Book Secrets! Fore-Edge Paintings | Bite Sized Book History

[@theresacreativestudio]

Loved this. Thanx for the amazing info. We recently found out there was such a thing as fore edge painting and we had fun exploring this.

[@snooksmcdermott]

Cool! I'm a librarian who manages rare books at an art school, and we have a fore-edge painting in a 1792 edition of Burke's Reflections on the Revolution in France, but the fore-edge painting was done in the 20th century by a British illustrator, Helen Riviere Haywood. Our students love it!

[@lorindachristine3291]

I'm mesmerized by the beauty and novelty of these paintings...while also trying to read the names of your books over your shoulder.

[@m.i.3431]

Bite Sized Book History videos is a brilliant idea, love it! So well done.

[@eloquentlight]

Fantastic, Allie!!!

[@smclark280]

Wow - I learned about something fabulous and beautiful from my amazing student!! Wonderful to see you Alexandra, and I look forward to more!

[@ElliottAlvis]

Awesome! That was really interesting. I didn’t know they had presses that would hold the pages fanned out like that.

[@barbarablumenthal860]

Wonderful! Packed with lots of good information. And, of course, there are double fore-edge paintings, but perhaps that's another story for another day.

[@barbaraalvis2881]

This was so interesting...and so well presented!! Especially loved all the visuals. Can’t wait for the next one!

[@dstanl]

Beautiful!!

[@susanasanchezgonzalez2116]

Lovely idea, more please!

[@dzorich4822]

That was so interesting and fun. I can't wait for more. Thanks.

[@FoundTreasuresByJean]

Hello, new to your channel. I’m binge watching. This is so very informative. TFS ❤

[@annies805]

Is watercolor the paint being used?

[@beccitatefitzjohn7804]

YES PLEASE! So glad you started a KZbin

[@StephanieGLewis]

Hi! I love your videos! Would you please consider doing a video on how to identify editions/print runs for books-particularly older books? Or how to interpret a copyright page? Thank you and keep up the great work! 🙂 📚

[@karibronaugh2983]

Really fun subject!

[@kyrvg8759]

ahh super interesting! thank you so much for making these

[@ArturLL]

Thanks God! I need this chanel: love it. Waiting for more 🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@suerostron4115]

That was so cool. So glad I stumbled across you. Am a subscriber now. Out of interest is that necklace a bone carving from Aotearoa / New Zealand? I 'm a kiwi.

[@suerostron4115]

Just saw below that it is a koru necklace.

[@kellynewsome4938]

Loved this. Is there a resource that lists books that have fore-edge paintings?

[@erickaengle6568]

So I'm curious. You said that books were shelved with the pages facing out. Can you tell us why that was done? Thank you, this was wonderful!

[@BookHistoria]

Interestingly, it had to do with theft prevention! Before around the 16th century, books were very expensive to produce, and were therefore expensive to buy; so expensive that libraries chained them to the shelves! It was difficult to securely attach a chain to the spine of the book--attaching a chain to the edge of a strong board was much easier. But this meant that the edges had to face out, otherwise the chain would be wrapped around the book on the shelf! Hence, fore-edge titles :)

[@suerostron4115]

Hi, check this out. I loved it . www.bbc.com/culture/article/20180706-the-ancient-library-where-the-books-are-under-lock-and-key

[@CSGraves]

That Clara Brooksbank painting though... WOW! This makes me miss my favourite local bookseller, even though their wares are a bit more humble for the most part. Side note: I noticed two Daruma dolls, and is that a Maori _koru_ motif pendant I see?

[@BookHistoria]

Ah, it's my dream to walk into a local bookseller and find an undiscovered hidden fore-edge painting... that's the only way I would be able to afford one 😂 Yes and yes to the daruma and koru! My kiwi friends, one of whom is Maori, gave me the koru, I wear it every day!

[@mattbrehe9781]

@@BookHistoria you would be surprised... I found a nice hidden fore edge painting book on Ebay for $60 once. You just gotta keep your eyes open

[@rena8202]

Fun. Thank you. By the way, Ed Ruscha pronounces his last name Rushay. Look forward to more ahead!

[@BookHistoria]

Yes, you're the second person to point that out 😭 We must keep this a secret and not let the modernists find this video, hehe!

[@papphausen2]

Wonderful and good luck with future posts. Look forward to them. Here another link for the resource list. surface.syr.edu/libassoc/285/

[@BookHistoria]

Thanks for the comment and link! ♥