Piper Nuelle

I have noticed lately that quite a few books are coming out with special editions or just a few random ones on the shelf in a series that have ‘Fore-edge painting’, basically where they paint the parts of the pages at the edge that are not connected to where the book is bound by the spine.

I purchased both the books you see above in my local ‘The Works’ store, and they had a few versions of the books without the painted page edges, but hidden on the shelf and behind the clear paged books were these gems which were just hiding and waiting to be found.

Obviously as a huge book fan and avid reader I need the editions with the special painted pages because, why the hell not!!! But this occurrence of hidden painted books means that I am now totally obsessed and when ever I am in ‘The Works’ or other book stores I am now scouring the shelves for books with beautiful art prints on the pages.

But… Where did Fore-edge printing begin?

According to Wikipedia Fore-edge printing had three historical purposes; one is identification, two is indication of ownership and the third one is due to artistry. And according to who wrote the article on Wikipedia, it could date back to the 10th century.

Fore-edge painting – Wikipedia – (read here for full article)

It is said that books didn’t always used to be stored with the spines facing outwards but the fore-edge, which meant they needed to be easily recognisable so the fore-edge would be decorated and named to show what book was what. Obviously now-a-days the spine of the book is what we use to determine the name, the author and the niche or subject area. Fore-edge painting currently seems to take the more artistic approach to add some character, a flash of colour and intrigue to the person potentially buying the book. Some older books did have painted Fore-edge’s with pictures or hidden pictures, but they were seen when the books were closed or if they were slightly fanned or angled. Keeping some images hidden and some not. They were also a lot more elaborate with detailed religious images or of historical places.

So why paint a books Fore-edge today?

In my opinion authors and publishers would paint the Fore-edge pages in todays market to gain more sales. They are colourful, eye catching, interesting and different, but they are also collector editions in a sense. The modern world has a very huge ‘collectors’ mindset and a huge fear of FOMO (Fear of missing out). You see it with makeup brands that sell collab after collab and collaborate with celebrities and popular brands, its to make people collect them and part with their hard earned cash because they want the limited edition collectable.

There is also the point of which, with the rise of the Kindle and other online reading people don’t always opt for buying a physical hard copy of a book anymore, and with homes seemingly getting smaller and people have less and less space, a book would need to be special enough to be bought and placed on a shelf and for keeping. Creating books with painted Fore-edges gives it a new life, a colourful outlook, and keeps the book collector wanting more. I mean it worked on me, I have recently been reading ‘The Dream Harbour’ series by Laurie Gilmore and when I spotted her latest edition with the pink pages and pancakes and strawberries littered all over it, I just had to have it! And then there was another book, Powerless by Lauren Roberts where the Fore-Edge has a sword and flower design, again it was so pretty I just had to have it! And that is what I mean by the collectors mindset, and the need to have it. And that is why painting the Fore-Edge of a book is a good marketing technique to make more sales.

If I ever get to a point where one of my books takes off and I could make special editions of my books with painted Fore-Edges, I think I totally would go for it. If I love collecting books with this uniqueness to them then I am sure there are many others out there that feel the same. Do you? Would you be more compelled to buy a book if the pages were painted with pretty designs? Let me know.

Xo Piper Xo