Oct 10, 2025 The Business of Books: Fore-edge Painting

Some books have secrets…

Have you ever noticed the decorated edges of your old books? Sometimes gilded, marbled, or speckled in red, these embellishments give the book a more precious appearance, but also add an additional protective layer for the text block. If you look more closely, however, you may find something special along those edges.

“The Bookbinder” from Das Ständebuch (Book of Trades)
By Jost Amman & Hans Sachs
New York: Dover Publications, 1973
PT1762 E8 1973

A fore-edge painting is an image painted on the fanned pages of a book, completely invisible when the book is closed and hidden beneath a shimmer of gilt or marble. But, if you fan the pages just right, what’s revealed may be a secret pastoral landscape, a royal portrait, a cityscape, or rising cathedral—as if conjured by sleight of hand. Although the exact origins have been debated among scholars, the technique of fore-edge painting has been employed by high-end bookbinders throughout history. In many cases, the hidden artworks went undiscovered for decades, or even centuries, after their creation. Some may even still be hiding among the shelves of your favorite used bookstore…

A few of these treasures have already surfaced closer to home. The selected titles you see here were previously purchased from our very own local legend, Weller Book Works and are now on display in the Special Collections Exhibition Gallery as part of The Business of Books exhibition.

The Pleasures of Friendship, and Other Poems
James M’Henry
Philadelphia, PA: Grigg & Elliott, 1834
PS2359 M165 P5 1834

Fore-edge painting by Vera Dutter:
Adriane, based on a depiction by Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot

The technique of the hidden painting gained notable popularity during seventeenth-century England, where binders for King Charles II experimented with painted edges to personalize luxury volumes. One of the earliest recorded examples, a 1641 copy of Acts and Monuments with a hidden portrait of Charles II, bears the mysterious signature “Fletcher.” Later, the celebrated Edwards family of Halifax transformed the craft into fine art, painting full-length landscapes across the edges of their bindings. Variations of the technique included single, double, and triple fore-edge paintings, along with panoramic and split double designs—each requiring greater skill and precision with every added transformation. These secret scenes reflected Britain’s taste for the Picturesque with pastoral vistas meant to evoke travel, tranquility, and a touch of national pride.

Psalms and Hymns adapted to services of the Church of England
Church of England
London: F & J Rivington, 1847
BV370 P73 1847

Fore-edge painting by Vera Dutter:
Jesus Christ in a decorative border

The popularity of fore-edge painting reached its peak in London between 1785 and 1830. Among the leading practitioners was bookbinder William Edwards of Halifax. Renowned for his skill, Edwards produced exquisite vellum paintings and calfskin bindings and was the first to create landscape scenes that extended the full length of the book’s edge. As demand for these hidden artworks grew, the market expanded beyond commissioned pieces, and it became common practice to add a fore-edge painting to an already bound and sold book to enhance its value.

Thus, one must remember that the age of a book and that of its fore-edge painting are not always the same.

Miscellanies
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)
London; New York: Macmillan and Co., 1900
PS1620 A1 1900

Fore-edge painting by Vera Dutter:
General George Washington arriving at the home of Betsey Ross 

By the nineteenth century, fore-edge painting had quietly become a woman’s art. In England, Caroline Billin Currie—professionally known as C. B. Currie—earned distinction for her finely executed bindings and fore-edge paintings while working for Henry Sotheran & Co. There, she created hundreds of signed and numbered works and became the first artist to be publicly credited in the firm’s catalogues, making her contributions immediately recognizable. Across the Atlantic, California artist Vera Elinore Dutter revived the tradition in the mid-twentieth century, painting on antique volumes gathered from local bookshops. A self-taught artist who worked independently, Dutter produced more than four hundred fore-edge paintings between 1939 and 1989. She often favored the edges of older titles, not only because the paper was of superior quality, but also because acquiring volumes with existing gilded edges spared her the cost and labor of gilding them herself.

All four titles present in this collection were painted by Dutter and purchased from Weller Book Works in 2013.

English Traits and Representative Men
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)
London; New York: Macmillan and Co., 1902
PS1607 A1 1902

Fore-edge painting by Vera Dutter:
Canterbury Cathedral

Approaching its centennial, Weller Book Works is the oldest bookstore in Utah. Originally founded in 1929 by German-born immigrant and Mormon convert Gus Weller, the store initially sold second-hand books focused on Latter-day Saints. Over time, “Zion’s Bookstore” grew in both size and scope. By the late 1940s, Gus’s son, Sam, took over the family-run business with his wife, Lila. Under Sam’s leadership, the bookstore became known for his relentless energy and dedication toward curating a broad selection of new and used books on all topics.

In 1961, Zion’s Bookstore moved to its longest-standing location at 254 South Main Street, where Sam earned the nickname “the Mayor of Main Street.” In 1969, the name was changed to Sam Weller’s Zion Bookstore, partly to capitalize on Sam’s Dickensian namesake (Sam Weller being a character in The Pickwick Papers).

In 1997, Sam’s son, Tony, took over the business. As a third-generation bookseller, Tony and his wife Catherine continue the legacy at the store’s Trolley Square location, which it has called home since 2012. Although the decision to move was born from necessity, it allowed Weller Book Works to evolve into a vibrant space filled with a carefully curated selection of new, used, and rare books, along with passionate booksellers, diverse music, and an inviting atmosphere for all visitors. In addition to used and new titles, Weller Book Works also features a spectacular selection of rare books.

Behind each hidden fore-edge painting is a reminder that books are not simply containers of words, but rather objects of wonder and commerce, shaped by the interplay of market forces, entrepreneurial ambition, and shifting patterns of consumer demand.  At the core of this history is the book as both artifact and investment. So next time you spot a gilt-edged volume on the shelf, pause before you pass it by. There just might be a secret waiting to be revealed.

Our latest exhibition, The Business of Books offers a comprehensive exploration of the production and trade of books from the Renaissance through the Industrial Revolution. The exhibition examines the intricate economic networks that underpinned the book industry and foregrounds the physical labor involved in papermaking, printing, binding, and design.  

To learn more about The Business of Books, visit the Special Collections Exhibition Gallery on Level 4 of the Marriott Library. 

(This exhibition is free and open to the public)