Dark Archives by Megan Rosenbloom Book Trailer

A Librarian’s Investigation into the Science and History of Books Bound in Human Skin.
On bookshelves around the world, surrounded by ordinary books bound in paper and leather, rest other volumes of a distinctly strange and grisly sort: those bound in human skin. Would you know one if you held it in your hand?
In Dark Archives, Megan Rosenbloom seeks out the historic and scientific truths behind anthropodermic bibliopegy-the practice of binding books in this most intimate covering. Dozens of such books live on in the world’s most famous libraries and museums. Dark Archives exhumes their origins and brings to life the doctors, murderers, innocents, and indigents whose lives are sewn together in this disquieting collection. Along the way, Rosenbloom tells the story of how her team of scientists, curators, and librarians test rumored anthropodermic books, untangling the myths around their creation and reckoning with the ethics of their custodianship.
A librarian and journalist, Rosenbloom is a member of The Order of the Good Death and a cofounder of their Death Salon, a community that encourages conversations, scholarship, and art about mortality and mourning. In Dark Archives-captivating and macabre in all the right ways-she has crafted a narrative that is equal parts detective work, academic intrigue, history, and medical curiosity: a book as rare and thrilling as its subject.
Praise for Dark Archives
“Profoundly odd, wholly original, and utterly engrossing! If there were a Pulitzer for the category, ‘Who knew?,’ Ms. Rosenbloom’s Dark Archives would win it hands down.” ―Erik Larson, author of The Splendid and the Vile
“Dark Archives is a gorgeous dive into the humanity and inhumanity of the people behind (and on) these strangely captivating books. Propelled by curiosity and bibliophilia, Rosenbloom travels far and wide and deep within, taking us to unimaginable places. This is a masterful work, enlightened and enlivened by Rosenbloom’s scholarship and her involvement with the death positive movement. If there were a word for the perfect pairing of author and subject and the giddy joy that pairing brings to the reader, I’d be using it right now.” ―Mary Roach, author of Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers
“An international treasure hunt, fascinating medical history, high level PR nightmare, and heartrending account of the real people whose flesh was turned into curiosities by the medical professionals they trusted.” ―Caitlin Doughty, author of Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs?: Big Questions About Death
“Megan Rosenbloom is the perfect guide to a dark and sinister world populated by Victorian criminals, bodysnatchers, and dissectors―all of whom contributed to the gruesome art of binding books with human skin. A splendid read for Halloween Eve!” ―Lindsey Fitzharris, author of The Butchering Art
Animation by Nicole Antebi (nicoleantebi.com @nicoleantebi on Instagram / @nananaKneeeees on Twitter)
Royalty-free music: "A Brisk Walk" by Peter Sandberg
Human skin book leather background courtesy of The Boston Athenæum
meganrosenbloom.com/books/