Book frontispiece

Illuminated frontispiece of the 1845 illustrated Book of Common Prayer, designed by Owen Jones.

A frontispiece is a picture. It is in a book, on one of its front title pages. It is usually a big scene of the book, or a portrait of the writer. In older times, the picture of the writer was more often used. This was because it was less costly, and could be used again for the writer's other books. Frontispieces were often used in scholarly books and Bibles, and many are fine works of art.