The simplicity and durability of the codex book is hard to match. A decidedly low-tech marvel by today’s standards, a book is still a nearly magical thing.
I have books in my house that are hundreds of years old. I have one was made in the early 1700s. That’s three centuries, my friend. And all of them still work.
The printed book has held many secrets. A lover’s note hidden between the leaves. Scribbled marginalia penned by a previous owner. Messages constructed with the first letter of each physical page. Code keys built from characteristics of specific editions.
And here’s a new one. “Fore-Edge Paintings.”
Recently, the Special Collections and Archives at the University of Iowa revealed some animated GIFs of Autumn, a book by Robert Mudie published in 1837. When the pages of this book is fanned out, a hidden picture is revealed. This “fore-edge painting” has been around since the 1600s, but this was the first I’d heard of it.
Just another item to list under “Try that with your Kindle!”
Check out this article for animated GIFs of the paintings being fanned out, and links to YouTube video of other examples of fore-edge paintings.
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That *is* pretty cool. Growing up, a number of my parent’s older books had artwork on the edge of the paper, but I don’t recall anything like this. Maybe I just didn’t know to look for it..
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Of course, then there’s such “art” like Danny’s notebook.
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Exactly! Books have so much more going for them than kindles and that particular book is especially beautiful.
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