"... seeks out the historic and scientific truths behind anthropodermic bibliopegy--the practice of binding books in this most intimate covering. Dozens of such books live on in the world's most famous libraries and museums. Dark Archives exhumes their origins and brings to life the doctors, murderers, and indigents whose lives are sewn together in this disquieting collection. Along the way, Rosenbloom tells the story of how her team of scientists, curators, and librarians test rumored anthropodermic books, untangling the myths around their creation and reckoning with the ethics of their custodianship..."--Back cover

The First Printing -- This Dreadful Workshop -- Gentlemen Collectors -- Skin Craft -- Secrets of the Sages-Femmes -- The Long Shadow of the Night Doctors -- The Postmortem Travels of William Corder -- Echoes of Tanner's Close -- The Highwayman's Gift -- Ghosts in the Library -- My Corpse, My Choice -- The French Connection -- Epilogue: Humane Anatomy -- The Anthropodermic Book Project's List of Confirmed Human Skin Books as of March 2020

"A medical librarian presents a fascinating, terrifying look into history's rarest books-- those bound in human skin-- and the stories of their creation and collection"--