Books Bound In Human Skin; Lampshade Myth?
Dec 5, 2009 Unusual Releases
On a daytrip to Providence during fly-out week, I stumbled across an unusual and startling artifact on display at Brown University’s John Hay Library – an anatomy book bound in human skin. While such specimens are unusual, they are not as rare as you might think. Many older libraries and rare book collectors, including several at Harvard and in the Boston area, have an almost-literal skeleton in the closet: anthropodermic bibliopegy, the technical term for books bound in human skin.
Full article at Harvard Law Record
And interestingly enough, a book bound in human skin was exhibited at a Boston book fair just a few weeks ago, according to the New England News.
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