Dark Archives: A Librarian's Investigation into the Science and History of Books Bound in Human Skin is a 2020 non-fiction book by the medical librarian and death-positive advocate Megan Rosenbloom. Dealing with anthropodermic bibliopegy, the binding of books in human skin, it expounds upon Rosenbloom's research on such books and their historical, ethical, and cultural implications.

The book focuses on the relationship between anthropodermic bibliopegy and the history of medicine; most confirmed cases of such books were created or owned by medical professionals, in contrast to common stereotypes that they were associated with Nazi Germany, serial killers, or the French Revolution. Rosenbloom discusses how the practice reflects the changing attitudes towards consent, ownership, and disposal of human bodies, and how the history of anthropodermic books intertwines with the history of medical ethics as a field. She interviews librarians, archivists, collectors, and experts on the topic, and examines notable examples of such books and their origins. Though Rosenbloom supports the preservation and maintenance of anthropodermic books, Dark Archives also covers arguments to the contrary, such as those espoused by Princeton University Library senior librarian Paul Needham.

Dark Archives was published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux in October 2020. Critics praised the book for its thorough research, clear writing, and enthusiasm for rare books and their history. The perspective and history through which Rosenbloom approached the subject matter also attracted attention, some reviewers commending it and others questioning its sensitivity. Rosenbloom is one of the key figures in the death-positive movement; her philosophical affiliation with open discussions of mortality and opposition to death taboos is considered a core influence on her approach to anthropodermic books.

A book on the human soul merits that it be given human clothing.

— Note found in the Houghton Library's copy of Des destinées de l'ame by Arsène Houssaye, confirmed in 2014 to be bound in human skin

Anthropodermic bibliopegy—the binding of books in human skin—peaked in the 19th century. The practice was most popular among doctors, who had access to cadavers in their profession. It was nonetheless a rare phenomenon even at the peak of its popularity, and fraudulent claims were commonplace; by 2020, the Anthropodermic Book Project had confirmed the existence of 18 books bound in human skin, out of 31 claimed cases. Though anthropodermic bibliopegy is commonly associated with Nazi Germany and the Holocaust, there is no evidence to suggest the Nazis bound books in the skin of Holocaust victims, nor for similar claims such as lampshades made from human skin. The practice fell out of favor early in the twentieth century.

The ability to unequivocally identify book bindings as being of human skin dates only to the mid-2010s. For many years, identification tended to be visual, based predominantly on the structure of pores such as hair follicles in the skin. This could be combined with evidence as circumstantial as the bindings being of subjectively poor quality—taken as a sign the skin used was acquired through suspicious means. In the early twenty-first century, DNA testing emerged as a potential means of identification, but this was confounded by human handling; items frequently touched by human hands could produce false positives, as tests would pick up on their remnants. DNA testing also proved non-viable owing to the degradation of DNA over time and the acceleration of such degradation by the tanning process used to turn skin into leather. The origin of peptide mass fingerprinting permitted conclusive testing and became the gold standard method; the first book confirmed through its use was Des destinées de l'ame by the French philosopher Arsène Houssaye, held in the Houghton Library of Harvard University.

Megan Rosenbloom is a collection strategies librarian at the University of California, Los Angeles, and formerly a medical librarian at the University of Southern California. Rosenbloom is a high-profile member of the death-positive movement, an ideological stance that supports the repudiation of death taboos and what it considers a "culture of silence" around death. She collaborated with the mortician Caitlin Doughty to form the concept, helping to establish organizations such as The Order of the Good Death. Before entering library science, she worked as a journalist. The genesis for Dark Archives was Rosenbloom's experiences in library school working for a medical publisher near Philadelphia's Mütter Museum, where she encountered several anthropodermic books. Her surprise to discover the practice was associated with "respectable" medical professionals, rather than the Nazis or serial killers as she had assumed, led her to research the phenomenon of anthropodermic bibliopegy in greater depth.