The Painted Book
Styles
The following are different styles of Fore Edge Painting.
This is also the order in which they also increase in desirability and rarity
The Decorated Edge
This is one of the oldest styles of decoration, where the closed book has words, symbols or painting along the closed fore edge of the book.
The Single Fore Edge
This is where the book contains a single painting concealed beneath its gilded or marbled fore edges
The Split or Divided Fore Edge
The pages were decorated when the book was open in the middle. Each half of the opened book has a watercolour hidden under the gilded fore edges of its pages. Both paintings dissappear when the book is closed.
The True or Two Way Double
This has paintings on both both sides of the very edges of the pages, so that one painting is visible when the pages are fanned one way and that dissappears and another becomes visible when the pages are fanned the other way
The Treble or Triple Fore Edge Painting
This has in addition to the paintings on the edges of the pages another third painting added directly to theedge of the closed book in lieu of gilding or marbling.
Panoramic Fore Edge Painting
Here the top and bottom of the bookpage also havepictures hidden beneath their surfaces