Holy Bible with Fore Edge Painting 1796

6B Holy Bible with Fore Edge Painting. London: 1796.

Notes

The Bible was central to the early history of printing in Europe, beginning most famously with Johannes Gutenberg’s 42-line Bible around 1455, the first major book printed with movable metal type in the West. Early printed Bibles were typically in Latin (the Vulgate) and intended for clergy and scholars, but the Reformation in the 16th century dramatically expanded Bible printing in vernacular languages such as German, English, and French. Advances in printing technology, increased literacy, and religious reform movements made the Bible one of the most widely printed and distributed texts in history, with printers refining typography, layout, chapter divisions, and verse numbering to improve usability for study and worship.

Fore-edge paintings are a distinctive form of book decoration in which an image is painted on the outer edges of a book’s pages, usually hidden when the book is closed and revealed only when the pages are fanned. Originating in the 17th century and becoming especially popular in England during the 18th and early 19th centuries, these paintings often depicted landscapes, biblical scenes, heraldry, or scenes related to the book’s contents. The technique required great skill, as the artwork was applied in watercolor to the fanned pages and then gilded or marbled over, concealing the image. Fore-edge paintings combined craftsmanship, artistry, and surprise, transforming books—frequently Bibles or devotional works—into both functional texts and collectible art objects.

Description

Cream and blue vellum binding with gilt gold design on a blue border on the covers. Spine with lattice design and title in gilt gold on a blue background. Marbled endpapers. Fore edge painting of a man fishing by a lake on the land of a country house pictured in the background. Some soiling to the covers and internal foxing but in great condition overall.