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unhinged_female_protagonist's review against another edition
5.0
It took me so long to get through this book because life has been crazy but let me tell you, if I had the time I would have sat and blew through it in one day!!!
This book was FASCINATING and I learned so much not just about anthropodermic bibliopegy, but the history of physician training, the history of medical consent, rare book collecting, book binding, leather tanning and the wide scope that a career in librarianship has.
There is a lot of info in here but it’s not overwhelming and leaves you fee smarter, death positive and just a wee titillated for having read it. I loved this book, and will definitely be purchasing my own copy!
This book was FASCINATING and I learned so much not just about anthropodermic bibliopegy, but the history of physician training, the history of medical consent, rare book collecting, book binding, leather tanning and the wide scope that a career in librarianship has.
There is a lot of info in here but it’s not overwhelming and leaves you fee smarter, death positive and just a wee titillated for having read it. I loved this book, and will definitely be purchasing my own copy!
devlaluna2's review
dark
funny
hopeful
informative
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
i loveddd this!! the way it discusses anthropodermic bibliopegy as it relates to asylums, women, midwives, people of color, medical patients, islamophobia, consent, repatriation, healthcare, and the pursuit of scholarship!!! so so interesting and i loveee the writing style
mdmartin's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.5
craftingcatlady's review against another edition
Did not hold my attention. Too heavy in the science and the background behind the science and testing. Not much talked about the books.
kasss's review against another edition
4.5
I've been meaning to read this book since it came out in 2020. It was Harvard's announcement last month, stating they were removing the human skin binding from a book (said book is also discussed in Dark Archives), that finally triggered me to read it because I needed to know more.
From the reviews of this book alone you can tell this is a controversial topic - the author simultaneously gets criticised for not being in favour of dismantling books bound in human skin, as well as for being too apologetic about the fact that these books exist at all. All in all, I think it was a carefully considered and well written book, and it answered some questions I had.
Don't get too excited though - there is still relatively little to say about these books, first and foremost because there truly aren't that many confirmed cases out there (out of 51 alleged anthropodermic books, only 18 are confirmed to be bound in human skin), and second because their history is often untraceable. (What we do now know however is incredibly fascinating, and in many cases depressing.) A lot of the book is 'filler', but it's interesting and often does a good job at contextualising.
(My only complaint is that I'm frustrated we were left hanging in chapter 12 - I get that Rosenbloom probably didn't have any opportunity to study the Poe first-hand herself, but she manages to trace fascinating provenance, and makes this grand statement:
From the reviews of this book alone you can tell this is a controversial topic - the author simultaneously gets criticised for not being in favour of dismantling books bound in human skin, as well as for being too apologetic about the fact that these books exist at all. All in all, I think it was a carefully considered and well written book, and it answered some questions I had.
Don't get too excited though - there is still relatively little to say about these books, first and foremost because there truly aren't that many confirmed cases out there (out of 51 alleged anthropodermic books, only 18 are confirmed to be bound in human skin), and second because their history is often untraceable. (What we do now know however is incredibly fascinating, and in many cases depressing.) A lot of the book is 'filler', but it's interesting and often does a good job at contextualising.
While some of its previous owners may remain forever in shadows, we now know that it has passed through the hands of the best and brightest in American medicine and perhaps literature as well—men whose work has affected all of our lives.