[Fore-edge Painting] Guillaume Tell, ou, La Suisse Libre. Et Éliezer et Nefhthali

London: Chez Whittaker & Co, 1838. Full Morocco. Very Good. A fore-edge painting on a near miniature, and very thin, book. The fore-edge painting is of the Château de Jarnac, which is close to Paris. 16mo. 13 by 8 cm. 148 pp. The painting is a panorama of the chateau, a pretty stone bridge leading up to it and the surrounding parkland. Some of the detail of the painting is assuredly lost as it has faded over time and with use, but the painting nonetheless retains a fairly impressive level of detail given the thin text block the artist had to work with, and we would say that a fore-edge on such a thin volume qualifies as quite the novelty. The binding (truncated) itself is a lovely full brown morocco with gilt swirly decoration and an armorial centerpiece. The binding is rubbed along the joints and has other indicia of moderate wear. There is a chunky chip from the FEP (large in relation to the book's size). This endpaper nonetheless is worth retaining since it bears the calligraphic inscription made when the book was awarded as a school or academic prize. (Inventory #: 005169)