Browse Items (31 total)

The "T:W" inscribed on the head-edge of the top book are most likely the initials of an early owner of the book.

Typically found on large dictionaries, thumb indexes help readers quickly find the section of the book they need. In the case of this Linotype manual, readers can thumb to a specific typeface.

Gilding edges is one of the most traditional ways of beautifying a book. The long edges of these sixteenth-century volumes of Pliny were gilded when they were rebound years later and have not lost their spectacular shine.

An abbreviated title reading ""Plutarchi Illustri Vitae" or "The lives of the Illustrious Plutarch" appears at the top of this book's fore-edge suggesting that it once rested vertically on a shelf with its fore-edge out.

The white, enclosed arch found in the center of this fore-egde painting is the Bridge of Sighs in Venice. It was named thus by Lord Byron because it led prisoners from Doge's Palace to the prisons. Legend has it that if kiss your significant other…

The fore-edge painting decorating this edition of Shakespeare's poems shows the house on Henley Street in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, where Shakespeare was born in 1564

The volume devoted to railway engineers George Stephenson and his son Robert features a fore-edge painting of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway at Newton, the construction of which is described in the book.

The use of clasps on books dates back to the earliest codices. Affixed to the fore-edges, clasps stabilize a book, preventing the vellum or paper leaves from fanning out and the boards from warping.

This selection of books shows the variety of colors used to stain edges. Books found in the Cary Collection have fore-edges colored in yellow, green, and shades of blue, and even an orangey-pink.

This selection of books shows the variety of colors used to stain edges. Books found in the Cary Collection have fore-edges colored in yellow, green, and shades of blue, and even an orangey-pink.