Human skin bindings

I am looking for any information the members of ConsDist List can
provide on the practice of binding books in human skin.  I know this
sounds gruesome, but I have encountered a book in our rare book
collection that contains a donor's note that the book is bound in
human skin.  If any further documentation ever accompanied the book
it has been lost in the 90+ years the book has been in our care.
Many thanks for any information that is available on this macabre
practice.  Cheers,

    **** Moderator's comments: This subject has been discussed in
    ExLibris. See the Exlibris archives in CoOL:
        http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/byform/mailing-lists/exlibris/

Robert R. Bleil
Public Services Librarian
Juniata College, Huntingdon, Pennsylvania

                                  ***
                  Conservation DistList Instance 10:49
                Distributed: Thursday, November 21, 1996
                       Message Id: cdl-10-49-015
                                  ***