The Gold Bug is a short story written by Edgar Allan Poe (1809 - 1849). The story was first published in 1843.
The plot is about a man, William Legrand, who is bitten by a gold-colored bug. Legrand's servant believes that Legrand is becoming insane so he invites Legrand's friend to pay him a visit.
All the men are eventually pulled into an adventure after deciphering a secret message that will lead to buried treasure.
The Gold Bug was published in two installments in a newspaper. It became popular and 300,000 copies were circulated.
In 1845, the Gold Bug was published as a French translation, Le Scarabeé d'Or.
One of the French-translated versions of the Gold Bug is purportedly bound in a piece of human skin.
Published in 1892 by E. Dentu, the book was sold in 2016 by PBA Galleries, an auction house.
The book was bound in brown leather-backed marbled boards. The leather was decorated with a sickle, a shovel, and an image of a gold bug descending into a skull.
The binding leather that is thought to have been made from human skin was stamped in gilt and inside the front cover was an inscription,
“Dear John – What a tribute to the morbid death-loving Poe to find the ‘Gold Bug’ in human skin.”
A second note was written in the front of the dust jack and read,
"Poe's Gold Bug in French - bound in a piece of human hide."
The skin had not been tested but the auction house stated that they had no reason to doubt the binder's claim.
The human-skin bound book was purchased for $1020 in 2016 by an unknown buyer.
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