As some of the more die-hard Paperblanks fans may know, we’ve recently begun adding edge decoration to some of our books. Edge decoration or fore-edge painting, for those who don’t know, is the decoration of the edges of the pages (visible, for the most part, when the book is closed. See the image above for examples of some of our own Edge Decorated-books.) Well, we wanted to share with you some other beautiful examples of this often overlooked element of book decoration!
The Princeton University Library has an amazing sampling of edge decoration here, arranged from “quickest and least expensive to the lavish and time-consuming.” We’ve included some below but do go over to their page on the subject and check out the rest. They have a magnifying glass feature that allows you to see some of the finer details of this beautiful artwork.
Wade, one of the book-binders at Paperblanks HQ, talked to us about one of his favourites from this list:
“I like the very last [one]. They fan the pages out and paint a picture on the edge. Then they push the fore-edge back flat and gold leaf it. This hides the design until someone fans the pages out again.”
Beautiful!
To learn more about Paperblanks’ work in the area of edge decoration go here.
About Paperblanks: We have been producing superb writing journals for nearly twenty years. We are book people, and we believe that the written word matters and that our blank books have a critical role to play in the art and continued practice of writing itself. For more about Paperblanks, go to our website at paperblanks.com.
omg!! what a beautiful idea..♥ it!!!
Gorgeous! I love the beautiful books! I wish they were in my price range… perhaps after I graduate from college and begin working as a RN 🙂 We’ll see! I have found so many pretty things here I would love to have one of the gorgeous address books! Sadly I cannot afford close to $200 for one 🙁 I can keep dreaming – after all, it is OK to dream. 🙂