The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1900-10-07
SKIN OF A MAN
COVERS THREE BOOKS.
Owner of the Unique Volumes
Tells How the Remarkable Bind
ingS Came to BE Made.
REPTBILC SPECIAL.

k-Ii fii' Sff'lAi.
Philadelphia. Pa. Oct. G-On IN" shelves
OF the library Of Doctor Matthew Woods
Of this city. stand three volumes. the like
OF which have never been seen by ;h-
world before. They hav. for their neigh
hors Homer. Virgil and ovid. Their remark
able quality Is that they are bound in hui
man skin. willed by II man. Ia h.. taken
from his Own body after death and tanned
for the pUrpuS- Of covering books. The
story of this singular will WAS related re-
Gently by Doctor Wood.
Ia the S~-fni-twi,ishj of his library. Doctor
God. With the books On the tibl. beside
him, and, with Il ring OF sympathy in
his NoiC'. told how human skin UIInr ~
serve as Il covering for the volumes that
are worth more than their weight in s"iI.
Karl hHufmdu-Or 81 L. WAS known 10
his American irieuds-was Il German stu
dent said Doctor Wood. Some Years ago
lie ciiine To m" a. a %fatient. He WAS then
Il years If age AMI had fuSt come from
Germany. Why Ar left his native land h.
iii not say then. ard 1T no tiw" Later.
About his past LIE hr was always extremely
Tctictut.
The mans b,ariuc at once impres.-i
me as That u; Il gentleman born ana brr-'-
lie was tail and SLENDER Of stature. with
fir hair ana b!i- eye. iiis thi:, hands
with ;aperine fingers. We're always vi.
kept. lie had Il wonderful charm of man
r.r. ami though his clothes were Old. they
we ~ good cat, and J." awakened The
Thought Of - Beau BrumIn.l in poverty He
spoke ltG,iSh with - delightful precision
ana slightly foreign accent. My sympathy.
a. once captured. became more strongly al;
when | found that he WAS stricken with
consumption ami doomed to an early grave.
| determined TO du what | could for k.rl.
In q friendly aS Wei as in a professional
MAY. J found that he Was teaching German.
and began also To- study with MIN mvSrIf
Karl wished with all his heart To become
AN author. b4t h.. had no; been able to
publish a line In conversation with him
one night. | said.
" MoataieH, had much difficulty in putting
lis ESSAYS before the public. and Won shngLi
not De discouraged. lie was spurr,d ON Ly
In" thought that SuW" DAY Il volume of ais
own writing in print might stand between
those of ovid and Virgil in 4 famous Ii
brary.'
"KarI's health quickly failed. Consump-
ton ate away his lungs with startling
rapidity. and his hacking cough vas ais
tr.sSful to those who heard II.
Although ! had not told him what dis
ease he suffered from. his intuition seemed
10 guess il. and with only the prospect of
death before him he showed wonderful re-
ignation.
Within a year he died.
When We Went to see to his rooms and
10 the disposal Of his effects. We found IN.
apartments furnishings TO confirm most
emphatiCally my first impression. that Karl
had been a gentleman with studious tastes.
No carpet covered the floor. hut on he
mantelpiece stood pictures of Humboldt and
of Goethe's house At Waimar. There was
also a bas-relief Of Schiller and an cngrav-
iiS A'Ah 'pht'A - ftlGNiltftblt value Oh a
scene from one of Ovid's Metamorphosas.
Blu not a letter. not a photograph Of
friend or relative. living or dead. death
had set his seal on the young mans lips
forever, and he had gone into the Great
Beyond. bearing with him his secret.
Doctor Morton and | buried his body at
our expense. and he was placed in an un-
marked grave.
1T was then that We read his will. To
our amazement we found kaufman desired
that AT least "A portion of his skin he used
To- bind books. 81 that his very being. even
though his attempt at literary success had
been so miserably cut off, might be n com
plnion of Ovid and Virgil. like the volume
of Mnntaicne's essays. when his spirit had
left the earth and his body crumbled into
dust.
Il granted his request.
a large portion of the unhappy Germans
skin was stripped from his body and tanned.
Now these volumes i'm my library which he
binds are stood among his favorite authors"