Edges of Books: Specimens of Edge Decoration from RIT's Cary Graphic Arts Collection

Edges of Books examines a familiar form from an unfamiliar perspective. When books are on display it is usually their spines, covers, text, or illustrations that are featured. These are the familiar parts of the books―the parts that modern readers have come to interact with the most. Edges of Books takes a different approach, uncovering a tradition that extends back centuries in which the edges of books were important sites for information and decoration. This is a catalog of an exhibition of the same name at the Cary Collection.

Steven K. Galbraith is Curator of the Melbert B. Cary, Jr. Graphic Arts Collection. He has a Ph.D. in English Literature from Ohio State University and an M.L.S. from the University at Buffalo. Prior to coming to RIT, he was the Andrew W. Mellon Curator of Books at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C. and the Curator of Early Modern Books and Manuscripts at the Ohio State University. He is the author of works on early English printing, English Renaissance literature, rare book librarianship, and book conservation and digitization.