Written by: Megan Rosenbloom
First line: The brass, wood, and glass cases gave the main exhibition hall of the Mütter Museum a warm and cozy feeling—which was odd, considering it was a room full of corpses.
Why you should read this book: This seems to be the definitive work on the controversial subject of anthropodermic bibliopegy: the art, science, and history of binding books in human leather. Rosenbloom, a medical librarian, finds herself in the strange position of collecting small samples of such books for her colleague to test for authenticity, as it is only very recently in human history that chemical tests could distinguish the origin of a tanned sample of mammalian skin. In her journeys, she delves deeply into the past, particularly into the evolution of medicine and medical ethics, and connects her findings to the present and future of medicine.
Why you shouldn't read this book: A lot of people automatically assume that this is going to be about Nazi atrocities, but Rosenbloom's research never uncovers a single example of a human-bound book from the Third Reich.
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