Narrative of the Life of James Allen
Title page for Narrative of the Life of James Allen, alias Jonas Pierce, alias James H. York, alias Burley Grove, the Highwayman, Being His Death-bed Confession to the Warden of the Massachusetts State Prison (1837) | |
| Author | James Allen |
|---|---|
| Genre | Autobiography |
| Publisher | Harrington and Co. |
Publication date | 1837 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Text | Narrative of the Life of James Allen at the Internet Archive |
The Narrative of the Life of James Allen, alias Jonas Pierce, alias James H. York, alias Burley Grove, the Highwayman, Being His Death-bed Confession to the Warden of the Massachusetts State Prison is an autobiographical work by James Allen, published in Boston by Harrington and Co. in 1837.
While many copies of the book are extant, the book is most often associated with the copy in the collection of the Boston Athenaeum. This copy was bound in the author's own skin, tradition holding that Allen requested that a copy of his confession be bound in his skin and given to John A. Fenno Jr., who had earlier resisted Allen's attempt to rob him.
The provenance of this book is not fully known, even by the Athenaeum. This version was allegedly given to the Athenaeum some time before 1864 by Mrs. H. M. Chapin, Fenno Jr.'s daughter.
The binding has been scientifically confirmed to be human skin, according to Megan Rosenbloom of the Anthropodermic Book Project, a group which seeks to confirm or deny cases of books allegedly bound in the material.