Dark Archives is a book by the medical librarian and death-positive
advocate Megan Rosenbloom. It focuses on anthropodermic bibliopegy, the
binding of books in human skin (reported example pictured). In Dark
Archives, Rosenbloom discusses such books and their historical, ethical,
and cultural implications. She analyses how the practice's rise and fall
reflects changing attitudes towards consent, ownership, and disposal of
human bodies, and how its history intertwines with the history of
medical ethics as a field. Rosenbloom examines notable books bound in
human skin and their origins, and interviews librarians, archivists,
collectors, and experts on the topic. Though Rosenbloom supports the
preservation and maintenance of anthropodermic books, Dark Archives also
covers arguments to the contrary. The book was published by Farrar,
Straus and Giroux in 2020; critics praised it for its thorough research,
clear writing, and enthusiasm for rare books and their history.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Archives>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1921:
The remains of an unknown soldier were buried with an eternal
flame at the Altare della Patria in Rome.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Emmanuel_II_Monument>
1952:
Robert A. Lovett, United States Secretary of Defense, issued a
memorandum establishing the National Security Agency, with
responsibility for all communications intelligence for the government.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Security_Agency>
1995:
Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated by Yigal
Amir, a right-wing extremist, at a peace rally at Kings of Israel Square
in Tel Aviv.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Yitzhak_Rabin>
2010:
In the first aviation incident involving an Airbus A380,
Qantas Flight 32 suffered an uncontained engine failure and made an
emergency landing at
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qantas_Flight_32>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
uke-e:
(art) A kind of ukiyo-e (“Japanese painting or woodblock print showing a
scene of everyday life”) depicting an auspicious subject, which was
popular in Japan during the late 1800s.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/uke-e>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Those who would make us feel — must feel themselves.
--Charles Churchill
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Charles_Churchill>
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