Early European Books

Digital Metadata and Archival Record

This page contains modern cataloging information and a visual record of the physical book's exterior rather than the handwritten text of the manuscript.

Early European Books, Copyright © 2011 ProQuest LLC.
Images reproduced by courtesy of The Wellcome Trust, London.
Identifier: 151/D

Fore-edge decoration

The fore-edge is the edge of the book's pages opposite the spine. In historical bookbinding, these edges were often painted or "gauffered" (indented with heated tools) to show the owner's wealth or the book's importance.

The image displays the decorated fore-edge of a closed volume. It features a repeating geometric and floral pattern applied with green and orange-red pigments. This type of decoration was common in early modern bookbinding to protect the paper and provide aesthetic appeal when the book was stored on a shelf with the edges facing outward.

Archival Metadata

The fore-edge decoration (the art of painting the edges of the pages) seen here suggests a high-quality binding from the early modern period.