Letters of Lady Rachel Russell ... and the Trial of Lord William Russell for High Treason. 6th ed. Edited by Thomas Sellwood. London, Printed for J. Mawman, 1801. A fine example of Edwards binding in his characteristic style and in excellent state of preservation despite some repairs to outer joints. The fore edge painting (fanned to the right), a beautiful specimen of Edwards' artistic skill, pictures Harewood House and the surrounding countryside

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…