# Books Bound in Human Skin - Yes they do exist! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 13, 2005, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-bound-in-human-skin-yes-they-do-exist/330890 "2005-11-13T21:43:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2005, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-bound-in-human-skin-yes-they-do-exist/330890/1 "2005-11-13T21:43:56Z")
Via Fark - Interesting article [Books Bound in Human Skin; Lampshade Myth?](http://media.www.hlrecord.org/media/paper609/news/2005/11/10/Opinion/Books.Bound.In.Human.Skin.Lampshade.Myth-1054759.shtml?sourcedomain=www.hlrecord.org&MIIHost=media.collegepublisher.com) ---
**Author:** ![detop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@detop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/detop)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2005, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-bound-in-human-skin-yes-they-do-exist/330890/2 "2005-11-13T22:57:56Z")
And they quote [Unka Cecil’s column](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/040604.html) : > [@](#): > > Kipperman’s conclusions comport with those of a June 2004 issue of the online de-bunking column The Straight Dope, which determined, “While the Nazis kept many grisly mementos of their victims, including tattooed skin, the lampshade claim may be a myth.” ---
**Author:** ![bonzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@bonzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bonzer)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2005, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-bound-in-human-skin-yes-they-do-exist/330890/3 "2005-11-14T01:10:06Z")
As I mentioned in the [Comments thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=259670) that that column of Cecil’s gave rise to, the most famous example of a book bound in human skin is probably the notebook [derived from William Burke](http://heritage.scotsman.com/ingenuity.cfm?id=716762005) - the half of Burke and Hare who didn’t turn King’s Evidence and was hung for bodysnatching as a result - in the Royal College of Surgeons in Edinburgh. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2005, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-bound-in-human-skin-yes-they-do-exist/330890/4 "2005-11-14T14:45:32Z")
What?! No copies of the Necronomicon De Mortis or the Malleus Malifacarum? Seriously, I was in a Pagan discussion Yahoo group in which someone cited a pro-Wicca/Paganism “documentary” aired on PBS claiming that the Church bound copies of the MM with witches skin, and also repeating the Myth of the Nine Million. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2005, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-bound-in-human-skin-yes-they-do-exist/330890/5 "2005-11-14T15:32:30Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > What?! No copies of the Necronomicon De Mortis or the Malleus Malifacarum? > > Seriously, I was in a Pagan discussion Yahoo group in which someone cited a pro-Wicca/Paganism “documentary” aired on PBS claiming that the Church bound copies of the MM with witches skin, and also repeating the Myth of the Nine Million. I know nothing of any claims that the MM was bound in witches’ skin, but what portion of the report of millions of folks dead as a consequence of the witch-trials do you regard as “myth”? Do you view 9 million as an exaggeration, and, if so, by a factor of approximately what? ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2005, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-bound-in-human-skin-yes-they-do-exist/330890/6 "2005-11-14T15:50:33Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > I know nothing of any claims that the MM was bound in witches’ skin, but what portion of the report of millions of folks dead as a consequence of the witch-trials do you regard as “myth”? Do you view 9 million as an exaggeration, and, if so, by a factor of approximately what? [http://wicca.timerift.net/burning.html](http://wicca.timerift.net/burning.html) [http://www.summerlands.com/crossroads/remembrance/\_remembrance/00000082.htm](http://www.summerlands.com/crossroads/remembrance/_remembrance/00000082.htm) [http://www.cog.org/witch\_hunt.html](http://www.cog.org/witch_hunt.html) Three Wiccan/Neo-Pagan sites all agreeing that the more probable numbers are 40,000 to 100,000. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2005, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-bound-in-human-skin-yes-they-do-exist/330890/7 "2005-11-14T17:38:46Z")
I would’ve guessed about a million point five, myself. (My copy of Trevor-Roper is at the other apartment, won’t be able to check figures until Tuesday evening). Fair enough, I thought maybe you were one of those folks who confused Salem MA’s half-dozen with Europe’s which were nontrivial. ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2005, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-bound-in-human-skin-yes-they-do-exist/330890/8 "2005-11-14T19:22:11Z")
There is a [book](http://www.stedmundsbury.gov.uk/sebc/visit/exhibits.cfm) bound in the skin of the infamous murderer William Corder from the 19th century. His victim was Maria Marten who was killed in the famous [Red Barn](http://www.stedmundsbury.gov.uk/sebc/visit/redbarn-intro.cfm)