Anthropodermic Bibliopegy?

An idea for your next book cover? if you ask me, this was a really creepy story . . .

While binding books in human skin is not common, it is not unusual, says Mr Rouse. The practice is known as anthropodermic bibliopegy and seems to have been most popular during the 18th and 19th centuries. Many of the first books covered in human skin were medical books – the skins were primarily from amputated body parts and unclaimed corpses. Occasionally, as in the case of Cudmore, the skin of executed prisoners was used. “It sounds grim but if I gave you the book to hold and didn’t tell you what it was covered in you would never know, it just looks like normal leather,” said Mr Rouse.