If you've been following along on my site for any length of time you likely know that fore-edge painting is the art of painting the edges of a book. But what you may not know (and what I only recently learned) is, where the idea first originated.
According to John Ansley, M.A., M.L.S. in his article from Hudson River Valley titled “Hidden in Plain Sight: A Brief History of Fore-Edge Painting”, he shares that once papermaking developed and bookmakers were able to create smaller volumes, this "meant that their owners could shelve the books vertically. The spine of the book then became the logical place for the title, and the fore-edge lent itself as a place to identify the volume's owner."
What started as writing the owner’s name gave way to coats of arms, monograms, crests and other creative forms of identification.
The technique was popularized by the Edwards family of Halifax, England though as Ansley states "they did not invent the technique". It is said that its origin dates as far back as the 10th century, but it wasn't until the early 1600's that hidden fore-edge painting began.
Ansley also shared the alternate theory by Cyril Davenport that the reason why fore-edge painting began was because bookbinders wanted to decorate the entire book.
Something I find interesting is the anonymity of the artists who painted the edges of the books. Very few artists signed their names in any way on their work, and it’s possible this is because for the most part - the artists were copying the work of other artists.
This is something I’ve thought about in my own practice of fore-edge painting, the idea of ownership and whether or not we as artists really fully own any of the work that we do. Usually, I am painting film scenes onto the corresponding book and when the work is complete, if I’ve done a good job, it’s quite clear I’ve mimicked someone else’s work. In researching the origin of fore-edge painting, I’ve found comfort in knowing that other artists have been copying each other for centuries.
Hundreds of years from now, will someone find my Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix painted book and wonder why I never signed it? Or will they believe the work was not the painter’s, but the person who commissioned the book to be painted? Or does the credit belong to the filmmaker who inspired it? Or the author who inspired the film who inspired the commissioner who paid the painter? How far back does the ownership reach? Do we all own a piece of it? Or none at all?
Sources:
Hudson River Valley
The First Edition Rare Books
