Boston's own Necronomicon

Speaking of Lovecraftian books...

On my Boston vacation last year, I missed my chance to see one of the weirder artifacts on display in an an American library: The Athenæum's Narrative of the Life of James Allen, The Highway Man, the autobiography of a robber, written in prison and bound in the author's own skin!!!

This book was penned by James Allen (alias George Walton), "a most thoroughgoing scoundrel" who was sentenced to prison for robbing a man at gunpoint. The victim, John Fenno, courageously fought back and was shot by the criminal, who ran off, leaving Fenno for dead.  The victim survived and the highwayman was captured, and was to spend the rest of his days behind bars.  From the Athenæum's website:

The odd part of it was that, during his last confinement, the unusual courage of Mr. Fenno seems to have struck firmly in his mind. So great was his admiration for the man who had worsted him, that Walton directed that a copy of his "memoirs" be bound in his own skin and presented to Mr. Fenno as a token of esteem.

That's right, he bequeathed his grisly book to the man he had robbed.  Super-creepy.