CONCEALED FORE-EDGE PAINTING
FOR HORATIO WALPOLE
[PSALMS; Basil WOODD, editor.]
The Psalms of David, and other Portions of the Sacred Scriptures, selected from various Authors, adapted to the Service of the Church of England … the third Edition.
London, Watts & Bridgewaters, Rivingtons, and Matthews, 1800.
12mo in 6s, pp. [2], [v]-viii, [4], 410, xiv; a very good copy, bound in contemporary blue straight-grained morocco, spine gilt-ruled in compartments with miniature gilt rosette in each, edges gilt with concealed ink-and-wash drawing in 6 colours of the arms of Walpole to fore-edge, marbled endpapers; very slightly rubbed, corners minimally bumped; contemporary ink inscriptions erased from title, contemporary ink inscription ‘Horatio, Lord Walpole, of Wolterton Norfolk.’ along fore-edge of rear flyleaf, old shelflabel (completed ‘178’ in manuscript) and typescript description to front pastedown.
Added to your basket:
The Psalms of David, and other Portions of the Sacred Scriptures, selected from various Authors, adapted to the Service of the Church of England … the third Edition.
A pocket-sized Psalm- and prayerbook with a hidden heraldic fore-edge painting for Horatio Walpole, later first Earl of Orford.
Although dating from the height of concealed fore-edge paintings’ Edwards-influenced fashionability, the present example belongs to the older and rarer tradition of heraldic fore-edges as a mark of ownership, rather than picturesque or Romantic scenes. Unlike later examples, it is executed in pen, ink, and coloured wash, and is visible with only a slight fanning of the edges, allowing the reader to see the arms – and therefore recognise the book’s owner – whenever it is opened.
The arms and corresponding inscription belong to Horatio Walpole (1723–1809), Baron Walpole of Walterton (from 1757) and Walpole of Walpole (from 1797), before his creation as Earl of Orford in 1806. His own career in politics is perhaps overshadowed by his uncle Robert Walpole (1676–1745), the first Prime Minister, his first cousin Horace Walpole (1717–1797), the antiquarian, politician, and author of The Castle of Otranto, and his godson and namesake Horatio, Lord Nelson (1758–1805).
ESTC records only two copies, at the British Library and the Rylands.
ESTC T123763.
