British museum finds a book bound with human skin of 2000 years ago: it is linked to one of the most famous crimes in history

At first glance it looks like an old book, one of those that can be found in the dusty archives of a provincial museum. And instead, the one rediscovered by chance to Moyse’s Hall Museum by Bury St Edmunds, England, is a volume bound with human skincoming from the murderer’s body William Corderexecuted in 1828 for the assassination of the young woman Maria Marten.

The case, sadly known as Red Barn crimehe shocked the public opinion of the time. But the condemnation of man did not end with the hanging: his body was publicly sectioned and part of his skin used to create some specimens of the book that documented the process.

The copy just found – Almost 200 years later – It was under everyone’s eyes, positioned on a museum office shelf. Unlike the other version already exposed to the public, which is entirely covered with human skinthis presents skin inserts only on the back and angles. But the origin remains the same: the body of man that Georgian justice has chosen to punish even after death.

From public justice to the skin as punishment

In 1828 thousands of people gathered to attend the public pity of William Corder, accused of having attracted Maria Marten in a barn with the promise of a romantic escape. There he would have killed and buried her. The body of the girl of the girl, guided – at least according to the legend – by disturbing dreams, was found.

After execution, as required by the law of the time known as Bloody Codethe body of the condemned was disseminated by surgeons. Part of the skin was then used to bind a book dedicated to his judicial case: An Authentic and Faithful History of the Mysterious Murder of Maria Marten.

A first copy, completely covered with human skinhas been kept at the Moyse’s Hall Museum since 1933. The second, however, re -emerged only last year, during a review of the internal catalog. To find it was the staff of the museum, who told the disbelief in the face of discovery. “We have voices called museum losses. This would be a found loss, “explained Dan Clarke, Heritage Officer of the West Suffolk Council, in an interview with the BBC.

The copy had been donated decades ago by a family linked to the surgeon who dealt with the dissection of the body of Corder. Nobody, however, had ever noticed the extraordinary nature of the binding. Abbie Smithmuseum assistant, had the task of handling both books on his first day of work:

If they didn’t tell you that it is human skin, you wouldn’t even imagine it. It is something deeply humiliating to have in the collection.

Reflection or gathering?

Not everyone, however, see these books as testimonies to be kept. Terry Dearyauthor of the very popular series Horrible Historiesdefined the “disgusting artifacts” volumes that “should be burned”. Deary, who played Corder in a theatrical performance, admitted that she feels guilty for that role. “I have photographs of me while pointing a gun against Maria Marten. It is a particularly morbid story,” he said to Guardian.

According to him, the condemnation of Corder was spoiled by weak tests and a climate of collective hysteria. In his new novel Actuary, i’m a cupsethe writer tries to offer an alternative version of the story, trying to rehabilitate the murderer’s memory.

For others, however, these books represent an opportunity to face The cruelty of the judicial system of the past.

It is not a question of spectacularizing the macabre, but of facing our history with sincerity and awareness.

On display next to the two volumes there is also one 18th century fork cagea steel structure used to exhibit the corpses of the hanged: a form of exemplary justice, intended to terrorize the population.

Bound in the skin, linked to history: the memory of the Red Barn still lives between folklore, processes and new ethical questions

The case of Maria Marten and William Corder continues to fascinate and divide. For almost two centuries it has been the subject of popular ballads, novels, theatrical works and even of an adaptation of the BBC interpreted by Florence Pugh.

The line between news and legend has become increasingly subtle. The discovery of the book is not just a historical curiosity: it is also one mirror of our contradictions in the relationship with the memory, death and conservation of human remains.

Elsewhere, institutions choose a different approach. Harvard UniversityFor example, he removed human skin from a 19th century book after discovering that he belonged to a French hospital patient. “The origin and history of this volume pose serious ethical dilemmas,” said the University.

But at the Moyse’s Hall Museum, the books will remain. No protest has ever arrived in almost a century. In any case, the question remains open: must human remains are to be kept in museums? Or should they be returned to the earth? Clarke replies with caution:

Each case must be evaluated individually. In this, the books remain. Bound in the skin. Linked to history.