One of the more interesting, if pricier, themes upon which to build a private library is fore-edge painting:
The technique, which has been known since at least the 10th century CE, is described in Etherington & Roberts' Bookbinding and the Conservation of Books as follows:
A scene painted on the fore edge of a book, either with the edge solid so that the resultant painting is visible with the book closed, or, in the more accepted use of the term, with the edge fanned out so that the painting is not visible with the book closed. When the painting is done with the leaves fanned out, the edge is generally also gilded or marbled in the usual manner, so that the closed book shows no trace whatsoever of the painting. A double fore-edge painting is one with two paintings, which can be viewed independently by fanning the leaves first one way and then the other. A triple fore-edge painting has a visible scene in addition, in which case the edge is not gilded or marbled:
Double fore-edge painting
While the first known "disappearing" fore-edge painting dates from 1649, and while the art reached its peak in England in the latter half of the 17th century, the majority of the surviving examples of this art form on books dates to the 19th century. Because the actual supply of contemporary examples of fore-edge painting frequently has been insufficient to meet collector demand, it is not uncommon to find early books that received their fore-edge painting(s) many centuries after the book was in fact originally published.
Perhaps the best-known modern proponent of fore-edge painting is the British artist Martin Frost, whose excellent website contains many examples, including a number of brief but informative videos....
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