University Libraries hidden secret collection

It is widely known a book can offer the pleasure of a good reading together with the enjoyment of exploring its author’s deepest thoughts. But let me tell you, there is a hidden, a secret delight, not visible to the beholder, that can give pure artistic fruition. They are called fore-edge paintings. They are concealed on the edge, or edges, of books and have been available for our enjoyment the last couple of centuries. They are only visible when pages are fanned and the fortunate perceiver can discover a variety of themes, including historical landscapes, heraldry, portraits, religious scenes, private life, with the list not being limited to these subjects.

The Jackson Library holds in its special collection some of these unique books. Below we share some of their hidden charms for your own appreciation. 

     

Want to learn more and read about fore-edge painting?

- Fore-edge painting; a historical survey of a curious art in book decoration.

uncg.worldcat.org/title/fore-edge-painting-a-historical-survey-of-a-curious-art-in-book-decoration/oclc/1144365&referer=brief_results

- Hidden treasures: the history and technique of fore-edge painting

http://uncg.worldcat.org/title/hidden-treasures-the-history-and-technique-of-fore-edge-painting/oclc/794059769&referer=brief_results

Watch a video!

Fore-edge Painting 1947 - Unusual Occupations Series

https://youtu.be/_mbcT-7tMlc

Visit an English fore-edge artist!

Foredgefrost.co.uk

http://foredgefrost.co.uk/talks_foredge.htm

https://youtu.be/nRTgJFiPuKA

Are you ready for painting your own fore-edge?

https://youtu.be/_1qOCRhDX08

     

Books with painted fore-edge 

from 

Hodges Special Collection and University Archives  

UNC Greensboro

      The lighted valley; or, The closing scenes of the life of Abby Bolton

http://uncg.worldcat.org/title/lighted-valley-or-the-closing-scenes-of-the-life-of-abby-bolton/oclc/8342399&referer=brief_results

-         The dramatic and poetical works of Joanna Baillie.

http://uncg.worldcat.org/title/dramatic-and-poetical-works-of-joanna-baillie/oclc/534515&referer=brief_results

-          The poems of Winthrop Mackworth Praed

http://uncg.worldcat.org/title/poems-of-winthrop-mackworth-praed/oclc/2217747&referer=brief_results

-          The border antiquities of England and Scotland : comprising specimens of architecture and sculpture, and other vestiges of former ages, accompanied by descriptions

http://uncg.worldcat.org/title/border-antiquities-of-england-and-scotland-comprising-specimens-of-architecture-and-sculpture-and-other-vestiges-of-former-ages-accompanied-by-descriptions/oclc/1042152&referer=brief_results

-          The works of James Thomson : with his last corrections and improvements : to which is prefixed the life of the author

http://uncg.worldcat.org/title/works-of-james-thomson-with-his-last-corrections-and-improvements-to-which-is-prefixed-the-life-of-the-author/oclc/1495241&referer=brief_results

Last, but not the least, a Wikipedia resource on fore-edge painting and its history

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fore-edge_painting

The Dove Bindery and The Ideal Book

“This is the supreme Book Beautiful or Ideal Book, a

dream, a symbol of the infinitely beautiful in which

all things of beauty rest and into which all things of

beauty do ultimately merge.”

The Ideal Book - T.J. Cobden-Sanderson (1840-1922)

The Special Collections and University Archives, at the University Libraries, UNCG,  is the holder of the Book Beautiful or The Ideal Book. A limited edition of three hundred books, printed by Cobden-Sanderson and Emery Walker, at the Doves Press, in 1900, and bound at the Doves Bindery. Our copy has been previously restored and arrived at the Preservation Services for minor repairs and infills on the leather, which  is becoming very brittle.

 Before

Cobden-Sanderson opened the Dove Press in the late XIX and by the turn of the twenty-century, Emery Walker joined him for a period of eight years, when Cobden-Sanderson continued his printing career.

The press used a single type designed under the supervision of Walker and was based on a type from the 1400’s, by Nicolas Jenson, also a printer. The break of their partnership lead to bitter discussions about the type ownership and finished with Cobden throwing them into the River Thames, in 1916.

Detail of colophon

The ultimate goal of the Doves Press and the Doves Bindery was the “beauty” of all elements that were part of a book, including the text itself. They influenced the Arts and Crafts movement and worked close with William Morris and his Kelmscott Press.

 A custom clamshell box was designed and now holds this precious volume after restoration.

Resources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doves_Press

http://www.typespec.co.uk/doves-type/

https://www.facebook.com/DovesType 

Turkey day.

Another handmade artists' book from Special Collections. This time with the very interesting choice of turkey-foot leather for the binding! The unique shape offered a challenge and a custom-fit clamshell box was created to make shelving easier.

Turkey Trot by Lois Morrison
Custom clamshell enclosure by Audrey Sage

So cute it hurts.

This miniature book from Mosaic Press is about the size of a postage stamp and is quite possibly the cutest thing I have ever seen. It is filled with survival tips for mice and wonderfully tiny lithographs.
If a book is shorter than six inches it gets routed to Preservation Services. Our job is to figure out a way to keep it from getting lost on the shelf. Special Collections sent this little one down and Audrey made a brilliant enclosure to keep it safe.

Strange shapes.

This is an artist's book that belongs in our Special Collections here at the library.
Since the entire book consists of one long strip of paper rolled into a scroll
it could get lost very easily.
To keep it safe on the shelf, I made this box with a drawer that pulls out.
It has a little tab made from a piece of silk ribbon.

wow.

Little Library by Todd Pattison
Andover, Massachusetts

Found and altered early 19th-century leather binding with fore-edge clasps. The bookshelves of the altered binding hold seventy-two blank leather- and paper-covered books which open and range in height from 1” to 1.5”. Working full time leaves only so many hours to pursue my own bindings, and I find that I normally spend several months or more completing a single full leather volume. Working on this piece allowed me to bind the same number of books in one night that would otherwise take a year or more. This tends to generate creativity and experimentation and also makes bookbinding pretty fun! 7.5 x 4.75 x 1.5 inches, 19 x 12 x 4 centimeters. Created 2009.

Todd Pattison studied bookbinding with Fred Jordan in western New York state in the late 1970s and early 1980s and went on to study with Hugo Peller and Edwin Heim in Ascona, Switzerland. He is currently senior book conservator at the Northeast Document Conservation Center where he has worked for the past eighteen years.

From the Guild of Book Workers Marking Time Exhibition.