Fore-edge painting is the art of painting scenes on the edges of books, and dates back over 1000 years. Legend has it, disappearing fore-edge paintings (where the scene is painted on fanned out pages, then hidden by gilding the sides of the book when the pages are closed) originated when King Charles II kept lending his books to a duchess who wouldn’t return them. To prove the books were his, King Charles commissioned a painter to mark the edges of the book with the royal seal. Throughout the 1700s, the art form was popular, but today, there are only 3 professional fore-edge painters, only one of which practices the art form full time. Because of this, the Heritage Craft Association classifies it as critically endangered. You might think that fore-edge painting is simple enough: you just paint on the side of a book, then close it up. But the creativity involved is pretty astounding. Some books are split down the middle: when you open the book and lay it flat, the fanned out pages on the left will display one scene, and the fanned pages on the right display another. Some books must be fanned out at an angle to see the image. Some even have 2 scenes on the same pages (fanning the pages forward gives you one scene while fanning them out backwards gives you a different one)! Increasing awareness is key to keeping this fascinating and secretive craft alive, so take a look at this incredible video showcasing Martin Frost, the last full time professional fore edge painter!
1 Comment
Linda Lin · November 29, 2021 at 4:40 pm
This is outstanding! I can’t imagine the effort that needs to be put in in order to have so many details on the edge of a book, as well as the careful calculation needed to have more than one design. As a kid, my most prized possession was my Harry Potter box set that had the outline of Hogwartz on the book spines. Even now, seeing one of these brings me the same type of wonder I felt as a kid wondering how the heck they got this type of art to work!
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