Painting
While other elements of bookbinding combine decoration and function, paintings are purely decorative. Though they can appear on any surface of the book, paintings are most commonly found on the cover or fore-edge and are usually completed after the binding has been fully completed. Paint is applied to whatever material is covering the book and can either be done by professionals or by amateurs looking to add their own decoration, without the need for book binding skills.
Fore-edge paintings are scenes, portraits, or designs painted on the edge of a book. Although some are visible when the book is closed, much of the time these paintings are hidden so that that painting is only revealed when the pages are fanned.
The dramatic works of William Shakespeare
A former owner drew a scene onto this simple vellum binding, in pen and ink, adding the portrait to the front and view of Shakespeare’s birthplace on the back. This book also features a hidden fore-edge painting of his birthplace.
Miss C.B. Currie painted detailed miniatures for over 900 bindings, which are known as Cosway bindings. They feature a painting set into a leather binding, covered by a thin layer of protective glass. Bindings not painted by Currie are referred to as Cosway-style.
