16 Fore-Edge Paintings You'll Love, Even If You Don't Like Books

This novel was first written by Jared Sparks in 1828, which is when this particular copy was printed. It was printed by Henry Coburn in London, and contains different correspondences of John Ledyard throughout his professional and personal life, creating a sort of biography for him. Not only is the fore-edge painting shown here a lovely, simple, and bold piece of art, it also may be a nod to someone Ledyard looked up to. This painting is likely an homage to the travels of Captain Cook, who John Ledyard sailed with while he was in the British Navy. 

Even simple manuals often got the royal treatment when it came to fore-edge paintings. This copy of a book concerning the ins and outs of the game of chess was published in 1790, and was printed by P. Elmsly in London. In the painting, you can see a group of men playing chess, and the game looks pretty heated considering you can see some of the facial expressions. The money sitting in one corner also suggest that this was a betting game, which may lead to the intensity. Bordering the image on either side are pieces of a chess board, ready to be played, with all the pieces yet unmoved. 

Also called Marmion; a Tale of Flodden Field, this book was written by Sir Walter Scott, a Scottish historical novelist. This particular copy was published in Edinburgh by George Ramsay in 1811, which was still during the author's lifetime. Many fore-edge paintings involve ocean scenes or boats, but this one depicts a very particular place. Viewers see the Holy Island Castle alongside Lindesfarne Abbey, which is a monastery founded in the seventh century. This historic setting is along the coast of Northumberland, where the seas can be particularly troublesome. 

This epic poem was written by James Montgomery, who was a Scottish poet who worked well into the mid 1800s. This particular edition of his poem has a fore-edge painting that is both detailed and fascinating. Considering how relatively little was known about man's prehistoric past, seeing cavemen alongside mammoths, great bears, and even horses is surprising. Even more surprising is to see it along the side of a religiously-themed book. This edition was published in London in 1819, and still shows striking levels of detail and color throughout the painting.

One of the many religious texts on this list, this book of the new versions of the Psalms of David was published in 1844 by the University Press at Oxford. The ornateness of this book doesn't just end with the detail of the painting. The artist, Martin Frost, put this book in gold-tooled purple morocco binding, so that the pages looked golden unless they were splayed. Then, once they were fanned, you could catch a glimpse of a colored, finely-crafted painting of the Madonna with Jesus, surrounded by cherubs and nobles. If you look closely, you can even see the detail of individual leaves in the garlands that hang over Mary and Jesus' heads. 

Not all books that had fore-edge paintings were works of literature. In the case of this painting, the art was done on the pages of a manuscripts and receipt book from the early nineteenth century. While historians don't know the publisher or date, they do know that the painting depicts an image of the Westminster Bridge and the Abbey, in detail so fine that you can see the stained glass windows. It appears as though the person who had this book used it somewhat, as it contains many of their notes and receipts, but the rest is blank. It just goes to show that this practice was so popular that it extended beyond novels, poetry, and religious texts.