 307. 
 
 Cramer, J. B., 13. 
 
 Cramping Blocks, 228. 
 
 CreaUng of Strings, 162. 
 
 Cr^maillire, The, 94. 
 
 Cremona, 18. 
 
 Cremona Tiolins, 19, 22. 
 
 Cremonese Necks, 159. 
 
 Cremona Varnish, 168. 
 
 Croatian Haple, 128. 
 
 Cromwell, Oliver, 4. 
 
 Crwth, The Welsh, 58, 61. 
 
 Crwth, Genealogy of the, 68. 
 
 Crwth Trithant, 61. 
 
 Cumberland, Duke of, 7. 
 
 Cvmrnings, W.H., 65. 
 
 Cuni, 145. 
 
 Cutting Down Violins, 121. 
 
 Cutting of Bridge, 161, 163. 
 
 Cutting on the Layers, 128, 133. 
 
 Cutting on the Quarter, 128, 133. 
 
 Cutting out the//" Holes, 256. 
 
 Cutting out the fiead, 293. 
 
 Cutting out the Neck, 273, 277. 
 
 Cutting out the Neck and Scroll, 270. 
 
 Cutting out the Peg Box, 275, 316. 
 
 Cutting out the Tables, 240. 
 
 Cutting the Bridge, 304. 
 
 Cutting the Groove for the Purfling, 263. 
 
 Cutting the Purfling, 266. 
 
 Cutting the Best, 267. 
 
 Cutting the Shoulder, 277. 
 
 Cutting the Wood, 133. 
 
 Daily Telegraph, The, 10. 
 
 Dalmatian Maple, 128. 
 
 Danger of Preparing Varnishes, 181. 
 
 Dardelli, P., 71, 151. 
 
 JDavidson, P., 26, 69, 170. 
 
 Day, J., 20. 
 
 De Beriot, C, 24^ 
 
 Definition of the Violin, 126. 
 
 Democritus Junior, 6. 
 
 Design of Bridge, 161, 163. 
 
 Density of Woods Used, 132. 
 
 Depth of the Bibs, 289. 
 
 DetmaraU, C, 8, 20. 
 
 Diehl, N. L., 69. 
 
 Different Sorts of Rosin, 199. 
 
 Different Sorts of Strings, 208. 
 
 Dimensions of// Holes, 157. 
 
 Dimensions of the Finger-Board, 190. 
 Dimensions of the Nut, 190. 
 Dimensions of the Tail-piece, 192. 
 Dr. Stone's Patent Bar, 164. 
 Dodd, J., 203. 
 Dodd, Thomas, 33. 
 Double Violin, 109. 
 Double Violin Case, 201. 
 Dragon's Blood, 323. 
 Dryden, J., 7, 10. 
 Dubois, 108. 
 Dvbourg, G., 6, 46. 
 Dmffioprugcar, G., 51, 71. 
 Duke, Richard, 33. 
 
 Earl of Leicester, 110. 
 
 Earthenware Violins, 105. 
 
 Ebony Pegs, 188. 
 
 Eccentric Bridges, 163. 
 
 Eccentric Violins, 106. 
 
 Echolin, The, 111. 
 
 Edge of the Scroll, The, 274. 
 
 Edinburgh, H.R.H. the Duke of, 7. 
 
 Egyptians, The Ancient, 42, 68. 
 
 Effect of High and Low Bridge, 161. 
 
 Eight-Stringed Violin, 107. 
 
 Eisenvioline, Das, 109. 
 
 Elasticity of Pine, 132. 
 
 " Elector, Stainer's," 76. 
 
 Elemi, 324. 
 
 Elizabeth, Queen, 5. 
 
 JEngel, Carl, 24, 37, 44, 65, 65, 67, 109. 
 
 Bngleder, A., 106. 
 
 English Strings, 209. 
 
 English Works on the Violin, 329. 
 
 Ernst, J. A., 105. 
 
 Exeter Cathedral, Sculpture at, 46. 
 
 Exhibition of 1872, The, 19, 24. 
 
 Experiments on the Mass of Air, 144. 
 
 Experiments with Stradivari's Wood, 133 
 
 Exterior of the Violin, The, 155. 
 
 False Finger-Board, The, 279. 
 
 False Strings, 206. 
 
 Fancy Pegs, 188. 
 
 Fantastic Purfling, 163. 
 
 Fardeley, J., 20. 
 
 Female Violinistes, 6, 12. 
 
 Felw, F. J., 16, 23, 37, 40, 43, 50, 66, 94, 
 
 132, 144, 154, 160, 210. 
 //Holes, The, 165. 
 //Holes, The (Guamerius), 291. 
 //Holes, Cutting the, 256. 
 .//Holes, Influence on Tone, 166. 
 // Holes, Marking the, 255. 
 /Hole Model, 264. 
 / Hole Piercers or Punches, 222. 
 "Fiddle," 12, 45. 
 " Fiddle and I," 218. 
 Fiddle Blankets, 201. 
 "Fiddle-Faddle," 11. 
 "Fiddle-Faddle Fashion Book, The," 11. 
 " Fiddle-Faddle's Sentimental Tour," 11. 
 "Fiddler," 4 
 " Fiddler Thompson," 12. 
 "Fiddling,"4. 6. 9. 
 
360 
 
 GENERAL INDEX. 
 
 Filliire, The, 287. 
 
 Final Planing ol the Tables, 266. 
 
 Final Thickneesea of the BeUy, 257. 
 
 Finger-Board, The, 190. 
 
 Finger-Board, The False, 279. 
 
 Finger-Board Holder, The, 279. 
 
 Finishing the Back, 249. 
 
 Finishing the Body of the Fiddle, 268. 
 
 Finishing the Button, 281. 
 
 Finishing the Comers, 288. 
 
 Finishing the Edges of the Fiddle, 268. 
 
 Finishing the Head, 276. 
 
 Finishing the Fiddle, 281. 
 
 Finishing the Inside of the Belly, 259. 
 
 Finishing the Inside of the Fiddle, 251. 
 
 Finishing the Nut and Finger-Board, 299. 
 
 Finishing the Outline, 241. 
 
 Finishing the Pegs, 302. \ 
 
 Finishing the Best, 268. 
 
 Finishing the Bibs, etc., 238. 
 
 Finishing the Side linings, 230. 
 
 Finishing the Sound-Bar, 259. 
 
 Fioravanti of Bologna, 174. 
 
 Fitting the Bridge, 304. 
 
 Fitting the Centre Bouts, 287. 
 
 Fitting the Finger-board, 297. 
 
 Fitting the Keck to the Fiddle, 277, 316. 
 
 Fitting the Nut, 298. 
 
 Fitting of the Pegs, 188, 300. 
 
 Fitting the Purfling, 265. 
 
 Fitting the Best, 268. 
 
 Fitting the Bibs, 232. 
 
 Fitting the Bibs to the Back. 249. 
 
 Pitting the Side-Linings, 236. 
 
 Fitting the Sound-Bar, 258. 
 
 Fitting the Sound-Post, 303. 
 
 Fitting the Tail-piece, 303. 
 
 Fitting the Tail-pin, 302. 
 
 Fittings and Appliances, The, 187. 
 
 Fitting-up, 294, 296. 
 
 Five-stringed Violins, 107. 
 
 Fixing the Back on the Inside Mould, 292. 
 
 Fixing on the Belly, 260. 
 
 Fixing the Belly on the Inside Mould, 292. 
 
 Fixing the Blocks, 236. 
 
 Fixing the Centre Bouts, 287. 
 
 Fixing the Finger-Board, 298. 
 
 Fixmg the Nut, 298. 
 
 Fixing the Pegs, 264. 
 
 Fixing the Purfling, 265. 
 
 Fixing the Best, 268. 
 
 Fixing the Bibs, 232. 
 
 Fixing the Bibs to the Back, 250. 
 
 Fixing the Slde-Liniugs, 237. 
 
 Fixing the Sound-Bar, 259. 
 
 Fleming, J. M., 23, 36, 51, 76, 130. 
 
 Fletcher, Beaumont and, 11. 
 
 Flewry, J., 105. 
 
 Folding Tiolin, The, 112. 
 
 Ford, J., 11. 
 
 Ford, Ulss, 54. 
 
 Foreign Names of Bow Instruments, 12. 
 
 Forgeries, 143. 
 
 Form of ff Holes, 156. 
 
 Forster, William, 63. 
 
 Forsler, S. A., 54, 171. 
 
 Fossegriu, The Genius, 16. 
 
 Fragments of Stradivari, Experiments 
 
 with, 133. 
 Franchomme, M., 126. 
 Frankincense, 323. 
 French Claims to Invention, 53. 
 French Works on the Violin, 33S. 
 Frets, 43. 
 Frost, H. F., 18. ' 
 Functions of Bridge, 161. 
 Functions of the Head and Neck, 157. 
 Functions of the Sound-Bar, 163. 
 Functions of the Sound-Post, 151. 
 
 Gafivrms, 91. 
 Gagliano, N., 169. 
 Galbusera, C. A., 114. 
 GaUei, v., 53. 
 Gallay, J., 35, 56, 84, 167. 
 Gamboge, 326. 
 " Gare I'Ut," 56. 
 Gauges, 199, 204. 
 Gauging Callipers, 223. 
 Gautherot, Madame, 5. 
 Gay, J., 10, 86. 
 Geige, 47. 
 Gemiinder, (?., 20. 
 
 Genealogies of the Violin and Crwth, 68. 
 Geometrical Outline, 136. 
 Gerasemis, JV., 36. 
 Gerbert, M., 34. 44, 45, 61, 62, 88. 
 German Strings, 209. 
 German Works on the Violin, 340. 
 Giardini, 20, 203. 
 Gigue, The, 46, 47. 
 Glass in Varnish, 170. 
 Gloucester, Duke of, 7. 
 Gordigani, L., 122. 
 Gosse, E., 15. 
 Gostling, 64. 
 Goudok, The, 41. 
 
 Gouging the Arching of the Tables, 241. 
 Grand Amati, The, 74, 75. 
 Greek Bows, 36. 
 Greek Lyres, 68. 
 
 Grooves round the Scroll, The, 274. 
 Grosjean, J. P., 121. 
 Grove, Sir G., 14, 55. 
 GrufEydd ap Davydd ap Howel, 64 
 Guadagnini, J. B., 79, 169, 178. 
 Guadagnini, Lorenzo, 78. 
 " Guardian, The," 13. 
 Guarnerius Block, The, 289. 292. 
 Guamerius Head, The, 292. 
 Guarnerius, Joseph, 78. 
 Guarnerius, J. del Gesi, 23, 81. 
 Guarnerius Model, The, 282. 
 Guarnerius, P. A., 76. 
 Guarnerius, Peter, 78. 
 Guernsey, W., 16, 23- 
 Guitar-shaped Violins, 113. / 
 Gum Arabic, 325. 
 Gum Benzoic, 325. 
 Gum Lac in Varnishes, 172, 325. 
 Gum Mastic, 323. 
 Gum Tragacanth, 324. 
 
GENERAL INDEX. 
 
 361 
 
 Gams used for Yainish, 323. 
 
 Ssensel, J. A., 108. 
 
 Handle, The, 157. 
 
 Hairing a Bow, 99, 
 
 Hairless Bow, 39. 
 
 Half Back, 133. 
 
 Halliwell, J. 0., 2. 
 
 Handsome Wood, 230. 
 
 Harleian Miscellany, 4. 
 
 Harmonic Octaves, 206. 
 
 Harper's Monthly Magazine, 167. 
 
 Hart, <?., 23,69,165, 167, 208. 
 
 Haweis, Sen. H. B., 8, 129. 
 
 Hawkins, J. J., 108, 150. 
 
 Hawkins, Sir J., 6, 36. 
 
 Hay, 25. 
 
 Head, The, 157, 269. 
 
 Head, Carved, 165. 
 
 Head, Method of Copying the, 159. 
 
 Hebrew Lyre, The, 58. 
 
 Hebrews, 33. 
 
 Height of the Bridge, 161. 
 
 Height of the Sides, 143, 145. 
 
 HeU, F., 106. 
 
 Herbe, 88. 
 
 Heron-AUen,S., 29, 67. 
 
 Herveloix, C. d' 64. 
 
 "Hey Diddle Diddle," 1. 
 
 High and Low Bridge, Effect of, 161. 
 
 Hieroglyphics, 43. 
 
 Hill, Arthur, 94. 
 
 Hill, William Eb^worth, 84. 
 
 Hill's Mute, 198. 
 
 Hillmor, F.,107. 
 
 Hipkins, A. J., 67. 
 
 History, Pictorial, 30. 
 
 Historic Violin School, An, 348. 
 
 Hogarth, G., 17. 
 
 Hollow Glass Sound-Post, 152. 
 
 Hollowing out the Back, 247. 
 
 Hollowing out the Belly, 256. 
 
 Holmes, 0. W., 21. 
 
 Hood, Tom, 10. 
 
 Howell's Violin, 110, 112. 
 
 Hueffer, F., 8. 
 
 HuUah, J., 6, 16, 63. 
 
 Hulskam, P., 106. 
 
 " Humorous lAeutenant, The," 11. 
 
 " n Violino," 122. 
 Index to the Bibliographies, 357. 
 Indo-European Tribes, The, 45. 
 Influence of the// Holes on Tone, 156. 
 Influence of Length on a String, 204. 
 Influence of the Sound-Post on the Tone, 
 
 160. 
 Influence of Tension on a String, 205. 
 Influence of Thickness on a String, 205. 
 Influence of Weight on a String, 205. 
 Inlaid Fittings, 166. 
 Inlaid Violins, 165. 
 Insect Fiddlers, 16. 
 Inside Mould, The, 282. 
 Interior Capacity of the Fiddle, 144. 
 Invention, Order of, 71. 
 
 Iron Cramps, 220. 
 
 Isoard, 107. 
 
 Italian Works on the Violin, 334. 
 
 Jacobs (Amsterdam), 84, 163. 
 
 Jacque, The Eev. G., 110. 
 
 Jahn, 0., 17. 
 
 Janz4, Vicomte de, 126. 
 
 Jig, 51. 
 
 " John, Come, Sell thy Fiddle," 2. 
 
 Jointed Bows, 202. 
 
 Jones, E. 0., 1, 63. 
 
 Jonson, Ben, 56. 
 
 Jousoupof, Prince, 52. 
 
 Jubal, 33. 
 
 Judging Strings, 207. 
 
 Keeping Strings, 208. 
 
 Kemangeh, 40. 
 
 Kemangeh A'gouz, 31, 39. 
 
 Kerlino, J., 51, 71. 
 
 Kircher, A., 210. 
 
 Kissar, The, 68. 
 
 Klein-Geige, The, 49. 
 
 Klotz Family, The, 77, 145. 
 
 Klotz, M. 25. 
 
 Knight's Encyclopcedia, 16. 
 
 " Knight of the Burning Pestle, The," 13k 
 
 Knives for Violin-Making, 221. 
 
 Knots, 214. 
 
 Koliker, 51. 
 
 Kosegarten, J. G., 41. 
 
 Label, The, 251. 
 
 Lahorde, 61. 
 
 Lady Violinistes, 12. 
 
 Lafleur, J., 103. 
 
 " La Messie " Strad., 126. 
 
 Lavender, Oil of, 325. 
 
 Leather Violins, 106. 
 
 Leech, J., 11. 
 
 Legends, 16. 
 
 Leicester, Earl of, 6. 
 
 Length of the Bar, 153. 
 
 Lepsius, 43. 
 
 L'Estrange, Sir Soger, 4. 
 
 Levelling the Blocks and Klbs, 236. 
 
 Levelling the Bibs, 289. 
 
 " Le Violon de Faience," 105. 
 
 Lidel, 55. 
 
 Linarolli, V., 51, 52, 71. 
 
 "Lingua," 29. 
 
 Lining Chisel, 222. 
 
 Lining Clips, 225. 
 
 Liquid Bosin, 199. 
 
 List of Violin-Schools, 343. 
 
 Livron, M., 213. 
 
 Loffielgeige, The, 112. 
 
 Logwood, 324. • 
 
 Lotti, A., 14. 
 
 Lombardini, Signora Maddalena, 6. 
 
 Loop of Tail-piece, The, 303. 
 
 Loosening of the Glue, 311. 
 
 Lord Chesterfield, 3, 4. 
 
 Lott, John, 84, 170. 
 
 Lowering the Edges of the Fiddle, 243,. 
 
562 
 
 GENERAL INDEX. 
 
 Ijowering the " Wing " of they, 255. 
 
 Loumdes, 55. 
 
 " Loyal Observator, The," 4. 
 
 ^'LuietBUe,"124. 
 
 Lunn, S. C. 14. 
 
 Inpot, N., 82. 
 
 " I/iUhomonographie," 52, 153. 
 
 Lyres, Ancient, 58. 
 
 lyres with Bridges, 59. 
 
 Uachine Head for Violin, 188, 
 
 Mackintosh, 130. 
 
 Madder, 324; 
 
 Madoz, 43. 
 
 MafeiP. A., 35, m. 
 
 Maggini, P., 26, 73, 145, 163, 165. 
 
 Mailand, E., 186. 
 
 Making the Purfling, 264. 
 
 Mans, Sculpture at, 49. 
 
 Manufacture of Strings, 210, 
 
 Marais, 54. 
 
 Mariani, 73. 
 
 Marking-Point, The, 221. 
 
 Marking the j!/ Holes, 253. 
 
 Marking the Model of the Scroll, 2/2. 
 
 Marking the Outline, 290. 
 
 Marking the Outline of the Neck and 
 
 Scroll, 270. 
 Marking the Purfling, 262. 
 Marpwg, F. W., 55. 
 Marston, 63. 
 Masainger, P., 13. 
 Mass of Air in the Violin, 137, 145. 
 Materials of Pegs, 187. 
 Mathematically Drawn Outline, 136. 
 Maugin J. C. and Maigne, W. 131. 
 Maupertius, S. JB. de, 120. 
 Measurements of Bow Instruments, 126. 
 Measurements of Neck and Scroll, 158. 
 Medar, 8. 
 Medici, C. de, 53. 
 Meeson's Patent Bar, 164. 
 Mersennns, M., 49, 50, 93, 210. 
 Metal Violins, 105. 
 Method of Colouring Essences, 180. 
 Method of Copyingyy Holes, 155. 
 Method of Copying Head, 159. 
 Method of Copying Ontliu'e, 135. 
 Method of Covering Strings with Wire, 
 
 213. 
 Method of Detecting Adulterations of 
 
 Varnish, 179. 
 Method of Making an Outside Mould, 226. 
 Method of Preparing Bosin, 199. 
 " Mettre au Violon," 10. 
 Micali, 36. 
 Middteton, 3. 
 
 Minstrel's Gallery, Exeter Cathedral, 46. 
 Mirecourt Manufacture, The, 84, 
 Miremont's Patent Bar, 154. 
 Model, The, 135, 226. 
 Model of/ Hole, 254. 
 Model of SoroU, 269. 
 Modena, Barnabas de, 90. 
 Modem Instruments, 19, 82. 
 MoUenhauer, B. B., 112. 
 
 " Moniteur Universel," 118. 
 Monta|;nana, Dominic, 79. 
 Montaigne, 53. 
 Monteverde's Orfeo 63. 
 Moors, The, 42. 
 Morella, M., 71. 
 Morgan, Bishop, 33, 
 Morgan, John, 65. 
 Morley, Rev. C., 175. 
 Mozart, W. A., 17. 
 Miiller, Carl, 31. 
 Muntz, E., 35. 
 Mmiz, G. B. M., 19. 
 Musical Review, 67. 
 Mmical Standard, 12, 15. 
 " Musurgiana," 112. 
 Mute, The, 198. 
 Myrrh, 326. 
 Mysterious Mute, The, 198. 
 
 Nagelgeige, 109. 
 
 Nafl- Violin, The, 109. 
 
 Napoleon, Lncien, 36. 
 
 Narrow Slab, Remedy for, 290 
 
 Neapolitan Strings, 209. 
 
 Neck, The, 157, 27T. 
 
 Neck and Scroll, Tbe, 269, 292. 
 
 Neck, Fitting_Df,t!]ie^l48. 
 
 Necki-Fnfiotions of the,"157. 
 
 Neck Guide, 280. 
 
 Neck, Proportions of, 157, 158. 
 
 Neck, Setting of, 157. 
 
 Nefer, The, 42. 
 
 Nefru, The, 42. 
 
 Nettleship, H., 34. 
 
 Nero, 8. 
 
 New Instruments, 19. 
 
 New Neck, Fitting a, 312, 316. 
 
 New Necks on Old Instruments, 159. 
 
 "Nibelungenlied," Das, 216. 
 
 Nicholson, Dr. J., 102, 154. 
 
 Niederheitmann, 169. 
 
 Niasen, G. R. de, 17. 
 
 Nof re, The, 42. 
 
 Normal Tones of Back and Belly, 133. 
 
 Norman, Barak, 83, 165. 
 
 Notes and Queries, 10. 
 
 Notre Dame de Chartres, 46. 
 
 Nursery Rhymes, 1. 
 
 Nat, The, 190, 298. 
 
 Nut of the Bow, The, 92, 93, 97. 
 
 Object of Purfling, 164. 
 
 Oblong Steel Plane, 225. 
 
 Octave, Production of the, 205. 
 
 Odd Volumes, The, 29. 
 
 Oil Varnish versus Spirit Varnish, 176. 
 
 " Old King Cole," 2. 
 
 Old Necks, 159. 
 
 Old Recipes for Varnish, 173. 
 
 Old Testament Viols, 33. 
 
 Ole Bull, 167. 
 
 Ole BuU's Chin Rest, 196. 
 
 Omerti, The, 38. 
 
 Opoponax, 326. 
 
 Oporinus, J., 53. 
 
GENERAL INDEX. 
 
 363 
 
 Orfeo (MonteTerde), 63. 
 
 Oriental Bows, 39. 
 
 Orchestra and Choir, 12, 22. 
 
 Ornamental Furfiing, 165. 
 
 Ornamentation of Bridge, 161, 163. 
 
 Ornamentation of Yiolina, 161. 
 
 Orpiment, 324. 
 
 Osirtasen, I., 58. 
 
 Ott, 51. 
 
 Ottey, Urs. Sarah, 54. 
 
 Otto, J, A., 16, 20, 102, 129, 149, 199, 208. 
 
 Otuel^,air W.,iO. 
 
 Outline, 135. 
 
 Outline Models, 227. 
 
 Outline of Scroll, 269. 
 
 Outline, Tracing the, 240. 
 
 Outside Mould, The, 226. 
 
 Oval Planes, 222. 
 
 Oxidising Essences, 181. 
 
 Fadnan Strings, 209. 
 
 PaganinL N., 16, 23, 37, 81, 101. 
 
 Paganini s Guarnerius, 23. 
 
 Paganini Eedivivus, 15. 
 
 Painted Violins, 73, 166. 
 
 Pall MaU Gazette, 19. 
 
 Panormo, L., 103. 
 
 Panormo, Ymcenzo, 82. 
 
 Paper lined Sides, 146. 
 
 Papier m^h^ Cases, 202. 
 
 Papier m4ch6 Violin, 106. 
 
 Parke, W., 4, 7. 14, 18, 20, 22, 26, 203. 
 
 Parnassus, The, 35. 
 
 Parts of the Violin, The, 70, 125. 
 
 Paasavant, 36. 
 
 Patent Bars, 154. 
 
 Patent Bows, 101. 
 
 Patent Pegs, 112, 188. 
 
 Patent Bepairs, 120. 
 
 Paul Veronese, 36. 
 
 Payne, B. J., 65. 
 
 Pearce, J., 121. 
 
 Pear-shaped Violin, The, 106. 
 
 Pegs, The, 187, 300. 
 
 Peg-Box, The, 275. 
 
 Peg-Box, Cutting out the, 316. 
 
 Peg-Fittter, The, 300. 
 
 Peg-Hole Borer, The, 300. 
 
 Peg-Hole Fhiisher, 300. 
 
 Peg to Ensure Firmness, 189. 
 
 Peg-Turner, The, 201. 
 
 Pegs or Points, The, 164, 263. 
 
 Pepys, Samuel, 16. 
 
 Pera, The, 60. 
 
 Perfect Fifth, 207. 
 
 Perforated Sound-Post, 152. 
 
 Persia, 40. 
 
 Peterborough Cathedral, Paintings at, 31. 
 
 Petizeau's Sound-Post, 152. 
 
 Pictorial History, 30, 92. 
 
 Pinto, 4. 
 
 Pistolesi, E., 36, 69. 
 
 Planing the Arching of the Tables, 242. 
 
 Planing the Hollowing of the Back, 248. 
 
 Planing the Hollowing of the Belly, 256. 
 
 Plato, 32. 
 
 Playford, J., 56, 348 
 
 Plectrum, The, 34. 
 
 Plutarch, 6. 
 
 Poohe, The, 60. 
 
 Points, The, 164. 
 
 Poiaot, J., 8. 
 
 Polish Viol, 47. 
 
 Polishing the Varnish, 296. 
 
 Poole, R. L., 18. 
 
 Porta, B., 209. 
 
 Porter, T., m. 
 
 Position of the Bridge, 162. 
 
 Position of// Holes, 254. 
 
 Position of the Finger-Board, 190 . 
 
 Position of the Sound-Bar, 258. 
 
 Potier, 46, 90. 
 
 Powdered Glass Used in Varnishes, 170. 
 
 Prmtorius, M., 66, 93. 
 
 Premature Aging, 143. 
 
 Preparation of Bosin, 199. 
 
 Preparation of Varnishes, 181, 184. 
 
 Preparation of Woods, \is. 
 
 Preserratlou of Strings, 208. 
 
 Preservation of the Violin, 201, 326. 
 
 Pressure on the Bridge, 126, 161. 
 
 Prices of Tourte's Bows, 95. 
 
 Prices of Violins, 24, 25, 26. 
 
 Prince of Wales, H.B.H., 7. 
 
 Prinz, 107. 
 
 Processes of Manufacturing Strings, 210 
 
 Progress of the Viols, 66. 
 
 Proportions of Neck, 157, 158, 
 
 Psalterium, The, 33. 
 
 Punching the// Holes, 266. 
 
 Purcell, 64. 
 
 Purfling, The, 163, 262. 
 
 Purfling Chisel, 225. 
 
 Purfling, Composition of, 163, 
 
 Purfling Gauge, The, 224. 
 
 Purfling in the Corners, 262. 
 
 Puttmg a New Neck to a Piddle, 312. 
 
 Queen Elizabeth, 5. 
 
 Rabel, The, 41. . 
 
 BaffaeUe, 36, 90, 91. 
 
 Raising the Edge, 266. 
 
 Eaising the Wing of the/Hole, 258, 261. 
 
 Eavana, King of Ceylon, 38. 
 
 Eavanastron, The, 37, 38. 
 
 iJe»rfe,C., 19, 52,71, 168. 
 
 Relation Between Back and Belly, 132. 
 
 Eeaaon of the Shape of the Violin, 127. 
 
 Eebab, The, 41. 
 
 Eebab Esh-Sha'er, The, 40, 41. 
 
 Eebeo, The, 9, 46, 47, 60, 61. 
 
 Recipes for Varnish, 183, 
 
 Red Hair for Bows, 102. 
 
 Re-Hairing a Bow, 99. 
 
 Removing the Belly, 306. 
 
 Repairs, 306. 
 
 Requisites of Varnish, 176. 
 
 Resins Used for Varnish, 323. 
 
 Rest, The, 196, 267. 
 
 Reversed Scroll (Chanot), The, 116. 
 
 Ribs, The, 285, 287. 
 
364 
 
 GENERAL INDEX. 
 
 Eimbanlt, Dr., 6S. 
 
 Bobertson, J., 110. 
 
 " Boi des Violons, Le," 49. 
 
 Boman Bows, 86. 
 
 Boman Colonies, CO. 
 
 Boman Lyres, ^e, SSj 60. 
 
 Boman Strings, 209. 
 
 Bosewood Pegs; 188. 
 
 Bosin, The, 100, 198. 
 
 Rosin, Action of, 206. 
 
 Bote, The, 62. 
 
 Botta, The, 61. 
 
 Bouen Cathedral, Sculpture at, 90. 
 
 Bounding the Edges of the Fiddle, 268. 
 
 Rousseau, J„ 34, 213. 
 
 Bowbyhle, The. 9. 
 
 Bubebe, The,9,47. 
 
 Eubible.The, 9. 
 
 Buffini, Andrea, 209. 
 
 Buggieri, F., 77. 
 
 Ruhmann, </., 62, 87. 
 
 Bules, Measuring, 220. 
 
 Bussia, 41. 
 
 Bnssian Violins, 113. 
 
 Boyal Violinists, 3, 
 
 St. Blasius, 44, 46, 61. 
 
 St. Cecilia, 91. 
 
 St. Denis, Sculpture at, 88. 
 
 St. Georges de Boscherville, 46. 
 
 St. G^odehard of Hildesheim, 90. 
 
 St. Martial de Iiimoges, 61. 
 
 Saffron, 323. 
 
 Sales of Violins, 25, 26. 
 
 Salo G. da, 53, 71, 167. 
 
 Sandal-Wood, 323. 
 
 Sandaraoh, 175, 325. 
 
 Sand-papering the Tables, 267. 
 
 Sandys and Forster, 31, 66. 
 
 Santiago de Compostella, 4G. 
 
 Savart, F., 108, 118, 153, 162, 177, 
 
 Savart, F., 119, 128. 
 
 Savart's iE&periments, 150. 
 
 SchachtJWr, J. A., 17. 
 
 Schlichtegroll, .4. H. F., 17. 
 
 Schlick, 129. 
 
 Schubert, 18. 
 
 Scooping out the Back, 247. 
 
 Scooping out the Belly, 256. 
 
 Scrapers, 220. 
 
 Scraping the Arching of the Tables, 244. 
 
 Scraping the Hollowing of the Back, 218. 
 
 Soribonia Gens, The, 35. 
 
 Scriptural Viols, 33. 
 
 ScroU, The, 157, 269, 
 
 Scroll, Method of Copying, 159. 
 
 Scroll, Bevereed, 116. 
 
 Seasoning Wood, 129. 
 
 Self-hairing Bow, 101. 
 
 Senal, 109. 
 
 Seraphino, Sanctus, 79, 166, 
 
 Sets of Viols, 66. 
 
 Setting of N^ck, 157. 
 
 Setting-up the Bridge, 304. 
 
 Setting up the Sound-Post, 303. 
 
 Seventy Parts of the Violin, The, 125 
 
 Shape of the Violin, Beasons for, 127 
 
 Shaping the Blocks, 235, 289, 292. 
 
 Shaping the Neck, 277. 
 
 Shaping the Nut, 298. 
 
 Shaping the Sound-Bar, 259. 
 
 Sharpening Steel, 221. 
 
 Shift, The, 66. 
 
 Shifting the Sound-Post, 151. 
 
 Shoulder, The, 277. 
 
 SiHre, I'Abbe, 83, 128, 145, 176, 191. 
 
 Sides, The, 143, 230, 285, 287. 
 
 Sides, Height of the, 143, 145. 
 
 Side-Linings, The, 148, 236, 289. 
 
 Silk Strings, 214. 
 
 SimoiUre, N., 20, 128, 131. 
 
 Simple Form of Chin-rest, 197. 
 
 Simpson, C, 54, 93. 
 
 Sinclair's Triangular Violins, 103. 
 
 Single Violin Case, 201. 
 
 Size of //Holes, 167. 
 
 Sizing the Blocks, 249. 
 
 Sizing the Wood, 178, 294. 
 
 Slab Back, The, 133. 
 
 Smoothing the Sides, 231. 
 
 Sonnerat, 38. 
 
 Sordino, 50. 
 
 Sound-Bar, The, 152, 253. 
 
 Sound-Bar Clips, 223. 
 
 Sound-Bar Cramps, 224. 
 
 Sound-Bar, Patents Attempted, 154. 
 
 Soundness of the Wood, 131. 
 
 Sound-Post, The, 149, 303. 
 
 Sound-Post, Experiments with the, 150. 
 
 Sound-Post, Fitting the, 149. 
 
 Sound-Post, Functions of the, 151. 
 
 Sourdine Pedale, Vuillaume's, 194. 
 
 South Kensington Museum, 5, 50, 54, 56, 
 
 65,101,109. 
 Spanish Colonies, 42. 
 Special Exhibition of 1872, The, 51, 166. 
 Spirit Varnish, Inferiority of, 176. 
 Splicing a Head on a Neck, 312. 
 Split Block, 312. 
 Split Corners, 308. 
 Split Edges, 309. 
 
 Splitting off Slips of the Outline, 242, 309. 
 Spohr's Chin-rest, 196. 
 Spohr's Finger-Board, 191. 
 Spohr's Patent Tail-Piece, 192. 
 Spoon-Fiddle, The, 112. 
 Spring Compasses, 222. 
 Stained Finger-Boards, 191. 
 Staining the Fiddle, 294. 
 Stainer, J., 24, 75. 
 Stainer, J., 34. 
 Statelmann, 77. 
 Steaming Wood, 129. 
 Steel Plane, 225. 
 Stephens, J., 9. 
 Stephenson, E., 22. 
 Storing Wood for Violin-making, 134. 
 Storioni Lorenzo, 82. 
 Stradivari, Antonio, 77, 114, 129, 163, 165. 
 Stradivarian Blocks, 147, 238, 289. 
 Stradivarian Pegs, 264. 
 Stradivari Francisco and Omobono, 80. 
 
GENERAL INDEX. 
 
 365 
 
 Strings. 19> 20, 203, 304. 
 String Boxes, 200. 
 String Gauges, 199. 
 String "Sticking," 162. 
 Strings, Tension on the, 126. 
 Stringing up the Violin, 214. 
 iStrutt, J., iS, 88, 90. 
 Stuttaford's Patent Peg, 190. 
 Stuttaford's Patent Tail-Piece, 195. 
 Stuttafoid's Spherical Bosin, 199. 
 Superiority of Italian Strings, 209. 
 "Snrcouche,"128, 133, 
 
 "Surmaille,''128, 133. 
 
 Swedish Work on the Violin, 343. 
 
 Tables, The, 240. 
 
 Tables, The (Guamerius), 290. 
 
 Tables of Violin-makers, 69. 
 
 Tail-Piece, The, 192, 303. 
 
 Tail-Piece, Loop of the, 303. 
 
 Tail-Pin, The, 147, 195, 302. 
 
 Tail-Pin Hole, 252. 
 
 Taking off the Belly, 306. 
 
 Taking out the (inside) Mould, 292. 
 
 Tarisio, L., 26. 
 
 Tartini, G., 6. 
 
 Tension on the Strings, 126, 204. 
 
 Testator of Milan, 52. 
 
 Tests for False Strings, 206. 
 
 Tests for Straightness in Fitting the 
 
 Neck, 278. 
 Teeo, Z., 35, 86. 
 Themistocles, 6. 
 Thicknesses of Seasoned Back and Belly 
 
 142. 
 Thicknesses of Tables, 140. 
 Thicknesses of the Back, 247, 248. 
 Thicknesses of the Belly, 257. 
 Thickness of the Neck, 280. 
 Thinning out the Wood, 141. 
 Three-stringed Crwth, 61. 
 Tilton's Patent Bar, 154. 
 Time to Prepare Varnishes, 182. 
 Times, The, 15, 24, 25, 26. 
 Titian, 36. 
 
 Tone-production, 20, 204. 
 Tools, The, 219. 
 Toothed Plane, The, 220. 
 Toulmont, B. de, 32, 65. 
 Tourte, the Elder, 94, 98. 
 Tourte, the Younger, 94, 95. 
 Tracing the Outline, 240. 
 Trager, 109. 
 
 "Transition Period, The," 21. 
 Trapezoid Violin, 118. 
 Trautmannsdorf, Count, 24. 
 Traveller's Violin, The, 112. 
 Treble Violin, The, 349. 
 Trick-playing, 13, 14. 
 Trigonon, The, 44. 
 Trumpet Violin, 106. 
 True and False Strings, 206. 
 " Truth and Loyalty Vindicated,'' 4. 
 Truth of a String, 206. 
 Tubbs, J., 98, 103. 
 Tuning the Viol da gamba, Method of, 56. 
 
 I Tuning Forks, 200. 
 Tuning-up, 13. 
 Turkey, 39. 
 
 Ungluing of the Fiddle, 311. 
 Ungluing of the Tables, 308. 
 Upper and Lower Bouts, The, 288. 
 Urheen, The Chinese, 39, 101. 
 
 Valdrighi, Cotint L. F., 112. 
 
 Valeriana, 35. 
 
 Varnish, The, 168. 
 
 Varnishing, 294. 
 
 Varnishing Repairs, 318. 
 
 Vatican, The, 90. 
 
 Venantius Fortunatus, 63. 
 
 Veneered Finger-Boards, 191. 
 
 Veneering in New Wood, 310. 
 
 Venetian Turpentine, 323. 
 
 Veronese, Paul, 36, 91. 
 
 Veronese Strings, 209. 
 
 Vibrations of Strings, 204. 
 
 Vidal, A., 35, 36, 52, 53, 90, 126. 
 
 Vigenere, B. de, 35. 
 
 VUlemarque, H, de la, 65. 
 
 Vincenti, 107. 
 
 "Violalin, The," 107. 
 
 Viola da Gamba, 54. 
 
 Viola da Gamba, Method of Tuning, 65. 
 
 Viola di Bordone, 55. 
 
 Viola, Measurements of, 126. 
 
 Viol-bridges, 160. 
 
 Violin, The, Defined, 104. 
 
 Violin Cases, 201. 
 
 Violin Collecting, 22. 
 
 Violin, Genealogy of the, 68. 
 
 Violin-makers, Tables of, 69. 
 
 Violin-making Tools, 219. 
 
 Violin, Measurements of the, 126. 
 
 Violms, The Seventy Parts of the, 125. 
 
 Violin Screws, 223. 
 
 Violin Strings, 203. 
 
 Violin with no Back, 108. 
 
 Violins without Blocks and Linings, 147. 
 
 Violinistes, Female 6. 
 
 Violin Tutors, Catalogue of, 343. 
 
 Violoncello, Measurements of, 126. 
 
 "Violon-Gen^ral, The," 107. 
 
 " Violon, Mettre au," 10. 
 
 " Violon-Tenor, The," 108. 
 
 Viols, The, 4, 51, 52. 
 
 Viols^ Sets of, 66. 
 
 Virgil, 34. 
 
 Vivaldi, 94. 
 
 Vuillaume, J. B., 52, 83, 101, 108, 129 , 145, 
 
 167, 199. 
 VuUlaume's Patent Tail-Piece, 193. 
 
 Wales, Prince of, 7. 
 Walker's Patent Bar, 154. 
 WaUis's Patent Peg, 188. 
 Walmsley, Peter, 83, 114, 143 163. 
 Weber, Franz Anton, 7. 
 Weickert (of Halle), 121. 
 Weight on the Bridge, 126. 
 Welsh Crwth, The, 58. 
 
366 
 
 GENERAL INDEX. 
 
 Wenzl, 17. 
 
 Wettengel, G. A., 107. 
 
 Whole Back, The, 133, 285. 
 
 Wholesale Fiddle ManxdactuTe, 84. 
 
 Wieniawski, 25. : 
 
 WUde, J., 109. 
 
 Wilkins, 198. 
 
 Wilkinson, Sir G., 43, 68. 
 
 Willemin, If. X., 61. 
 
 Wilson, Gavin, 106. 
 
 Wing of the / Hole' 258, 261. 
 
 Wire-covered Strings, 213. 
 
 Withalm, 77. 
 
 Withers, B., 84. 
 
 Withers, G., 101. 
 
 " Wolf-notes," 149. 
 
 Wood, Anthony &, 4, 348. 
 
 Wood, Danger of Handsome, 230. 
 
 Wood for Back and Belly, 128. 
 
 Wood for the Bar, 153. 
 
 Wood for Yiolin-makiug, 127, 133. 
 
 Wood for Violin-making, ho w stored, 134, 
 
 Woolhmse, 8. B., 98. 
 
 Worcester Cathedral, Sculpture at, 68. 
 
 Workshop, The Violin-maker's, 219. 
 
 Wynne Finch, W. G., 65. 
 
 Youssoupow, Prince, 52, 152. 
 
 Zacconi, 54. 
 
 Zahn, 176. 
 
 Zanetto, P., 71. 
 
 Zebrowski's Patent Bridge and Mute, 194. 
 
 Zebrowski's Ohiu-resi, 196. 
 
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