ework than that employed in the virginal, a series of
braces are attached to the floor. These are connected to the lining by
several diagonal braces (fig. 9). This produces a remarkably strong but
very light structure. The keys (not shown) are of more constant length
than those of the virginal; therefore, the touch is much more uniform.

[Illustration: Figure 9.--FRAMEWORK OF HARPSICHORD. A, wrest plank; B,
belly rail; C, rib; D, bottom brace; E, diagonal brace; F, knee; G,
lining. Scale, 1:8.]

[Illustration: Figure 10.--LAYOUT OF HARPSICHORD SOUNDBOARD. Scale,
1:8.]

The wrest plank is supported by two end blocks, against which the
partition behind the action (called the belly rail) is also placed. The
soundboard is glued to the top of the belly rail. The wrest plank is
veneered with cypress, giving the appearance that the soundboard extends
over it. The jack guides also rest on the end blocks in the space
between the wrest plank and the belly rail. Figures 8 and 11 clarify the
arrangement of these structural features.

Figure 10 shows the layout of ribs, bridges, and strings on the
soundboard. The soundboard is about 1/8" thick. The bridge on the wrest
plank tapers in height from 3/8" in the treble to 7/16" in the bass and
in width from 5/16" to 7/16". The soundboard bridge measures about 3/8"
by 1/4" and has virtually no taper. The soundboard does not have a rose,
although that decorative device is fairly common on Italian
harpsichords.

The jack guides are built up of spacer blocks held together by thin
strips along the sides. There is now no provision for moving the guides,
although plugged-up holes visible in the right end of each guide suggest
that they originally could be disengaged. In Italian harpsichords
generally, the jack guides were controlled by knobs projecting through
the sides of the case. Sometimes these harpsichords had levers pivoted
on the wrest plank and attached to the guides. The Ridolfi case has not
been patched and there are no holes in the wrest plank where levers
could have been attached; so, the guides probably were not intended to
be movable.

The jacks are simple slips of walnut measuring about 3/16" by 7/16" by
3-1/8". The arrangement of the tongue, spring, plectrum, and damper are
shown in figure 11. The dampers are small pieces of buckskin held in
slots at the tops of the jacks. The plectra, perhaps not original, are
of leather. Of course, there are no adjusting screws or capst