What a Hot Mess: Books Bound In Human Skin

Courtesy of World of Wonder, I thought I was losing my mind when I came across a picture of a book bound in skin.  No, not cowhide, cardboard, or paper.  Human Skin!

I remember hearing about this way back when, but I never really looked into it; Until now.

Some say Harvard has four books, others say three - but honestly, Harvard has no earthly idea amongst it's 15-million book library how many are wrapped in human hide.  And Harvard isn't the only school with books bound in skin.  What a Hot Mess!

According to the Crimson.com,  'Accessible in the library’s Elihu Reading Room, the book, entitled “Practicarum quaestionum circa leges regias...,” looks old but otherwise ordinary.

Delicate, stiff, and with wrinkled edges, the skin’s coloring is a subdued yellow, with sporadic brown and black splotches like an old banana. The skin is not covered in hair or marked by tattoos—except for a “Harvard Law Library” branding on its spine. Nothing about it shouts “human flesh” to the untrained eye.' 

And the mess gets hotter... 'The book’s 794th and final page includes an inscription in purple cursive: “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 to bynd it. Requiescat in pace.”' 

Crazy, isn't it?  You can read more about it here.