Cutting Edge Art: Fore-Edge Paintings in Special Collections

Fifteen books in the Library of Virginia’s Special Collections are hiding a secret. Underneath their gilded pages hides a fascinating type of book art: a fore-edge painting. These watercolor paintings are created by fanning the pages of a book out slightly, painting the image, and then gilding the edges of the closed book. When the book is closed the pages seem unremarkable, however, bend them at a slight angle and a colorful illustration appears. This illustration might be related to the content of the title or the author, but not always.

While fore-edge painting dates to at least the 10th century, hidden fore-edge paintings became popular in the 17th and 18th century as a way to boost sales and elevate the artistry of book binding.

The Edwards family from Halifax, England, bookbinders and booksellers, were particularly instrumental in the popularization of fore-edge paintings. While they hired several artists to create these paintings, the paintings were rarely signed so many of the artists are unknown.

The Library of Virginia’s fore-edge paintings date from between 1796 and 1870. Some have binder and bookseller labels which give some idea of who created the painting; however, the artists are not identified. One of the Library’s paintings appears on the pages of The Illustrated book of Scottish Songs: from the Sixteenth to the Nineteenth Century, published in 1854, bound by Leighton Son and Hodge, and sold by W. & G. Foyle, Ltd.. These pages hide a beautiful painting of Abbotsford, the home of Sir Walter Scott.

Herbert’s Poems, a collection of George Herbert’s poetry, hides an image of men fishing. The book itself does not give us many clues on who created the art:

Our largest painting, The Annotated Paragraph Bible: Containing the Old and New Testaments According to the Authorized Version from 1857 and bound by Lewis and Sons of London shows a view of Broad Street, Wall Street & New York City Hall, a subject unrelated to either the text or the location the book was published.

And for one more beautiful landscape, let us appreciate The Poetical Works of Alexander Pope from 1870.

Marbled front or end papers are fairly common, but what about marbled fore-edges? This technique offered a less costly way to decorate the fore-edges as compared to gilt.¹

Fore-edge paintings may seem like a distant relic of the past, but spayed edges – often known by the portmanteau “spredges” – have had a recent burst of popularity in book publishing.² Unlike fore-edge paintings, which are only visible when the pages are flexed, sprayed edges are visible when books sit on the shelf, leading some collectors to shelve their books with the pages outwards. Though they are often commercially produced, spredges reframe books as more than merely functional containers of knowledge; trends like this cast books as decorative objects, as status symbols or collectors’ items, as exclusive bespoke tomes – not so dissimilar from how books were viewed in the past.

The spredge trend may have peaked already, having extended from collectors’ editions of fantasy series to near ubiquity on new publications,³ but perhaps it will have instilled an appreciation for books as cultural objects.

They say never judge a book by its cover, but I think we can all enjoy these special books not just for their literary merit but as true works of art. Our special collections are so much more than a collection of words on a page. These items are unique works that show the rich history of publishing, binding, selling, and collecting books, and demonstrate the artistry that went into these processes. This history is best enjoyed by seeing these items in person, which is why preservation is such an important part of what we do.