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Strange Books Bound in Human Skin.
Revealed: The strangest books ever written, from tomes bound in human skin to a bible that conceals a pistol and a passage of 'Martian writing' channelled through a psychic
London-born author Edward Brooke-Hitching spent nearly a decade searching for the weirdest books in the world - and his investigations have paid off in spellbinding style. He has bound together a cornucopia of curiosities in a fascinating tome called The Madman's Library, which reveals the strangest books and manuscripts ever written, and the stories behind their creation. He documents books bound in human skin, a commode disguised as book (bottom right), a bible that conceals a pistol (top right), cryptic passages that not even military codebreakers can crack, Martian writing channelled through a psychic (inset), pacts with the Devil, a war diary written on a violin, books so minuscule they're invisible to the human eye and a giant medieval book that weighs 74kg (top left). Here we reveal a few of the oddball tomes within.
This book is bound in human skin. Its title is A Treaty on Virginity, Pregnancy and Childbirth and it was penned by Severin Pineau and printed in Amsterdam in 1663. Brooke-Hitching says that a note by the book's owner, Dr Ludovic Bouland, reveals the nature of the macabre material used to bind it: 'This curious little book... has been re-dressed in a piece of the skin of a woman tanned for myself.' Brooke-Hitching explains that book-binding with human skin dates back to at least the 13th century and that in the 18th and 19th centuries '[human skin] became an acceptable decorative extra when publishing accounts of murderers' crimes and medical studies'. He adds that 'a human-skin book was also, frankly, a great thing to show off at parties'
This is a remarkable portable oak commode disguised as a book with the title A History of the Low Countries (Histoire des Pays Bas). It was made in France in 1750
This intriguing 18th-century pocket confession book contains 'tear-out sins'. It served, explains Brooke-Hitching, as an aide-memoire for forgetful sinners. It contains all the known sins and enables those about to confess to gen-up on their wrong-doings. Sins in the book include 'spewing blasphemies' and 'having learned only vanity.' The book pictured above belongs to Brooke-Hitching and was published in 1721
This is the 16th-century Ruige blauwe register (The Hairy Blue Register) of the Court of Holland, a cow-hide-covered tome that recorded who had what position in government
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-9039053/The-strangest-books-written-revealed-Madmans-Library-Edward-Brooke-Hitching.html
London-born author Edward Brooke-Hitching spent nearly a decade searching for the weirdest books in the world - and his investigations have paid off in spellbinding style. He has bound together a cornucopia of curiosities in a fascinating tome called The Madman's Library, which reveals the strangest books and manuscripts ever written, and the stories behind their creation. He documents books bound in human skin, a commode disguised as book (bottom right), a bible that conceals a pistol (top right), cryptic passages that not even military codebreakers can crack, Martian writing channelled through a psychic (inset), pacts with the Devil, a war diary written on a violin, books so minuscule they're invisible to the human eye and a giant medieval book that weighs 74kg (top left). Here we reveal a few of the oddball tomes within.
This book is bound in human skin. Its title is A Treaty on Virginity, Pregnancy and Childbirth and it was penned by Severin Pineau and printed in Amsterdam in 1663. Brooke-Hitching says that a note by the book's owner, Dr Ludovic Bouland, reveals the nature of the macabre material used to bind it: 'This curious little book... has been re-dressed in a piece of the skin of a woman tanned for myself.' Brooke-Hitching explains that book-binding with human skin dates back to at least the 13th century and that in the 18th and 19th centuries '[human skin] became an acceptable decorative extra when publishing accounts of murderers' crimes and medical studies'. He adds that 'a human-skin book was also, frankly, a great thing to show off at parties'
This is a remarkable portable oak commode disguised as a book with the title A History of the Low Countries (Histoire des Pays Bas). It was made in France in 1750
This intriguing 18th-century pocket confession book contains 'tear-out sins'. It served, explains Brooke-Hitching, as an aide-memoire for forgetful sinners. It contains all the known sins and enables those about to confess to gen-up on their wrong-doings. Sins in the book include 'spewing blasphemies' and 'having learned only vanity.' The book pictured above belongs to Brooke-Hitching and was published in 1721
This is the 16th-century Ruige blauwe register (The Hairy Blue Register) of the Court of Holland, a cow-hide-covered tome that recorded who had what position in government
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-9039053/The-strangest-books-written-revealed-Madmans-Library-Edward-Brooke-Hitching.html
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Behold The Codex Gigas (or Devil's Bible), which Brooke-Hitching explains is the largest existing medieval manuscript. The 74kg tome is said to have been written in one night by a monk charged with diabolic power, he says. It resides in the National Library of Sweden in Stockholm