The hidden art of fore-edge book painting
Posted by Celia Walter | 3 May, 2009On the edge : the hidden art of fore-edge book painting
This website highlights a special collection of over 200 images of fore-edge paintings which are housed in the Rare Books Department of the Boston Public Library in Massachussetts. Fore-edge painting refers to the process of applying an image to the fanned page block of a book, and if the pages are gilded or marbled, the image disappears when the book is relaxed. There are several useful online videos which demonstrate the process. The items within the collection can be browsed by subject, book title or painting title or searched by general keyword. Each entry contains bibliographic details about the book in question, and an enlargable image of the fore-edge painting. Other features of the website include a selection of articles on the subject of fore-edge painting, written by leading experts in the field, which provide historical and curatorial insight into the subject. From Intute.ac.uk
http://foreedge.bpl.org/
UCT Libraries Rare Books and Special Collections Dept has a collection of books with fore edge paintings. My favourite is Hogarth's Sleeping Congregation painted on the book of Willam Paley's Sermons