In this episode of Loreplay, we dive into one of the most unsettling intersections of medicine, power, and history: anthropodermic bibliopegy, the practice of binding books in human skin. While it sounds like folklore or horror fiction, this practice was very real—occurring primarily between the 17th and 19th centuries in Europe and the United States. It was most often carried out not by occultists or criminals, but by doctors, judges, and institutions with legal and social power. 🧍♀️ Mary Lynch & Dr. John Stockton Hough Mary Lynch was a young Irish immigrant who died in 1869 at Philadelphia General Hospital. She was poor, severely ill with tuberculosis, and unclaimed at death—circumstances that made her body legally accessible to medical authorities. After performing her autopsy, physician Dr. John Stockton Hough removed portions of her skin and later used it to bind three medical books, all dealing with female reproduction and health. Hough wrote inscriptions inside the books identifying the bindings as human skin and referencing Mary’s death. There is no evidence Mary consented to this use of her body. These books are now held by the College of Physicians of Philadelphia and have been scientifically tested and confirmed to be bound in human skin. 🏛️ Harvard & Des destinées de l’âme One of the most well-known anthropodermic books is Des destinées de l’âme (The Destinies of the Soul), a 19th-century philosophical work by Arsène Houssaye. The book was gifted to physician Ludovic Bouland, who later bound it in the skin of an unnamed female patient who died in a French psychiatric hospital. Bouland left a handwritten note stating that “a book about the human soul deserved a human covering.” In 2014, Harvard University used peptide mass fingerprinting (PMF) to scientifically confirm that the binding was human skin. After extensive ethical review, Harvard announced in 2024 that the human skin had been removed from the book and placed into respectful care, acknowledging past mishandling of human remains. 🔪 Criminal Punishment & Skin Binding Some anthropodermic books were created using the skin of executed criminals, often bound around: Trial transcriptsConfessionsAccounts of crimesThis practice was intended as an extension of punishment beyond death and was widely accepted within certain legal and medical frameworks of the time. One example discussed is William Corder, convicted of the Red Barn Murder, whose skin was used to bind books about his crime after his execution. 🛣️ James Allen (George Walton): Consent Case James Allen, a 19th-century highwayman also known as George Walton, represents a rare documented case of explicit consent. After attempting to rob John Fenno and being sentenced to life in prison, Allen wrote a detailed confession and requested that his own skin be used to bind the manuscript after his death. The request was honored in 1837, and the finished book was delivered to Fenno—Allen’s intended victim. This book still exists and is often cited as the clearest example of voluntary anthropodermic bibliopegy. 🧠 Burke & Hare In 1820s Edinburgh, William Burke and William Hare murdered at least sixteen people to sell their bodies to anatomists. After Burke’s execution in 1829, his body was publicly dissected, and portions of his skin were preserved and used to create at least one book attributed to his remains. Fragments of Burke’s body, including his skeleton and skin artifacts, are still held in Scottish collections today. 👻 Hauntings & Cultural Aftermath There are no verified paranormal hauntings directly associated with anthropodermic books. However, museum staff and visitors have reported feelings of unease, nausea, emotional heaviness, or discomfort when handling or viewing such objects—particularly after learning their origins. Modern scholars emphasize that the true “haunting” lies not in ghosts, but in how long these objects were treated as curiosities rather than human remains. 🔗 SOURCES & FURTHER READING (Highly credible, museum- and academic-backed) Primary & Academic Sources College of Physicians of Philadelphia – Historical Medical Library “The Skin She Lived In” https://histmed.collegeofphysicians.org/skin-she-lived-in/Anthropodermic Book Project https://anthropodermicbooks.org/University of Delaware – Anomalous Books Project https://sites.udel.edu/anomalousbooks/books-human-skin/Journalism & Secondary Sources NPR – “Dark Archives Explores the Use of Human Skin in Bookbinding” https://www.npr.org/2020/10/21/925832512/dark-archives-explores-the-use-of-human-skin-in-bookbindingSmithsonian Magazine – Harvard Human Skin Book Removal https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-book-bound-with-human-skin-spent-90-years-in-harvards-library-now-the-binding-has-been-removed-180984057/Harvard Library – Statement on Human Remains in Collections (2024) https://library.harvard.edu/about/news/harvard-library-statement-human-remains-collectionsHistorical Cases James Allen / George Walton Skin-Bound Confession Boston Athenaeum holdings https://www.bostonathenaeum.org/collectionsWilliam Burke & Hare National Museums Scotland https://www.nms.ac.uk/
