Haunted Palace has a long essay examining the art of Anthropodermic Bibliopegy, the craft of making books out of human skin. A few examples of such books from the 16th and 17th century have survived, but the practice took off in the 19th century. In some cases, executed criminals were skinned as extra punishment. While their bodies were often donated to universities to be dissected for the study of anatomy, their skin was taken as a spiritual punishment. Many Christians believed that having a less than fully intact body would prevent someone from getting into Heaven, so chopping up a murderer was a way to keep undesirables out of the neighborhood. Other accounts of books made from human skin were mere political propaganda used against French and American revolutionaries, as well as Native Americans.
Who would make such a thing? Who would buy or otherwise obtain it? What knowledge would be bound in a book covered with human skin? (See the article for some surprising examples!)
