Lost book bound in skin of notorious murderer on display at UK museum
Talk about a morbid read...
A book bound in the skin of one of the UK's most notorious murderers is about to go on display at Moyse's Hall Museum in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, UK.
The tome, reportedly made using the skin of William Corder, who was convicted of killing Maria Marten in the Red Barn Murder in 1827, was found on a bookshelf in the museum's office.
Unlike the previously known copy of the book, "An Authentic and Faithful History of the Mysterious Murder of Maria Marten" by James Curtis, which was completely covered in human skin, the new find only has skin inserts on the spine and corners.
The first book was put on display at Moyse's Hall Museum in 1933 and it wasn't until recently that curators realised, after looking through the museum's catalogue, that there was a second book that had been overlooked...
Scene of the Red Barn Murder
Public Domain - stedmundsbury.gov.uk
For those of you not familiar with the bleak tale, Maria Marten was shot dead by William Corder. Her body was discovered in a local landmark, the Red Barn, after her stepmother Ann Marten reported disturbing dreams pointing to the burial site.
It is believed that Corder and Maria Marten were lovers and that he lured her to the Red Barn, saying they would run away to Ipswich to get married. Corder was arrested in London, tried in Bury St Edmunds, and publicly hanged in 1828.
After the execution, the criminal's body was anatomized, and his skin was used to bind the report of the murder and the story of his trial.
The Red Barn Murder has provoked numerous songs, plays and TV series. Most recently, a 1971 song recorded by folk singer Shirley Collins and the Albion Country Band was performed by Florence Pugh in the (brilliant) 2018 TV adaptation of John Le Carré's spy novel 'The Little Drummer Girl'.
The two books
Moyse's Hall Museum
'The murder continues to be interpreted and reinterpreted in popular culture to this day,' said Daniel Clarke, heritage officer at West Suffolk council.
'Do we think all books bound in skin should be on display? That would be debated on a case-by-case basis,' said Clarke. 'In this instance, it is a stark and emotive set of artefacts that give us the chance to discuss the anatomising of the criminal corpse. Uncomfortable history, yes, but if we are to learn from history we must first face it with honesty and openness.'
Clarke added that the museum does not 'deal with this as a salacious artefact but as a window into the past'.
An Authentic and Faithful History of the Mysterious Murder of Maria Marten
Facebook - Moyse's Hall Museum
The rather gruesome book binding practice was a common procedure in the 19th century, known as anthropodermic bibliopegy.
Famous examples of anthropodermic bibliopegy include editions of Holbein's 'Dance of Death' and the French book 'La pluralité des mondes habités' by astronomer Camille Flammarion. Legend has it that a female admirer of Flammarion bequeathed her skin to bind his book – which is stamped 'reliure en peau humaine, 1880 ('human skin binding, 1880').
Due to containing human remains, books bound in human skin are considered by many to be problematic.
ADVERTISEMENT
Last year, Harvard University removed the human skin, stolen post-mortem off an unidentified female hospital patient, from 'Des destinées de l'âme," due to 'the ethically fraught nature of the book's origins and subsequent history".
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Euronews
2 hours ago
- Euronews
TIME Magazine celebrates first ever 'Girls of the Year' list
TIME Magazine, known for its annual celebrations of the world's most remarkable individuals, has published its first-ever Girls of the Year list today. The magazine has honoured '10 extraordinary young leaders' between the ages of 12 and 17, who are 'inspiring communities around the world.' 'The initiative celebrates and amplifies the voices of inspiring young women who are building the future and turning imagination into impact', TIME said in a statement. Among the honourees is 15-year-old French singer Zoé Clauzure, whoo won the 2023 Junior Eurovision Song Contest with her anti-bullying pop anthem 'Coeur.' In 2024, Clauzure became the youngest-ever Ambassador for Peace at the Non-Violence Project, a non profit dedicated to promoting peace. The list also distinguished Mexican racing driver Ivanna Richards, 17, who hopes to one day compete in the male-dominated Formula 1. In the meantime, Richards takes part in Mexican racing series, and she participated in a test drive for the female-only F1 Academy championship in 2024. Other "Girls of the Year" include 12-year-old scientist Clara Proksch from Germany, 17-year-old Polish scientist Kornelia Wieczorek and Japanese skateboarder Coco Yoshizawa, 15, who won a gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics. 'These girls are part of a generation that's reshaping what leadership looks like today,' said TIME's Senior Editor Dayana Sarkisova. 'Their generation understands that change doesn't require waiting for adulthood - it starts with seeing problems and refusing to accept them as permanent.' The Girls of the Year list was made in partnership with the LEGO Group. The company launched its 'She Built That' campaign in June to fight sexist stereotypes and empower little girls. LEGO found that 72% of parents still feel girls lack visible female role models who build the world, according to a survey on more than 30,000 parents and children in 21 countries. In addition to its Person of the Year feature, TIME regularly honours influential people through its TIME 100 lists. In 2019, the magazine released 89 covers to celebrate 100 women from 1920 to the current era. Since 2022, TIME has also awarded the Women of the Year title to several women from various fields each year. The 2025 list includes actress Nicole Kidman, gymnast Jordan Chiles and sexual assault survivor Gisèle Pelicot.
Euronews
11 hours ago
- Euronews
Citizens' petition 'Stop Destroying Games' reaches 1.4mln signatures
The citizens' petition "Stop Destroying Games" has attracted more than 1.4 million signatures across the European Union. It's looking likely that the European Commission will have to examine petition and decide whether or not new laws are needed to force video game companies to preserve discontinued online games. "It's a form of programmed obsolescence. Many video an online component. And when this online component is deactivated, not by the publisher but by the video game distributor, the game is unplayable", Daniel Ondruska, a representative of the initiative, told Euronews. He gives the example of the online racing game The Crew, launched in 2014 by the French company Ubisoft, which has not been accessible since 2024. He condemns a growing practice which, in his view, undermines consumer protection and destroys cultural heritage. "All we are asking is that when the game is suspended, it has an end-of-life plan to remain reasonably playable. We don't expect it to be completely playable with all the options, just that the core of the game is still playable for someone who has legally purchased it," Ondruska explained. "We're not asking for intellectual property, we're not asking to monetise, we're not asking to resell or anything like that. The only thing is, if we buy a product, we want to use that product." Video Games Europe Video Games Europe, the lobby group for the video games industry, said in a statement in July that stopping an online game "must be an option for companies" when it is no longer "commercially viable." "We understand that this can be disappointing for players, but when this happens, the industry ensures that players receive reasonable notice of potential changes in accordance with local consumer protection laws," the group said in the statement. It added that saving video games on private servers is not an alternative because there would be no data protection, no removal of illegal content and no fight against dangerous content. When contacted for comment by Euronews, Video Games Europe declined the request, referring us instead to the press release. Citizens' initiative The European citizens' initiative "Stop Destroying Games" was submitted on 19 June 2024 and launched on 31 July of the same year. It had one year to collect one million signatures in the European Union and reach minimum thresholds in at least seven Member States. That target was reached on 4 July. Since Monday, it has been at the verification stage. Member States now have three months to check the validity of the signatures. But there is still a long way to go. The organisers will then have to formally submit the initiative to the European Commission for examination, which will have six months to state whether or not it intends to take action and present a legislative proposal to the European Parliament. If necessary, the text will still have to go through the process of adoption into EU law.
Fashion Network
12 hours ago
- Fashion Network
SMCP announces forced return of illegally transferred 15.5% stake
The 15.5% stake in SMCP (Sandro, Maje, Claudie Pierlot and Fursac) that had been improperly transferred to a trust in the British Virgin Islands by its Chinese shareholder, who defaulted in 2021, has now been returned to the Luxembourg holding company that held it, management said on Monday. "The return of this stake clarifies the shareholding situation of SMCP, which remains focused on implementing its profitable growth strategy based on the desirability of its brands, its operational agility, and its efforts to control costs," the French high-end, listed textile group said in a statement. In 2017, SMCP's majority shareholder at the time of its IPO was a Chinese conglomerate, Shandong Ruyi, via a Luxembourg-registered investment vehicle, European TopSoho (ETS). However, the heavily indebted ETS, which held a 53% stake, defaulted and, in 2021, lost most of the capital to its creditors within the GLAS entity. GLAS thus recovered 29% of the capital, leaving 8% to ETS. But European TopSoho had previously sold a stake of around 16% to Chenran Qiu, the daughter of Shandong Ruyi's founder, held in the Dynamic Treasure Group trust in the British Virgin Islands. This stake was sold for one euro "even though (its) market value was in excess of 80 million euros at the time," as Oddo analysts pointed out in a note in July 2024. For several years, GLAS had been seeking to regain access to this part of the capital, and judging the sale procedure to be irregular, it took legal action and obtained a favourable ruling from the British courts (DTC being a company incorporated under British law) in 2024, ordering the repatriation of the ETS shares to Luxembourg. However, a source close to the case told AFP that the repatriated shares were held in a bank account in Singapore, which led to the involvement of the Asian city-state's judiciary. SMCP announced on Monday that "following the decision of the Singapore High Court on July 4, 2025, the 15.5% stake in SMCP that had been sold in 2021 to Dynamic Treasure Group was returned to European Topsoho on August 11, 2025," paving the way for a capital clarification of the group. This article is an automatic translation. Click here to read the original article.
