Related Information
Fore-edge painting is the practice of painting a scene or images on the fore (and/or other edges) of a book. It is an art form with a long history, and one that is gaining in popularity again thanks to BookTok and social media inspiring readers and hardcore fans to add artistic embellishment to their favorite books.
ABAA-member Jeff Weber is one of the foremost experts on fore-edge paintings. His article, “A Collector’s Primer to the Wonders of Fore-Edge Painting” is an excellent introduction to this fascinating area:
“The typical form is a book with a single fanned fore-edge painting. In the twentieth century other forms have developed, including the double fore-edge or even the remarkable six-way painting where all three sides of the book have a double.
A double fore-edge painting is seen by first fanning the book one way (say, to the right), and then close the book and fan it the opposite way (to the left). If the artist painted on the top and bottom outer edge of the paper, then a painting will appear when fanned either way.
Other forms include the side-by-side painting (two scenes on the single edge), the split-double (splits the book in half and shows a scene on each fanned side (half-way up the book edge). There is the vertical painting which is found on occasion.
The fanned single edge painting is the most common form. When the book is closed the painting disappears! This is because the all gilt-edged treated book will hide a painting which is actually painted on the upper (or lower) rim of the paper. Some books have a fore-edge painting on the closed edge of the book.”
Learn more about the history of fore-edge painting in Jeff Weber's Catalogs 317, 281, or read his book, An Annotated Dictionary of Fore-edge Painting Artists & Binders (2010)...
Browse the hashtag #foreedgepainting on Instagram to view the contemporary fashion for fore-edge paintings...
Some examples of fore-edge painting:
[Edwards of Halifax]. John WATSON (1737-1816).
The History and Antiquities of the Parish of Halifax in Yorkshire.
London: T. Lowndes, 1775. Quarto. [iii]-vi, [v]-vi, 764, [10] pp. Dedication [a1] supplied in duplicate. 10 engraved plates (some folding); pencil annotations, somewhat foxed, some offsetting. Original Etruscan calf binding by Edwards of Halifax, elaborately decorated in black- and gilt, featuring palmette and Greek-key and pointelle roll patterns, spine decorated in gilt with five bands and gilt-lettered black morocco spine label, single gilt roll to edges, inner dentelles decorated with Greek meander design in gilt, all edges gilt, later marbled endpapers; neatly rebacked with original spine laid down, some edgewear, corners refreshed, some retooling, somewhat rubbed and worn. Red gilt-stamped leather book label of Estelle Doheny.
Internally generally clean and tight. extensive early ink annotations with and additional note of introduction to the front blank recto and additionally signed, "The Manuscript Notes in this copy are by Dr. Whitaker. Copied by Thomas Turner," Housed in cream linen clamshell case backed in natural morocco with black morocco spine label lettered in gilt and five raised bands to spine.
With a splendid contemporary fore-edge painting depicting “THE SOUTH EAST VIEW OF HALIFAX IN YORKSHIRE,” after an engraved plate (page 1) by Mazell, drawn by Williams. This is one of the rare bird’s-eye views of Halifax that Edwards produced, of their hometown.
Bernard Middleton noted that Hanson’s 1912 article on fore-edge paintings mentions this very scene. Middleton has recorded 13 copies of the Watson with a scene of Halifax. Thomas Edwards, listed in his 1815 catalogue, item 181, another copy (this one?). See: Jeff Weber, Annotated Dictionary of Fore-edge Painting Artists & Binders, 2010, p. 117.
PROVENANCE: Thomas Dunham Whitaker (1759-1851) was an English clergyman and topographer, elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1818. His estate was sold at auction by Sotheby's in 1823. Thomas Turner may refer to the diarist (1729-1793), who is noted as having had particularly clear handwriting (as seen in the annotations here) and was often hired to transcribe legal, financial, and religious documents. Estelle Doheny (1875-1958). Thomas Dunham Whitaker (no date) – Sotheby's (1823) – Charles Sawyer’s [1954, Books] – Estelle Doheny (no date) – Randall J. Moskovitz, MD, Memphis, Tennessee. (no date) – Weber.
Offered by Jeff Weber Rare Books and found in his "Catalog 281: Masterpieces of Fore-edge Painting Featuring Highlights from the Collections of Randall J. Moskovitz, MD & notable Fore-edge Painting Collectors Estelle Doheny & Zola E. Harvey" (item #2).
BIBLE. [Latinus bibliis editionis vulgatae, Antwerp, ex Officina Plantiniana Plantin, 1618].
Small 4to. [iii-viii], 1055; 30, [31-80, 4 (last 3pages blank)], 85, [3 (last a blank)] pp. Lacking [A1] general title. The original binding on this volume was likely an English calf since it had specimen sheets bound in that were from an English Aeneid by Virgil. Rebound in antique-style quarter vellum, marbled boards, vellum tips in antique style, gilt spine title, a.e.g. and gauffered; THE EDGES WITH A VERY EARLY FORE-EDGE PAINTING SHOWING AN ARMORIAL CREST [6 BIRDS, possibly the Arundells of Wardour] SET WITHIN A SURROUNDING BORDER OF COLORED LEAVES AND FLOWERS. Small rubber stamp of the “Bibl. Res. S. Ign. Londin”. Multiple bookplates of various British libraries, the earliest provenance being from Stonyhurst College Library [founded in 1593], a Roman Catholic institution and Jesuit college. Very good.
An unusual early armorial fore-edge painting depicting a crest of six [black] birds or starlings[?!] in a floral setting, colored in reds, greens and indigo. It is unclear if this is an English fore-edge painting or a Belgian fore-edge. The previous binding on this book, likely eighteenth century, was difficult to identify since it was a fragment, however, the provenance would suggest a Belgian binding.
PROVENANCE: Adding to the history of this volume: The Stonyhurst College starts in 1593 at the Dutch city of St. Omer (then the Spanish Netherlands). The school was founded for English boys unable to receive a Catholic education in Elizabethan England. In 1762 the Jesuits were forced to flee to Bruges and again in 1773 to Liège, then finally settling in Stonyhurst [Lancashire, U.K.] in 1794. The Society of Jesus was re-established in Britain at Stonyhurst in 1803. Recent owner: Bonhams Sale 16589 December 2, 2008, lot 538[?] – Jeff Weber – Randall Moskovitz, MD – Heritage Sale 6232, Moskovitz library, June 9-10, 2021, lot 45777 – Jeff Weber Rare Books
Offered by Jeff Weber Rare Books and found in his "Catalog 281: Masterpieces of Fore-edge Painting Featuring Highlights from the Collections of Randall J. Moskovitz, MD & notable Fore-edge Painting Collectors Estelle Doheny & Zola E. Harvey" (item #1).