Fore-Edge Painting

Introduction

During the 16th century, the world was gifted with a new art form that completely transformed what the bookshelf could look like. What once was a drab looking shelf could now be the new centerpiece of one’s home. You may have come across this newfound artform when previewing the side of a book or it could have magically appeared as you flipped one open. You may have even contributed to the library of fore-edge paintings when you drew on one your textbooks during primary school—yes, this does count if it was on the edge of the book. This article seeks to delve deeper into the world of fore-edge paintings and explore their origin, history, how they’re made, what they’re used for, the differing variations, and their use in today’s world.

The Birth of Fore-Edge Painting

Since the beginning of the bound codex, humans have always found a use for the fore-edge of the book. In the early years, people would often sign their names and/or the titles of the book directly onto the side in order to determine what was what on the bookshelf. “The earliest of [these] fore-edge paintings date back to around the 10th century, and the earliest signed and fore-edge book dates to 1653, which is a family coat of arms painted on a Bible.” (Phillips) In Venice, Italy, during the 16th century, an artist with a new idea for what belongs on the fore-edge was emerging. It is here that the original/traditional definition of what a fore-edge painting would come to mean was born. (Bromer)

Cesare Vescellio decided that the tradition of writing the title of the book on the fore-edge could be spruced up and “devised a way to enhance the beauty of a book by painting on its edges.” (Bromer) This is where the traditional method of painting directly onto the fore-edge was created. These paintings ranged from landscapes to religious iconography to family crests/seals.

After a full century of painting directly onto the fore-edge, a new method was created by Samuel Mearne in England. Mearne, bookbinder to King Charles I, developed a new form of fore-edge painting which utilizes a gilded edged paper that shrouds a beautiful painting hidden on the inner-edges of the book’s pages. This form of the fore-edge painting would soon be known as the vanishing fore-edge painting. While this method was created in the 17th century, it didn’t become popular until the late 18th century “‘by Edwards of Halifax, who was already known for his exquisite bindings, and who by adding a fore-edge painting to an already fine binding, was creating the ultimate luxury item.’” (Phillips) During this time, “artists were employed to paint landscape scenes with country estates on the fore-edges of books, which were then handsomely bound in painted vellum covers or in exotic leather bindings.” (Bromer)

How It’s Done

Originally, fore-edge paintings were painted directly onto the edge of the book, but in later years with the emergence of the vanishing fore-edge painting, artists would use a frame to achieve the vanishing technique. This frame would exert force onto the book while the edges were fanned and visible. In doing so, the inner-edges of the book’s sides would be revealed and were stable enough for artists to paint on. Martin Frost, one of today’s commercial fore-edge painters describes the method as: “‘the page block is fanned and an image applied [sic] to the stepped surface. If the page edges are themselves gilded or marbled, this results in the image disappearing when the book is relaxed. When re-fanned, the painting magically re-appears.”’ (BRIEF)