Selected edge painting on British Library printed books: A work in progress

Bookbindings were (and are) sometimes decorated via painting the edges of the leaves, usually but not exclusively, the fore edges of text blocks. The painting can be visible when the book is closed, or hidden beneath a layer of gold, when the edges have been gilt. This dataset covers examples on the Library’s printed book collections (mainly works published in Britain but some European). It refers to/links to the British Library’s Image Database of Bookbindings; the Library’s Explore catalogue; Jeff Weber, Annotated Dictionary of Fore-Edge Painting Artists and Binders (Los Angeles: Jeff Weber Rare Books, 2010): Miriam M Foot The Henry Davis Gift: a collection of bookbindings : Volume II. A catalogue of North-European bindings (London, British Library, 1983) & The Henry Davis Gift: A Collection of Bookbindings, vol. iii: A Catalogue of South European Bindings (London: The British Library; New Castle, DE: Oak Knoll Press, 2010). Not every item has been catalogued in the Library’s Explore catalogue and many have restricted access due to the fragility of the book structures.