Book bound in human skin

2006-04-10 20:26

London - British police are trying to trace the owners of a 300-year-old book, thought to be bound in human skin.

The book, most of which is in French, was found in central Leeds, northern England.

British detectives believe the book may have been dumped after a burglary.

On Monday, a West Yorkshire police spokesperson said it was not clear what the book was about, but it is thought to be a ledger dating back to the 1700s.

Binding books in human skin - a process called anthropodermic bibliopegy - was not uncommon around the time of the French Revolution in 1789.

The practice was used to more gruesome effect in the 18th and 19th centuries, when accounts of murder trials would be bound in the killer's skin.

Anatomy books were also often bound in the skin of the dissected cadaver.

British police said a man in his early twenties had been arrested in connection with the investigation but later bailed pending further enquiries.

- AFP