Book Made Of Human Skin!

The part of my Blogger profile that reads "You will never see my name embossed on a fine leather book." Well pretend I get published. Imagine the cover. Tanned and polished. A smooth golden brown, like fine leather. Beautiful right? Oh yeah, by the way...that supple leather you are admiring, it's made of human skin! I know it sounds disgusting, but books made out of human skin are not just factious horror props from Hollywood. They are real. They exist. Recently in Leeds, officials recovered a 300-year-old ledger (containing mostly French) that is bound in human skin! It is suspected that it was dropped by someone who may have been burglarizing homes in the area. It is handwritten in black ink and appears to date back to the 1700s. West Yorkshire police have posted 2 photographs of the book on their website, but are unable to answer any questions about it, including the book's subject matter. Although this finding may shock some, it's not that rare. You can find human skin bound books in a number of the nation's finest libraries, including Harvard's!

When I read this news story, I thought it sounded like some twisted Jeffery Dahmer sh*t. Perhaps I am ignorant to the fact that human skin books have been around since the 18th century. I was completely unaware that these books are STILL being checked out in libraries around the world. I find it a little disturbing. Ok, alot disturbing. Anthropometric bibliopegy, as it is scientifically known, was used during the French Revolution to cover ledgers used to record murder trials using the killer's own skin (payback is a b*tch). Cadaver skin has also been known to be used to cover anatomy books. In World War II, Nazis were accused of using the skin from Holocaust victims to bind books. (Now I'm really repulsed.)

The practice of binding books in human skin was not uncommon in centuries past, even if it was not always discussed in polite society. At the time, the best libraries belonged to private collectors. Some were doctors who had access to skin from amputated parts and patients whose bodies had gone unclaimed. In other cases, wealthy bibliophiles acquired skin from executed criminals, medical school cadavers and people who died in the poor house. Nowadays, libraries typically keep such volumes in their rare book collections and do not allow them to circulate. However, scholars can examine them.

Usually universities and other libraries acquired the books as donations or as part of collections they purchased. It is not clear whether some of the patients knew what would happen to their bodies. Most likely the skin came from poor people who had no one to claim their remains. The practice took place well before the modern age of consent forms and organ donor cards. While human leather may be repulsive to contemporary society, libraries can ethically have the books in their collections if they are used respectfully for academic research and not displayed as objects of curiosity. Historical or not, I think it's disgusting!