Rare Book Lost in Leeds

by Nicole Weston (RSS feed)
Apr 9th 2006 at 7:16PM

A very rare book has been found, discarded, on a street in Leeds. Abandoned, perhaps, after thieves discarded it following a robbery, the owner has not yet come forward. What makes the 300-year old book noteworthy is that it is bound in human skin. It was a not-uncommon practice in the 17th century to use the skin of murders to bind the accounts of their trials or the skin of cadavers to bind medical texts. Books such as this one, especially when kept in good condition, are prized by rare book collectors. No report yet as to the value of the book, but if no owner comes forward, it could be auctioned off by the police department.