This ancient book is in the Horton Library of Harvard University, which is the oldest library in the United States and the largest university library in the world.
Someone once found a note in the book saying that the book was bound with human skin, and the human skin was taken from the back of a female mental patient who died of a stroke. So Harvard University decided to test the cover of this ancient book.
Scientists used titanium mass fingerprinting technology and microscope to analyze the samples and confirmed that they came from primates. After further research on protein, scientists believe that the cover material of this book can be 99.9% sure to be human skin.
This is the first time that Harvard University has discovered a skin book. Similar books have been found in the libraries of Harvard Law School and Medical College before, but they were later proved to be sheepskin books.
There are about 100 volumes in the world.
According to statistics, there are about 100 books of human skin in the world at present, and many famous libraries in the United States have such books with human skin as the cover. Centuries ago, it was not uncommon to use human skin as the cover of books, and most of them belonged to private collectors. Now, these books have entered some famous libraries as rare collections by donation and purchase. These books are usually not checked out, and only experts and scholars have the opportunity to read them.
The producers of skin books can be roughly divided into three categories: one is doctors, whose skin comes from residual limbs cut by patients and unclaimed bodies; One kind is a rich collector, whose skin comes from condemned prisoners and the poor, and is usually bought at a high price; One is that the deceased asked to cut skin from the body to make a book. In addition, the bodies of some executed criminals were donated to scientists and made into books. (Anan)