This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1914 Excerpt: ... 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 ...
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This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1914 Excerpt: ... 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 way 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 varnishing, 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 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 por...
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All Editions of Violin-Making, as It Was and Is: Being a Historical, Theoretical, and Practical Treatise on the Science and Art of Violin-Making, for the Use of Violin Makers and Players, Amateur and Professional. Preceded by an Essay on the Violin and Its Position