Anthropodermic bibliopegy
Ah, a new term to add to the collection of random crap in my mind. I read a story about this book auction, which introduced me to the term anthropodermic bibliopegy - the practice of binding books in human skin. Here’s a picture of one such book:
Sure, I’d heard of the practice vaguely, probably more in a horror-story fictional way than reality, but the story listed some real-life examples, such as “court reports of murders that were covered in the skin of the perpetrator.” Also there are historical reports of a Bible and Catholic cannon law books being written on human skin. I had read about the supposed practice of some of the Nazis making lampshades etc. out of skin, probably in The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, but apparently that is an urban legend. So the Nazis never actually made books or lampshades from human skin, but the “great” Western legal tradition that contributes to the basis of “justice” in America was so civilized and enlightened as to issue court reports covered in human skin…
