[FORE-EDGE PAINTING]
BYRON, GEORGE GORDON NOEL, Lord. Sardanapalus, A Tragedy. The Two Foscari, a Tragedy. Cain, a Mystery. London: John Murray, 1821. First edition. Late 19th century brown calf with paintings on vellum of Venice and a Neapolitan harbor scene on the doublures, surrounded by broad gilt dentelles, gilt-ruled vellum endsheets. Fore-edge gilt with a concealed painting of the Forum at Rome. 8 3/8 x 5 inches (21 x 13 cm); viii, 439 pp; 94 pp. Binding with some fading, front joint now weak and likely to separate.
Byron's The Age of Bronze, London 1823, probable first edition, is bound at the end. A very attractive and rather unusual presentation for a fore-edge painting (which is probably coeval with the painted doublures).