Entry No. 17 — the Boston file — filed under: morbid history

Boston Athenaeum — the vault with the human-skin book

This 1807 membership library keeps one of the world's most famous anthropodermic books locked in its vault: the 1837 deathbed confession of highwayman James Allen, who asked that a copy be bound in his own tanned skin and given to the man he once tried to rob at gunpoint. Its cover still carries the Latin inscription 'Hic liber Waltonis cute compactus est' — this book is bound in the skin of Walton.

The move: Take the public building tour of Boston's oldest membership library, then ask the docent to point out where the Allen skin-book is kept — it's not always on view, so half the fun is hearing staff explain the deathbed request behind it. Follow it with coffee at a Beacon Hill cafe arguing over what else might be locked in the closed stacks.

• 📍 Beacon Hill
• 💸 $$
• ⚡ Up for anything
• 🌗 Indoors

Where: 10½ Beacon Street, Boston, MA 02108

Hours: Added 2026-07-20 — confirm current hours before you go.

⚠ Seasonal or scheduled — always check before you go.

Plan a visit & invite your people →

Further reading: Official site · Wikipedia

last checked: 2026-07-20