Books have been historically bound in human skin, known as anthropodermic bibliopegy, for hundreds of years. Examples can be found in museums and private collections, and they can fetch high prices at auctions. Human skin can be preserved through tanning and looks similar to other leather books. The practice dates back to ancient times and was common in the Middle Ages. Leather for bookbinding came from executed criminals and corpses from anatomy labs. Anatomy books were common candidates for human skin binding. The tanning process destroys DNA, so historians only know if a book was bound in human skin if the book itself indicates so.
Books were in fact historically bound in human skin, although human skin was hardly the binding material of choice for most bookbinders. Anthropodermic bibliopegy, as it is called among academics, has been practiced for hundreds of years, although it had largely disappeared by the 18th century. Some very fine examples of books bound in human skin can be seen on display in museums around the world and also appear in private collections. Such books are periodically auctioned off, sometimes fetching high prices due to their macabre historical value.
While it might give you chills to think about, human skin can be preserved through a tanning process, just like leather. According to rare book specialists, books bound in human skin look very similar to other leather books or books bound in parchment, finely scraped sheep or calfskin. Books bound in human skin were prepared in both hard and soft covers, and the cover was often printed and decorated, sometimes with a small plaque indicating the provenance of the binding.
Historical evidence suggests that books bound in human skin are quite ancient. Many societies historically made macabre displays with the body parts of executed criminals or soldiers captured in war; the Assyrians, for example, liked to skin captives alive and display their skins on the city walls. Certainly the practice was quite well known in the Middle Ages, when the memento mori was quite in vogue. Records from the medieval period indicate that people kept things like skulls, bones, and patches of skin as decorative items that were meant to be reminders of an inexorable fate.
Leather for bookbinding typically came from executed criminals, along with corpses from anatomy labs; at one point, dissection was actually included in criminal convictions for particularly heinous crimes, capitalizing on the religious belief that dissected people would not be resurrected at the Last Judgment. In some cases, people apparently willed their skins to authors or bookbinders after their deaths; in the 20th century, animal rights activist Ingrid Newkirk echoed this practice in a publicity stunt, auctioning off a piece of her skin for charity with the proviso that the skin would be made available after the death of her.
Historically, anatomy books were common candidates for human skin binding; some examples of anatomy books also include tattoo samples on their bindings. In some cases, the accounts of famous criminals were tied into the skin of their subjects. Human skin binding was also used for a number of other books, including religious texts.
You may have even handled or seen a book bound in human skin at some point in your life, especially if you’ve been around old books. The tanning process typically destroys DNA that could be used to identify the source of a book binding, and as a result historians usually only know that a book was bound in human skin when the book itself indicates so. Many libraries around the world have several books bound in human skin in their collections; visitors who want to peruse these texts must look at them in air-conditioned rare book rooms, designed to prevent damage to the book.
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