Secret paintings hidden in books: Magical and intricate 19th century art that appears by fanning the pages



'Disappearing fore-edge paintings' can only be seen when pages are fanned

The skilled practice dates back centuries and is done by specialist painters

Librarian at University of Iowa posts pictures online showing the paintings

Colleen Theisen says the beautiful pictures are 'a secret to everybody'



At first glance, the 200-year-old books are handsomely bound, with the edges of their pages painted in gilt.

Look more closely, however, and you will see a beautiful and intricate painting hidden on the edges of the pages.

Known as 'fore-edge paintings' (the fore-edge is the opposite of the spine), their existence at all has lain a secret to many since the practice began centuries ago.

This fore-edge of the 1837 book Winter by Robert Mudie, shows how the paintings reveal themselves This is the fore-edge painting on Robert Mudie's Summer, and depicts a seasonal scene in the countryside

Now, however, staff at the University of Iowa have taken a series of photographs showing how the pages of historic books may contain more than just the story written within.

Colleen Theisen, a Special Collections librarian at the University of Iowa, revealed the books' secrets in an online posting entitled 'It's a secret to everybody.'

The edges of the books' pages have been painted in gilt, but what is not immediately obvious is that the margins of each page have also been painted in such a way that when the book is fanned slightly, a picture of a scene emerges.

Ms Theisen used the University's Special Collections and Archives' set of four nature books, published in London in 1837 and entitled Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter, by Robert Mudie, to show how the paintings were hidden.

She said: 'Each has a landscape painting of the season hidden until you begin to read it and bend the pages to turn them.'

Ms Theisen told MailOnline how the paintings were done, using a clamp.

She said: 'In order to paint the edges the book has to be clamped in the fanned position to make a flat surface to paint on. When the clamp is released, the image disappears.'



This scene with golden leaves depicts autumn on the book of the same name - but is hidden when it's closed

Robert Mudie's Spring has an incredibly detailed rural scene of horses ploughing a field

The librarian took a picture of the painting hidden within the pages of each of the four books, which were donated to the University of Iowa by Charlotte Smith, for the website ThisisColossal.com .

The artist who painted the images is unknown.



Fore--edge painting dates back to the 10th century, but the practice of disappearing fore-edge paintings, when they are hidden when the book is fully closed, is thought to date back to 1649.

Initially the paintings featured symbols or family crests, but in the latter half of the 18th century, specialist fore-edge painters began to paint scenes or detailed landscapes, or even erotic pictures.

The pictures were painted first, before gilt was applied later to the very edges to mask the picture's existence.

