Joseph Guarnerius Violin
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 Violin 4 4 Joseph Guarnerius feeit Cremonae anno 1742 Handmade Jay Haide  US $2,250.00
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 CHRISTIES MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS 7 14 04 US $19.99
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 Full Size Violin Plan Plans Details 24 X 36 2 Pages US $29.99
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 Authentic German violin labeled Italian Guarnerius tiger maple fine stamped bow US $2,495.00
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 A Very Fine Italian Violin by Joseph Guarneri del Gesu 1718 Original Condition US $5,000,000.00
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I have had under my bands about thirty Cremonese instruments, which were of the following makers. The oldest were made by Hieronymus Amati, at the beginning of the seventeenth century. After him came Antonius Amati, about the middle of the same century. Then followed Nicolas Amati, towards the end of the same. To these must be added Antonius Straduarius, of Cremona, who flourished during the same epoch as the above, and after them Joseph Guarnerius, at the commencement of the eighteenth century. All their instruments were constructed after the simplest rules of mathematics, and the six which came into my possession unspoilt, were made after the following proportions.
The belly was the thickest where the bridge rests, then it reduced about a third at that part where the f holes are cut, and, where the belly rests on the sides, it was half as thick as in the middle. The same proportion is observed in the length. The thickness is the same all along that part on which the bass bar was fixed; from thence to the upper and under end blocks the thickness decreases by half, so that the cheeks were three quarters of the thickness of the breast, and the edges all round only one-half. These dimensions impart a full, powerful, and sonorous tone. I shall not lay down exact dimensions to the smallest fraction of an inch, (which however is the plan that I adopt for my own calculations,) of the height and particular fall of the model, and the respective differences of thickness of wood in all the parts of the belly and the back. I am not writing for the instruction of craftsmen, or for those repairers who are not able to manufacture a Violin. It is for the use of Professors and Amateurs that I have compiled this information, to impart some idea of the correct proportions, in general, of a good Violin
The back is constructed to much the same proportions as the belly, and is, generally, rather stronger in wood. I studied music for three years under the late Mr. Ernst, Concert-Director at Gotha, and also, several years under the same master, the construction of the most superior instruments, the proportions of which I measured and calculated with the greatest accuracy. Mr. Ernst was well known as a maker of fine instruments, which in a few years approached very near to the Cremonese, if they had had the good fortune to escape falling into the hands of philistines.Hieronymus Amati, whose Violins are the oldest, used the most beautiful maple, which has a very strong full figure, and as far I can learn, the greater part of his backs are made in one piece only. The figure runs from the left to the right side, somewhat sloping. The form of his Violin is large, and decreases in a very elegant manner towards each edge. The edges are very obtuse, and do not overlap much on the sides on the back. This gives it a very elegant appearance. The edges of the back are very strong and beautifully rounded. The purfling is, as in all Italian instruments, rather wide, which gives it an appearance of the finest and most perfect construction.
The model is not quite as flat as that of Stradivarius, but somewhat thicker. It swells so gradually and beautifully from the purfling to the middle of the back that no one would suppose that, flat as they appear to the eye, the middle part of the model was an inch higher than at the edge of the back. The sides are made of the finest, fullest maple wood, and are not placed at exactly 90 degrees between the back and the belly, but describe an angle of 100 degrees, the angle commencing at the back. This gives it a very elegant appearance. The edges of the D's are very obtuse, and overlap very little on the upper and under sides. The sides on the interior part are finished with linings of red deal, a quarter of an inch thick, placed quite close to the back and the belly; the four corners of the D's are augmented with triangular blocks of red deal an inch and a half broad, which are so disposed on the D's, that the interior of the Violin presents the appearance of an Italian Guitar. The easy guitar song however cannot match the tone of the violin. The upper end, where the neck terminates, is furnished with a block of red deal, of semicircular form;
It describes a graceful curve from the sides to the middle of the block, where it is three quarters of an inch in thickness. A similar block is fitted to the under end, close to the button, to which the tail-piece is secured. The belly is made of excellent red deal, of a regular and not too strong a bate, or grain, and very uniform in figure, both in the centre and at the sides. The back has the same model or swell as the belly. The / holes are beautifully shaped and lie pretty close to each other in such a manner that the space between the upper round turns of the f is exactly the breadth of the bridge. Moreover, these holes are not of too great a width, and taper off very small at both the upper and under round turns. The edges and purfling is the same as on the back. The neck is made of the same beautifully-figured maple as the back, and the cheeks and the screw-box are strong and perfect. In the scroll, which is rounded with the greatest nicety, the two inner circles or turns are very broad, which is, indisputably, the most graceful form that can be perceived in a Violin.
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