Sound horrifying? The practice was more common than you think.
Hesburgh Libraries University of Notre Dame
Now University of Notre Dame conservators are awaiting results about whether a book in their collection was made using human skin.
Last year Harvard conservators confirmed a book in their library was made of human skin after scientists tested the binding, and other surviving books have periodically surfaced.
Though the Notre Dame copy's history is unclear, the book has been a highlight on the library's Special Collections tour for so long that researchers decided to send a sample to the New York City Medical Examiner's office.
The annotations about the book's potential origins can be seen in this photograph.
Hesburgh Libraries University of Notre Dame
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Some Books Used To Be Made Of Human Skin, And This Might Be One Of Them