A fore edge is the front edge of a book, opposite the spine. It is often decorated with tooling, painting, or other embellishments. Fore edge decoration has been practiced for centuries, and there are many different styles and techniques that can be used.
One of the most common types of fore edge decoration is gauffering, which involves pressing a design into the paper using a heated tool. Other techniques include hand-painting, gold tooling, and onlays (pieces of leather or fabric that are applied to the fore edge).