While many turn to yoga and mediation for inner peace, we tend to find that Zen-like calm in paper. Not in that cleanly designed event poster necessarily, but in little discoveries like this one.
After coming across the following example of fore-edge painting on the Tumblr for the University of Iowa’s Special Collections & University Archives, writer Christopher Jacobson was fascinated. The 1837 volume, “Autumn,” featured a detailed scene painted on the edge of its pages – an image that can only be seen when the pages are fanned out.
Realizing that the collection held three more books in the series – “Summer,” “Winter” and “Spring” – he asked Outreach and Instruction Librarian Colleen Theisen to photograph the rest. The pair shared the results on Jacobson’s site.
We suggest keeping Jacobson’s page open in the background, bringing it to the fore whenever you need a moment of peace. Between the edge-paintings and the rhythmic fanning of the pages in the animated GIFs, you might just be able to face the rest of the day.
