The Works of Lord Byron, volume containing the anthology Hebrew Melodies and additional poems (published as the fifth and final volume of a five-volume edition). London: John Murray, 1823. English.
A volume containing the anthology Hebrew Melodies, the collaborative effort of Lord (George Gordon) Byron and the English-Jewish composer Isaac Nathan, consisting of songs and poems set to ancient Jewish melodies, some of them supposedly derived from the music that graced the Temple in Jerusalem.
On the edges of the book block is a unique painting featuring a view of Jerusalem. This type of painting is unseen when the book is fully closed, but when the leaves are extended or fanned, a colorful, panoramic view of Jerusalem – painted in watercolor to produce a minutely-detailed landscape – suddenly appears, and then disappears once again when the pages are returned to a resting state.

Such works of art are termed "fore-edge paintings"; they were regarded as an exclusive form of book ornamentation in the 17th through 19th centuries. The illustrations were created – typically by expert, anonymous painters who did not put their signatures to the works – on the closed book block using specialized artistic tools. In most cases, the painting would not be visible if the book were completely closed, and, as in the present case, would appear only once the leaves were extended or fanned. The introduction of this technique is often attributed to the court painter of Charles II of England, who was asked to produce a distinctive but hidden mark that would serve to identify books borrowed from the Royal Library. The vast majority of these decorative illustrations featured family ornaments and coats of arms; only rarely would they take the form of landscapes and panoramas. Even rarer were paintings of this genre that actually depicted a scene relevant to the subject of the book.
The anthology of songs and poems titled "Hebrew Melodies" was presented as a collaborative effort by the English-Jewish composer Isaac Nathan and the renowned English poet and lyricist (and member of the peerage) George Gordon ("Lord") Byron. It included the lyrics Byron wrote for thirty ancient Jewish melodies – some of which, Nathan maintained, were sung and played in the Great Temple in Jerusalem prior to its destruction in 70 CE. Many of the songs in the anthology were dedicated to personalities from the Bible and traditional Jewish sources – including King Saul, Jephthah’s daughter, Job, and Koheleth – and some of the songs bear mention of Jewish aspirations to return to the Land of Israel. The panorama in the illustration that appears on the page edges of the present copy is most likely after a work by the English painter and architect Thomas Allom, who paid a visit to the Near East and Holy Land in 1834.

VIII, 284 pages, approx. 16.5 cm. Good condition. Stains. Gilt edges. Elegant leather binding, with some wear. Endpapers and back board detached from book block. Repairs to length of lines of attachment between boards, spine and endpapers. Housed in box lined with fabric matching color of binding.

Provenance: The Gross Family Collection, Tel Aviv, item no. NHB.324.