Librarians at Harvard University have discovered three books that were bound in human skin, the Harvard Crimson reported.
The books, dating back to the early 17th century, were found in the Langdell Law Library, the Countway Library of Medicine and the Houghton Collection.
But the three books are just the ones the school knows about. The librarians do not know for sure how many flesh-bound books are among the university's 15 million volumes, Director of University Libraries, Sidney Verba, told the newspaper.
One book is a Spanish law volume. Dating back to 1605, the book's cover is of a faded yellow hue with brown spots, the Harvard Crimson reported.
An inscription on the last page of the book lets the reader know where, or from whom, the skin came from:
"The bynding of this booke is all that remains of my dear friende Jonas Wright, who was flayed alive by the Wavuma on the Fourth Day of August, 1632. King Mbesa did give me the book, it being one of poore Jonas chiefe possessions, together with ample of his skin bynd it. Requiescat in pace."
Another book is a 19th century collection of essays on the human spirit. It was bound with skin from "the back of the unclaimed body of a woman patient in a French mental hospital who died suddenly of apoplexy," read a memorandum on the green-colored book, the newspaper reported.
The book was written by Arsene Houssaye a French poet and essayist, and printed sometime in the 1880s. Houssaye gave the book to a friend, Dr. Bouland, who had the book rebound with human skin. According to the doctor, such a "book on the human soul merited that it was given a human skin."
The practice of binding books with human skin, or anthropodermic bibliopegry, was first used on a 13th century French Bible, the Harvard Crimson reported.
Professors at Harvard, which was founded in 1636, hope the school doesn't put so much emphasis on the flesh books.
"I wouldn't want to prioritize this kind of book," history professor Ann Blair told the newspaper. "The text rather than the binding of the book is what matters to most students and scholars."
Click here to see the human skin-bound books.
