Tasso, Torquato. Jerusalem Delivered: an Heroic Poem, volume 1, translated from the Italian of Torquato Tasso, by John Hoole. London, 1797. Beneath the gilt fore-edges of each volume are fine detailed painting (fanned to the right). The one on volume I (pictured here) is divided into three parts depicting Trojans Arch, Ancona, Tasso in Prison and the Bridge of Sighs. Volume II is divided into two parts: Genoa and Venice

Featured on PDR in the collection Fore-Edge Book Paintings from the Boston Public Library

A "fore-edge painting" is an illustration or design which appears on the "fore-edge" of a book (i.e. on the edge which is opened up, opposite to the spine). The history of such embellishments is thought to go back to the tenth century but it wasn't until the eighteenth century that the unusual practice really began to take off. The simplest form involved painting onto the fore-edge when the book was closed normally — hence the image appears by default — but a more advanced form involved a rather ingenious technique whereby the painting was applied to the page edges when the stack was fanned at a slight angle. This way the image is hidden from view when the book is closed normally. To hide any…