"Dark Archives" Book Talk with Megan Rosenbloom
Channel: UCLA Library
Date: 2020-10-09

UCLA Library's Collection Strategies Librarian Megan Rosenbloom discusses her debut book, Dark Archives: A Librarian's Investigation into the Science and History of Books Bound in Human Skin. Rosenbloom introduces the concept and historical context for the 19th century practice of anthropodermic bibliopegy - or binding books in human skin - revealing the complicated truths it tells us about the birth of clinical medicine. Rosenbloom's interdisciplinary work - spanning the fields of librarianship, history, proteomics, and material culture - sheds light on how academic library collections are being used in some unforeseen ways and the importance of preservation and access to these collections.

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