What’s a Fore-Edge Painting?

What’s a Fore-Edge Painting?
A fore-edge painted book. (Laura HB/CC BY 2.0)
Jack Phillips
11/30/2015
Updated:
12/7/2015

Jerusalem Delivered, an Heroic Poem, translated from the Italian of Torquato Tasso, by John Hoole. London 1797; with a fore-edge painting. <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/24029425@N06" target="_blank">(Creative Commons image / Flickr user BPL)</a>
Jerusalem Delivered, an Heroic Poem, translated from the Italian of Torquato Tasso, by John Hoole. London 1797; with a fore-edge painting. (Creative Commons image / Flickr user BPL)

“Of course, the art of fore-edge painting goes back many centuries before Edwards, to when it was common to write an author’s name or book title onto the fore-edge of a book for identification purposes, but this exhibition (with one exception) focuses on the heyday of the ”vanishing“ fore-edge painting (one that is invisible when a book is closed and appears only when the book is fanned open) that began in Edwards’ shop and continued into the 20th century,” Indiana University adds.

Jack Phillips is a breaking news reporter with 15 years experience who started as a local New York City reporter. Having joined The Epoch Times' news team in 2009, Jack was born and raised near Modesto in California's Central Valley. Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/jackphillips5
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