Lawrence University Special Collections
Fore-edge Paintings

Included in Lawrence's rare book holdings are some 30 examples of books with fore-edge paintings, a style of decoration developed in the 17th century and pursued well into the 19th. The technique consisted of fanning the outer edge of the text pages and clamping it, so that a watercolor painting could be rendered by hand on the fanned leaves. When the painting had dried, the fore-edge would be gilt or marbled. The painting cannot be seen until the pages of the book are fanned, which may have made the technique a method of secretly identifying a book's ownership. Although the painted scenes do not necessarily relate to the content of the books, there are exceptions. A variation is the double fore-edge painting: When Marmion, by Sir Walter Scott, is fanned in one direction, Edinborough Castle appears; fanning the other way reveals Norham Castle. Lawrence's distinctive collection -- each book is literally one of a kind -- represents gifts from Bernice David Fligman, M-D '22, and Dorothy Ross Pain, '18, among others.


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