Anthropodermic bibliopegy performed, or collected by medical doctors, who have access to cadavers, sometimes those of executed criminals, such as the case of John Horwood in 1821 and the Red Barn Murder in 1828. Another tradition, with less supporting evidence, is that books of erotica or the occult have been bound in human skin. The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh preserves a notebook bound in the skin of the murderer William Burke after his execution and subsequent public dissection by Professor Alexander Monro in 1829. What Lawrence Thompson called "the most famous of all anthropodermic bindings" is exhibited at the Boston
History of anatomy in the 19th century horror of being the subject of dissection. The criminal temptations ultimately led to the 1827–1828 West Port murders in Edinburgh, UK, where likely candidates were killed and sold for cash. The murders led to the passing of the Anatomy Act 1832 which finally provided for an adequate and legitimate supply of corpses. History of anatomy in the 19th century The history of anatomy in the 19th century saw anatomists largely finalise and systematise the descriptive human anatomy of the previous century. The discipline also progressed to establish growing sources of knowledge in histology and developmental biology, not only of humans