Absolutely fascinating. It might have been strange (read: macabre) beach reading, but the journey was compelling enough to unfold as the best kind of nerdy librarian mystery thriller. I'd always assumed human-bound books to be apocryphal at best and a very strange urban legend at worst. This book is a perfect intersection between book history and horror.

I was curious about this book and I can say it was an entertaining and informative read.
It's well researched and well written, I loved the style of writing and the clarity of the explanations.
It's highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I was excited to read this book as a person who likes to learn about the material culture of books, but I will end up recommending that many of my colleagues at work read it for the really interested medical ethics discussion throughout. Honestly, sign me up for anything The Order of the Good Death folks do--all the better if it's from a Librarian to boot.

Anthropodermic bibliopegy: the practice of binding books in human skin.
This book gave me the best idea ever for what I want to do with my body when I die as a bookworm. Just wow. I never considered this a possibility before and the author has opened up a gate I never knew existed and took me to a whole new world filled with books bound with human skin. Amazing!
This book contains well-researched interesting facts as the author takes un on an unconventional adventure in search of these books. I thought they would give out some kind of weird vibe, that they would be easily recognized but it takes a lot of research and examination to determine if their covers are really made of human skin because they look ordinary! But don’t be fooled their stories and histories are much more interesting and the author “rehumanizes these dehumanized parts” of actual people by telling the real life stories and creates an incredible collection worth reading. A stimulating read recommended for bibliophiles.

I was provided an advanced copy of this book by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I should admit, I am a bit biased; I am a longtime follower (and member) of the Order of the Good Death, as well as Twitter follower of Megan Rosenbloom. I have studied death and dying and Immortality Theory in college and postgrad - so this book is right in my wheelhouse.

I am such a nerd when it comes to history and all of the answers to "but why?" and "but how?" - I need to know the inner workings, not just of what you're examining, but of the rationale of the person who decided it needed to exist. Rosenbloom did an incredible job of this - and with incredible care and consideration for all people and scientific research involved.

I work in a library, and had heard about books bound in human skin before, so I was curious enough to read this book. There is a long history to it, and the author does a good job of explaining everything. I'd recommend this if you are interested in this kind of information. I would also recommend The Midnight Library podcast's episode on it if you need it in smaller doses.

Megan Rosenbloom’s Dark Archive: A Librarian’s Investigation introduces readers to books bound in human skin. As a library student, Rosenbloom first saw anthropodermic books in an inconspicuously placed glass display case at the Mütter Museum in Philadelphia, a medical oddities museum she describes as “the kind of place that encourages a mix of eager fascination and quiet mortality contemplation.” What caught her attention was that the row of what looked like normal old leather-bound books was displayed with the covers closed.

She was shocked when learning that doctors most commonly had such books custom bound for their collections, one by a Civil War doctor from the skin of a soldier who had been his patient. Many questions went through her head. She found herself wondering about the authors, the lives and deaths of the people whose skin covered the books, the book binders who agreed to custom bind a book such a book, the collectors who paid to have the books bound that way, the libraries that preserve the books for future research, the researchers who study the books, and more. “When I rehumanze these books, suddenly the scores of human beings who each book has touched cluster in my mind’s eye like a community holding one small object together. That was the story I wanted to know. That was the story I wanted to tell,” she explains.

When she found herself in charge of the medical collection at the University of Southern California seven years later, she realized she was in a position to start answering her questions.

In chapters with intriguing titles such as “Skin Craft,” “The Postmortem Travels of William Corder” and “My Corpse, My Choice,” Rosenbloom opens readers’ eyes and minds to a new world of books she encountered in her world travels, scientific testing to determine authenticity, the tanning process, tales of long ago murders and of the digging up of corpses, and other amazing stories readers must learn for themselves.

Beginning her research “with a healthy dose of morbid curiosity,” Rosenbloom not only talks about books bound in human skin, but also about her own changing views of mortality, immortality, and her professional role as a “caretaker of what remains of the past.”

Thanks to NetGalley, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, and Megan Rosenbloom for providing an advance review copy of this fascinating book.

A fascinating read on a particularly macabre kind of book. Rosenbloom investigated the history and science of book bound in skin. Fans of the macabre will enjoy this book.

An interesting, intriguing nonfiction book about books. Especially perfect for fans of THE LIBRARY BOOK by Susan Orlean who also want to dip their toe in the macabre and gruesome.

I've always been fascinated by the concept of binding books with human skin, because I went to Brown University and have worked with the John Hay Library, where they keep the university's collection of anthropodermic books. Unfortunately never got to see them in person (though hopefully one day I'll come back), but the history behind how these books came to be, as well as the texts chosen to be decorated in such a morbid fashion, are fascinating. Love the discussions on ethics for these rare objects: what is our duty to preserve history, and how does that measure up against the sanctity and dignity of human life? This makes me think of things like museums featuring instruments of torture, or keeping things like guillotines and executioners chair for posterity, and even some famous examples of keeping images of the dead (thinking in particular about the death mask Tussaud took of Marie Antoinette's head, and how that is one of the most famous images of the queen).

When I learned of the existence of books bound with human skin, I was partly disgusted but mainly intrigued, so I was thrilled to learn there was a new book about anthropodermic bibliopegy (the technical term) and couldn't wait to read it. And DARK ARCHIVES did not disappoint.

Disclosure: I've been an archivist for nearly 30 years, which does not make me an expert on rare books, but I know a little bit about them. Due to my background, I was a little surprised by the shock from people I told about the book I was reading. Rest assured--anthropodermic books are very rare (less than 50 known). You're not likely to inadvertently check one out of your public library, or even encounter one if you visit a rare books library.

Author Megan Rosenbloom--a former medical librarian and journalist--explains the background, science, and stories of some of the books that were claimed or actually were anthropodermic. The only remotely gross part of the book is the section on tanning, which put me off leather goods a bit (and made me more curious about my tannery-owning ancestors).

Granted, this book isn't for everyone, but for those interested in history, rare books, archives, etc., I highly recommend it. Also, the dark archives referenced in the title is related to the provenance of anthropodermic books. Strangely, some collectors don't boast about owning books bound with human skin. Go figure. #DarkArchives #NetGalley

Dark Archives by Megan Rosenbloom is a non-fiction book about books bound in human skin. A perfect read for the spooky season for those that don’t mind their reads to be a little macabre. Warning that this is not for the squeamish.
The author explores the science and historical accounts behind anthropodermic bibliopegy, in a respectful and engaging way. I was surprised to find that I enjoyed finding out about how books are cared for and how they test the books to see if they are in fact bound in human skin. I really enjoyed the stories behind the people that collected these books and the exploration of the morality of such.
I just wish there was more as it was a little short.
Definitely recommend!

This is a book about which I said, “Wow, librarians do research like this?” Megan Rosenbloom tells the details of her search to find anthropodermic books…books with covers made of human skin. I expected the book to be a lot more creepy---perfect for October reading, but instead it was a fascinating, knowledgeable look at a complex issue. Miss Rosenbloom is a terrific storyteller taking the scientific and historical details and making what could be dry information into an intriguing book filled with detail and accuracy.

I love a good science nonfiction that goes hand-in-hand with my history loving soul, add in books, and this near-perfect blend of the three. This is absolutely captivating, although it could have been longer, but probably not for those without the morbid curiosity like myself.

This is a perfect book for Spooky Season. Books made of Human Skin. HUMAN SKIN! Megan Rosenbloom delves into the history of book binding with HUMAN SKIN!

HUMAN SKIN!!!

This is well research and informative - and completely morbid. I loved it.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity.

I picked this book up because it seemed like a suitably creepy, macabre read for October. What I didn't realize was that it was written by a librarian and while it is creepy and macabre, it is also super thoughtful, extremely well researched, and not sensationalist at all.

That being said there are some pretty graphic descriptions of books bound in human skin, collections of medical oddities and various other gruesome incidents. and objects I was impressed with how Rosenbloom handled these pieces with such obvious humanity and empathy for the actual people involved. It is clear that she has a firm handle on the ethics (and frequent lack thereof) of the subject she is covering and in my opinion that makes this book an even more interesting examination of the practice.

Obviously this book was 100% in my own readership wheelhouse, but I would recommend this book to spooky nerds, folks who enjoyed Mary Roach's <i>Stiff</i> and anyone interested in this strange intersection of the strange and the scholarly.

A fascinating look into the history of books bound in human skin - fancily called ‘anthropodermic bibliopegy’ - by a death-positive bibliophile medical librarian.

This book appealed to me for many reasons - one, it’s about rare books; two, it’s medical history; three, it’s written by a librarian who is one of the founders of Death Salons and an advocate of death positivity ... and four, it starts out in the Mutter Museum (a medical history museum that I did a huge project on as a museum studies undergrad)!

This book reminded me a bit of the Library Book (by Susan Orlean), as it wasn’t just a book of dry historical fact, and instead read as a bunch of different things - it was a mystery and a thriller, a travelogue, a historical investigation, and a sociological text, all in one. Rosenbloom’s journey as a medical librarian and her initial introduction to human skin books is a fascinating one, and the level of detail, curiosity, and respect she has as she investigates these curiosities is impressive (and made me a little jealous - I’d love to handle as many rare books as she gets to)!

An eye-opening, sometimes somber look at a subject not many people know about (or think they care to know about), this book would be perfect for medical history nerds, bibliophiles, museumphiles (is that a word? It is now), death-positive folks, and anyone curious about the myriad ways that humans have figured out how to preserve bits of themselves throughout the centuries.

I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Out October 20, 2020.

The writing is conversational and informative. I found the whole topic of anthropodernic bibliopegy fascinating, and I would recommend this book to anyone who likes the history of books and/or medicine.

Fascinating book for the morbidly curious! A thoughtful and well=researched dive on the haunting histories of oddities.

“When I rehumanize these books, suddenly the scores of human beings whom each book has touched cluster in my mind’s eye like a community together holding one small object. That was the story I wanted to know. That was the story I wanted to tell. I never would have guessed that a lineup of innocent-looking books in a glass museum case would take over my life.”

Dark Archives by Megan Rosenbloom is a deep dive into the history of bookbinding—with human skin. As a lover of history, libraries, and all things macabre, I was immediately captivated by this book.

Rosenbloom has succeeded in unearthing a relatively obscure chapter in medical history, bringing it to life, and raising thought-provoking ethical questions. As she pulled me into the dark but spellbinding world of anthropodermic bibliopegy, Rosenbloom’s obsession became my own. This book gave me chills left and right, but I also couldn’t look away. The author takes us on a journey through time to uncover the origins and evolution of binding books with human skin. We’re introduced to all sorts of fascinating characters and records that were (unsurprisingly) left out of mainstream textbooks: night doctors, the morbid history of human dissection, and the broader sociocultural conditions that fostered these practices. She also manages to do it without being sensationalistic—the book is well-sourced and she's upfront about the limitations in research and gaps in history. Dark Archives sits at the intersection of so many disciplines—science, medicine, ethics, and culture—it could’ve easily gone dry, but Rosenbloom managed to weave the pieces together expertly and eloquently.

If you’re squeamish, this may not be your cup of tea—but for curious souls who want a thoughtful take on haunting histories and obscurities, grab a mug, curl up in front of the fireplace, and let yourself be transported.

<b>A look at human leather bound books and the people involved. </b>

3.5 rounded up.

Not for the faint of heart!

<b>Synopsis:</b> Dark Archives is a non-fiction book that takes a look at the history of human leather bound books with the main intent of bringing to light the stories of the people who made the books (those that bound them as well as those who were used to bind them). There's also a fairly large emphasis on medical history as many of the people who had human leather bound books made were doctors in the 19th century. Rosenbloom looks into the history of many of the more well-known anthropodermic books, and documents her experiences visiting the libraries that hold them.

<b>Thoughts:</b> This was an interesting read that was elevated by the author's clear passion for the subject and the huge amount of research that went into this book. Each chapter as at least five pages of references! Rosenbloom is part of the death positive movement and she's a librarian herself so she already has a wealth of knowledge on the subject, but I was still really impressed by the amount of research that went into this book.

I will say, the material in the book was slightly different than I expected, as I said there is a heavy emphasis on medical history and conversely the book is a bit lighter on some aspects that I wanted to know more about such as how they test the books to find out if they are human leather as well as how these books are cared for. Having said that, I did find the medical history elements interesting and they were definitely important to the picture Rosenbloom painted of the people involved in creating anthropodermic books. One of Rosenbloom's main goals with this book was to tell the story of the people involved, not just the books, and I think she did a great job of that. One of the most memorable parts of the book for me was the story of a murderer who had his prison warden write his memoir and then had the memoir bound in his own skin after he died!

I do think the book is a tad bit shorter than it could have been. Roughly 25% of the 288 pages is taken up by the book's references, and I was a bit shocked when I got to the epilogue because I felt like I still had a lot to learn about these books, but overall I think Rosenbloom did a great job of teaching the reader more about this macabre subject. I think if the topic interests you and you also have some interest in the history of medicine then it will be well worth your time to read this.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced review copy.