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9. BOOKS IN HUMAN SKIN: Anthropodermic Bibliopegy

There are FOUR books bound in human skin in the John Hay Library. The collection includes an influential anatomy book written in the 1500s, two copies of Hans Holbein’s The Dance of Death (also published in the mid-1500s) and a work of sensational mid-1800s popular fiction. All four books were rebound in the 1800s and have been scientifically verified. To Visit: John Hay Library | 20 Prospect Street, Providence, RI 02912 | See: Andreas Vesalius’ Fabrica, Hans Holbein’s The Dance of Death, and Adolphe Belot’s Mademoiselle Giraud, My Wife Boston Athenaeum | 10 ½ Beacon Street, Boston, MA 02108 | See: Narrative of the Life of James Allen, alias Jonas Pierce, alias James H. York, alias Burley Grove, the Highwayman Check out these other stories: Dr. John Stockton Hough’s 4 Skin Books (verified) Book on the Pituitary Gland said to be bound in the skin of “circus giant named Perky” (unverified) Joseph Leidy’s Anatomy Book in the Skin of a Civil War Soldier (verified) Milton’s Poetry bound in the skin of murderer George Cudmore (unverified) The Horwood Book bound in the skin of murderer John Horwood (unverified)
Broadcast on:
13 Apr 2021

Episode Source Material:

Anthropodermic Books: 

Hans Holbein:

Andreas Vesalius:

M. Adolphe Belot:

Burke and Hare:

James Allen

History of Anatomy

There are FOUR books bound in human skin in the John Hay Library. The collection includes an influential anatomy book written in the 1500s, two copies of Hans Holbein’s The Dance of Death (also published in the mid-1500s) and a work of sensational mid-1800s popular fiction. All four books were rebound in the 1800s and have been scientifically verified. To Visit: John Hay Library | 20 Prospect Street, Providence, RI 02912 | See: Andreas Vesalius’ Fabrica, Hans Holbein’s The Dance of Death, and Adolphe Belot’s Mademoiselle Giraud, My Wife Boston Athenaeum | 10 ½ Beacon Street, Boston, MA 02108 | See: Narrative of the Life of James Allen, alias Jonas Pierce, alias James H. York, alias Burley Grove, the Highwayman Check out these other stories: Dr. John Stockton Hough’s 4 Skin Books (verified) Book on the Pituitary Gland said to be bound in the skin of “circus giant named Perky” (unverified) Joseph Leidy’s Anatomy Book in the Skin of a Civil War Soldier (verified) Milton’s Poetry bound in the skin of murderer George Cudmore (unverified) The Horwood Book bound in the skin of murderer John Horwood (unverified)