One of the coolest cook books I ever discovered at a second hand book sale... the technique is called "Fore-edge Painting"...
...consists of artistic decorations drawn to enhance the book on the closed edge of the pages...
the book is approx. 7" x 9" by 1 1/2" thick. There is no evidence of who the artist was, just an inscription of "Happy Cooking Big Sister! -1993-"
I love it and it's a total treasure 
... and the recipes look delicious