Fore Edge Painting
January 3, 2018 7:56 PM Subscribe
The argument over Fore Edge in or out overlooked the possibilities of Fore Edge Painting.
It's an area rich in possibilities, somewhat neglected these days. You can check out some video explaining the concept here and here and how to do it here and here
It's an area rich in possibilities, somewhat neglected these days. You can check out some video explaining the concept here and here and how to do it here and here
I wish we had the "WOW" react like Facebook.
posted by AFABulous at 8:36 PM on January 3, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by AFABulous at 8:36 PM on January 3, 2018 [2 favorites]
It's weird to me seeing fore-edge shelving making a comeback. On one hand, shelving books with the spines in, paper out was how it used be done from the great libraries in Alexandria to El Escorial in Spain.
I think it wasn't until the 1600's that we started to see people switch to fore-edge in with Leibniz's attempt at the proto-Dewey Decimal system with loci communes implemented at Hannover. And even he pushed for plain parchment bindings.
I guess the point I'm trying to make is displaying books fore-edge out isn't any more sacrilegious than say speaking Aramaic. It was practical in an era when books could literally rot and needed ventilation. When we switched from vellum to parchment it became less necessary. If the point is to actually find things quickly you may be better served by keeping a digital copy. I enjoy books in part because of the smell - and to that end putting the page side out makes a certain kind of sense.
posted by pmg at 9:22 PM on January 3, 2018 [1 favorite]
I think it wasn't until the 1600's that we started to see people switch to fore-edge in with Leibniz's attempt at the proto-Dewey Decimal system with loci communes implemented at Hannover. And even he pushed for plain parchment bindings.
I guess the point I'm trying to make is displaying books fore-edge out isn't any more sacrilegious than say speaking Aramaic. It was practical in an era when books could literally rot and needed ventilation. When we switched from vellum to parchment it became less necessary. If the point is to actually find things quickly you may be better served by keeping a digital copy. I enjoy books in part because of the smell - and to that end putting the page side out makes a certain kind of sense.
posted by pmg at 9:22 PM on January 3, 2018 [1 favorite]
I guess the point I'm trying to make is displaying books fore-edge out isn't any more sacrilegious than say speaking Aramaic.
Speaking in Aramaic is literally sacerdotal.
posted by Joe in Australia at 10:23 PM on January 3, 2018 [1 favorite]
Speaking in Aramaic is literally sacerdotal.
posted by Joe in Australia at 10:23 PM on January 3, 2018 [1 favorite]
The first video link is some advanced geekery. Thanks for the nerd snipe.
posted by kleinsteradikaleminderheit at 4:21 AM on January 4, 2018
posted by kleinsteradikaleminderheit at 4:21 AM on January 4, 2018
Seems even if you shelve them fore-edge-out, if the fore-edge painting is properly done you won't see it. Note the title of the link in the OP, 40 Hidden Artworks Painted on the Edges of Books. Done 'correctly' the guilding hides the painting until the book's edges are fanned.
posted by achrise at 5:24 AM on January 4, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by achrise at 5:24 AM on January 4, 2018 [1 favorite]
We had some of these at the used bookshop I worked at, back in the 20th century. They were a delight to experience and to show.
posted by doctornemo at 5:27 AM on January 4, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by doctornemo at 5:27 AM on January 4, 2018 [1 favorite]
Seems even if you shelve them fore-edge-out, if the fore-edge painting is properly done you won't see it
True enough, though originally they were plainly visible. The Press Here to View innovation came later, giving the artist more area to work with. (Predictably, the innovation lead to examples of what antiquarians used to call curiosa (aka NSFW).) BTW, the presses designed to display these works can be works of art in their own right, if you like crafted wood working. I know I do.
On a related note, some fore-edges and tops and even bottoms back in the day were gauffered (try sneaking that word into conversation!)
posted by BWA at 7:13 AM on January 4, 2018 [2 favorites]
True enough, though originally they were plainly visible. The Press Here to View innovation came later, giving the artist more area to work with. (Predictably, the innovation lead to examples of what antiquarians used to call curiosa (aka NSFW).) BTW, the presses designed to display these works can be works of art in their own right, if you like crafted wood working. I know I do.
On a related note, some fore-edges and tops and even bottoms back in the day were gauffered (try sneaking that word into conversation!)
posted by BWA at 7:13 AM on January 4, 2018 [2 favorites]
It's weird to me seeing fore-edge shelving making a comeback. On one hand, shelving books with the spines in, paper out was how it used be done from the great libraries in Alexandria to El Escorial in Spain.
I think it wasn't until the 1600's that we started to see people switch to fore-edge in with Leibniz's attempt at the proto-Dewey Decimal system with loci communes implemented at Hannover. And even he pushed for plain parchment bindings.
It's worth noting that spines with any sort of printing on them only showed up in the late 1500s, so there was no actual reason to store them spine-out.
posted by Molten Berle at 9:10 AM on January 4, 2018 [2 favorites]
I think it wasn't until the 1600's that we started to see people switch to fore-edge in with Leibniz's attempt at the proto-Dewey Decimal system with loci communes implemented at Hannover. And even he pushed for plain parchment bindings.
It's worth noting that spines with any sort of printing on them only showed up in the late 1500s, so there was no actual reason to store them spine-out.
posted by Molten Berle at 9:10 AM on January 4, 2018 [2 favorites]
Laser cut gauffering should be a thing. Preferably a thing somewhere with good fire suppression, but still a thing.
Fore-edge printing was a big thing in Korean reference publishing in the late 1990s. I tried to get the reference publisher I worked for interested, but to make it work well you either needed insanely accurate cropping or a separate print process. Somewhere on a backup of a backup, my old PostScript code exists for applying dots to the fore-edge from a bitmap so they'll make a picture when cropped. Good times …
posted by scruss at 8:01 AM on January 5, 2018
Fore-edge printing was a big thing in Korean reference publishing in the late 1990s. I tried to get the reference publisher I worked for interested, but to make it work well you either needed insanely accurate cropping or a separate print process. Somewhere on a backup of a backup, my old PostScript code exists for applying dots to the fore-edge from a bitmap so they'll make a picture when cropped. Good times …
posted by scruss at 8:01 AM on January 5, 2018
« Older Watching you skate made me feel like all sorts of... | Nyege Nyege: Uganda representing new East African... Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
I also learned of this when one of my pens accidentally leaked onto the side of a textbook, and it created an interesting expanded splotch when splayed out on the school desk of said bored teenager. It also made for an abstract flip-book-like series of pages.
So when I found out about this many years later, I was humbled. These are beautiful, thanks for posting.
posted by not_on_display at 8:28 PM on January 3, 2018 [2 favorites]