Of old wood and varnish: peering into the can of worms
CY Barlow, Jim Woodhouse · 1989
Violin varnish, for the moment using the word loosely to signify all substances applied to the wood of a finished instrument, exerts a widespread fascination. Makers aspire to find ways of giving new instruments something of the appearance of the classic Italians, and the general public has somehow got the odd notion that varnish in itself accounts for the unique esteem in