The Fascination of Binding Books in Human Skin

While it is uncommon in the 21st century to have a book bound in human skin, but It was not in the 19th century. The practise of binding books in human skin is termed as Anthropodermic bibliopegy. One of such books that are bound in human skin has been sitting in Harvard's Houghton Library since 1930, and the only kind of book throughout all of its libraries. The book titled Des destinées de l’ame (Destinies of The Soul) by Arsène Houssaye published way back in the 1880s, which tells about the afterlife and theories of the human soul.

Such binding processes of books dates back to the 15th century, and to bind the book ’Des destinées de l’ame the skin had been taken from the unclaimed body of a female mental patient's back, who died of a stroke. The work provides an insight into the fascination that existed with human skin- the largest organ of a human body. And to keep the count for these mysterious books in the public libraries and museums, Anthropodermic Book Project has formed, which apart from the census, aims to decode the historical reasons behind their creation.