Picture Credits: Paige Manning, 2021
Museums, libraries, galleries, and archives have always held objects of importance and significance to educate and entertain. However, sometimes the objects are controversial, ethically dubious, and questionable. ‘Dark Archives’ explores one of these facets through investigating the history and science of human skin bound books.
The author, Megan Rosenbloom, was formerly a medical librarian and journalist who is now the collection strategies librarian at the UCLA Library in Los Angeles. From a young age, she has had a fascination with the history of medicine and rare books, which led her to become a member of the Anthropodermic Book Project: a multidisciplinary team scientifically testing alleged human skin books around the world and verifying their origins.
Each chapter explores the history of human skin books, researching into how these items came to be and the mythos that surrounds them. Within this, the book untangles the legal and ethical reasonings behind these books through the centuries and how many institutions deal with conserving (or destroying) these relics.
The histories of this macabre practice are fascinating, but one of the highlights was exploring how the Anthropodermic Book Project was scientifically proving the existence or exposing the lies of these books – the number of claims around the world for human skin bound books that turned out to be false was astounding! That being said, there are definitely a fair few out there, and their past is complicated and captivating. Rosenbloom’s writing is compelling, as it reckons with the ethical conundrums while also allowing room for personal contemplation on the subject.
Although a morbid topic for some, it allows for a peek behind the curtains at the world of human remains within institutions such as museums – a rare treat! I would recommend the book for anyone with morbid curiosities, such as myself!
Written by Paige Manning
Comments