Much of the good quality attached to Italian instruments has been attributed to the beautiful and dry air of Italy. Now that Italy has beautiful air no one can deny, that is, while not standing in the streets of some of the most interesting cities therein, but that it is dry generally is perhaps going beyond the mark; remember it is a very mountainous place with some exceptional portions, this may be easily verified by a glance over a good map of the place, or better, a tour by railway from the northern provinces down as far as Naples. Knowledge is fairly general as to mountainous districts, much more than plains, being the localities where rain is most frequent, the more or less saturation of the atmosphere following as a matter of course.
But let Italian fiddles speak for themselves, otherwise than through the medium of gut strings. The first makers of violins in Brescia used no side linings, but trusted to the most excellent quality of their glue for holding back and front to the ribs. That their trust was not misplaced in many instances is proved by the work in its primitive condition remaining intact to the present day. With the rise of the Cremonese school, delicacy in treatment of detail became fashionable; makers found that in order to give expression to their ideas in as many particulars as possible over the work, especially in respect of refinement in the curving of the ribs, less thickness of wood in these parts would have to be used, especially when of very decided curl; but this would not hold well except in the driest districts. The system was then introduced of using the thin slips of wood running from block to block; the thickness of these, although slight, added to the thin substance of the rib, allowed a better holding power to back and front.
The fact is here evident that the glue, of exceeding good quality—and that it was so will be corroborated by all repairers who have had to do with the old Italian instruments—was too easily affected by the damp of the atmosphere.
Further evidence frequently turns up among the great numbers of old Italian instruments gathered from all sorts of places, of the efforts at combating the effects of damp. Some of the means adopted by various repairers, apparently in the smaller towns—judging by the bad, even extraordinary woods used—have been very curious, many interesting, others primitive, even stupid. At about the same time the Amatis were introducing the use of side-linings, Giov. Maggini was trying other means of preventing the parting of the upper and lower tables from the ribs by damp. A method he adopted, and which many later makers imitated—if it did not occur to them spontaneously—was by cutting a groove all round and inserting the ribs. It will be obvious from this that no linings were used in these instances. That his efforts were not followed by success may be concluded from the fact that he did not persevere with the system. The simple method of his master was fallen back upon and thicker ribs placed in position. When we come across one of those grooved tables it will probably be found—as might have been anticipated by Maggini had he known beforehand of the course to be taken by his art, which was at the time almost a local one—that a repairer has at one time thought it necessary to lift the ribs from one or the other plate, and almost, of course, bungled over it. This will be seen in the irregularity of the fitting of the ribs, which have been ruthlessly cut or torn out of the groove, some portions being left in. Taking them out was found to be unprofitable work, with a general result of a wretched wreck remaining, instead of the whole original being there but shifted a little, from the glue losing its hold while perishing from the action of moisture.
CHAPTER IX.
THE GLUE USED BY THE EARLY ITALIAN MAKERS—INSERTION OF PIECES OF WOOD FOR REPAIRING LOST PARTS—REPLACING LOST RIB AND REPAIRING INTERIOR WITHOUT OPENING WHEN POSSIBLE—SECURING LOOSE LOWER RIB TO END BLOCK—DIFFERENT METHODS—TREATMENT OF WORM-HOLES—FIXING ON GRAFT ON NECK.
Here, before proceeding further, it may be as well to call attention to the kind of damage done by the atmosphere. We speak of the glue perishing. Under most circumstances this will not occur, but under exceptional ones it will. If good in the first instance, it will be perfectly sound and strong as ever at the end of three hundred years. I have found this to be so in the work of Gasparo da Salo and his pupil, Giovanni Paolo Maggini, besides other makers nearly contemporary. What particular kind of glue they used I am unable to say, possibly they did not know very much more themselves beyond what they believed was the best obtainable in their day and city. When the perishing has occurred there must have been very much moisture in the atmosphere of the locality in which the violin rested for some time, as the best glue will absorb the most moisture before losing its firmness, or power of adherence. Prolonged exposure to damp allows chemical change to take place and then all adhesive quality is lost; when dry air afterwards attacks it, the parts of the instrument that should have been held firmly together are released, with results that may be serious in degree according to the position of the part affected.
To continue the consideration of the repair of a violin that has been constructed with grooves for holding the ribs. A long and troublesome piece of work would be the loosening and taking away of the fragments of rib inserted in the groove and cut away by some repairer from the rest or standing rib; it is therefore preferable in ordinary and neat repairing to clear the parts that may be ragged or begrimed, firstly, by washing with a stiff brush of appropriate size and wiping with a clean cotton rag repeatedly; when the rag ceases to be soiled or discoloured after wiping, the parts may be taken as fairly clean. A sharp knife will take off any projections that may be prominent and prevent the proper placing of the rib in position; if the irregularities give indication of fitting well, the parts may have at their approaching edges a touching with strong, hot glue, and the cramps with protection applied as before for other joinings.
The probabilities, however, are, that through bad treatment, added to wear and tear, the parts will not fit under any circumstances, then the only course will be to make an even surface at the part broken away, and then fit a piece of fresh wood therein. If the aperture made is not of large extent and not wide, or more than the thickness of an average piece of veneer is required, then the fresh wood need not be bent, but cut neatly for fitting, and after glueing, as usual, slipped in with a part projecting beyond the surrounding surface. When quite dry it may be pared down carefully with a sharp knife, or if not manageable on the curve of the rib, a chisel of size according to the amount of room; being a narrow slip, after the colouring down and varnishing has taken place, it will be but slightly noticeable. The same treatment can, of course, be adopted for either upper or lower part of the rib; the middle rib position will give the most trouble, owing to its concavity, but care and patience will overcome the difficulties of the situation. Should there have happened an accident by which a hole of some extent is rent in the ribs—either upper, lower, or middle—it is not absolutely necessary that the instrument be opened to accomplish the repair; bear in mind the advice given before, not to open a violin which has been in good going order if the repair can be effected without.