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

_______________________________ 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

_____________________________ 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

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Those who would make us feel — must feel themselves.   --Charles Churchill https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Charles_Churchill