"People's Binding Book" that it is bound by the human skin who was in the library turned out to be authentic

ByN i c o l a

Harvard UniversityHoughton Library"If you look closely you can see pores"Human skin binding bookAs a result of the survey, it turned out that human skin was used for binding with a probability of 99.9%. Until now Harvard University had discovered books that seemed to be three human-made binding books, but in April 2014 it was announced that one of them was a fake.

»Caveat Lecter Houghton Library Blog
http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/houghton/2014/06/04/caveat-lecter/

»Bound in human skin Houghton Library Blog
http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/houghton/2013/05/24/bound-in-human-skin/

The book which turned out to be real this time is a French novelistArsène HoussayeMr. Bouland gave a present to Mr. Ludovic Bouland who was a psychiatrist and a loved letter written by Mr. Bouland who wrote about the world after death using the skin of a woman who died of a stroke.


In the book, "This book wrapped in parchment made of human skin does not decorate stamping etc. because it does not impair the original elegance of the skin.In staring, pore It is easy to recognize I. Although I kept the skin of the back of a woman, this book written about the human soul can be said to be suitable for binding with human skin. It is also interesting to change the color of the skin and show another aspect.I have another book which is smaller than this, it has a book attached by human skin, but it turns into a color of urushi by burning on the day It is written that "is.


"Another book" in the above sentence is the book "De integritatis & amp; corruptionis virginum notis" by Séverin Pineau issued in 1663,Welcome LibraryIt is stored in. This is an ordinary book at first glance.


A fine decoration is given.


There was still handwritten text by Mr. Bouland inside.


It was not certain at the time when this human skin binding book was found at Harvard University that it really is the human skin being used. Therefore, the investigation team is a method of identifying proteins by taking several samples from bindingsPeptide mass finger printing (PMF), And concluded that the book was bound with human skin with a probability of 99.9%. According to Bill Lane who investigated, "In the PMF survey, this binding was clearly different from general binding such as sheep and cow, it was consistent with human protein data.It is a primate very close to humans such as gibbons Although I was not able to throw away the possibility,Liquid chromatography · tandem mass spectrometryWe have concluded that the amino acid sequence was determined using human serum albumin and it was almost impossible for non-human skin. "

Binding using human skin "Human skin binding book"Was believed to have appeared at least in the 16th century, bookbinding techniques were established in the 17th century. At the time, as the body of the criminal who became the death penalty was used for the development of science and at the same time the skin was handed over to the reformer or bookbinding shop, the binding was done using the criminal's skin or died She also used books from family skin to memorize books as memories. When I heard "Books booked with human skin" I imagine gruesome, but it seems that it was not such a change as a feeling at the time.

In the stage of 2006Harvard University has three books of human affairAlthough it was thought that, the investigation found that the remaining two books are made of sheepskin. In one of the two volumes, "This book's binding is the one left by Jonas Wright, my best friend, who peeled the skin alive on August 4, 1632, by the Wavuma tribe. King Mbesa gave to me, which was meaningful among the poor Jonas' belongings, Jonas's skin was enough to cover books, pray for the feudal lord "There was a meaningful description.It seems that he searched for it, but in the end it was the other book that was genuine.

852 RARE: Old Books, New Technologies, and "The Human Skin Book" at HLS
http://etseq.law.harvard.edu/2014/04/852-rare-old-books-new-technologies-and-the-human-skin-book-at-hls/