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An 'exquisite' 1760 copy of Paradise Lost by John Milton that was bound in snakeskin by the London artisans Sangorski and Sutcliffe

One of several 'books that aren't books' documented in Brooke-Hitching's amazing tome. This is a picture of an embroidered jacket that belonged to a seamstress called Agnes Richter who was imprisoned in Heidelberg psychiatric hospital in 1893 until her death in 1918. She embroidered biographical musings in the cloth such as 'I am not big' and 'I wish to plunge headlong into disaster'

This manuscript was purported to be a 'pact' signed by Lucifer and the French Catholic priest Urbain Grandier, who was executed in 1634, Brooke-Hitching explains, for 'summoning evil spirits to possess a convent'. This pact, written in backwards Latin and signed by Lucifer and his demonic cohorts, was published as 'proof'

Is it aliens? It's aliens. This is 'a passage of Martian writing channelled through the hand of the French psychic Helene Smith' as found in the 1899 book From India to the Planet Mars by University of Geneva psychologist Theodo Flournoy, which documented her powers

Wooden writing tablets from 500-700AD Byzantine Egypt. Brooke-Hitching explains that the recessed areas were filled with wax and writing scratched onto the surface with a wooden stylus

Brooke-Hitching describes the 17th-century manuscript above as 'extraordinary', which is saying something in this company. It's called A Manual of Mathematics (Jinkoki), with the unknown author using pictures of rats 'to illustrate complex geometric progression and the calculation of the volume of 3D figures'

The battle diary of Union soldier Solomon Conn, etched into his violin. Brooke-Hitching explains that in 1861 Conn enlisted in the Union-supporting 87th Indiana Infantry after the outbreak of the American Civil War, bought the violin in 1863 - and carried it everywhere he went. He never learned to play it, but instead described the battles he fought

A cryptic tombstone erected by Canadian doctor Samuel Bean in Rushes Cemetery near Crosshill, Wellesley Township, Ontario, in memory of his first two wives, Henrietta and Susanna. Brooke-Hitching reveals that starting on the seventh character from the left in the seventh row down, and progressing in a jagged anticlockwise spiral pattern, the inscription reads: 'In memoriam Henrietta, 1st wife of S. Bean, M.D. who died 27th Sept. 1865, aged 23 years, 2 months and 17 days and Susanna his 2nd wife who died 27th April, 1867, aged 26 years, 10 months and 15 days, 2 better wives 1 man never had, they were gifts from God but are now in Heaven. May God help me, S.B., to meet them there.'

This intriguing 18th-century pocket confession book contains 'tear-out sins'. It served, explains Brooke-Hitching, as an aide-memoire for forgetful sinners. It contains all the known sins and enables those about to confess to gen-up on their wrong-doings. Sins in the book include 'spewing blasphemies' and 'having learned only vanity.' The book pictured above belongs to Brooke-Hitching and was published in 1721

The metal device featured a magnifying lens to read whole books compressed into text too small for the human eye to read, printed on cards 15.24cm high

Before Kindles and e-readers,' writes Brooke-Hitching, 'in 1922 there was Bradley Fiske's handheld Reading Machine'

This is a remarkable portable oak commode disguised as a book with the title A History of the Low Countries (Histoire des Pays Bas). It was made in France in 1750

A spell manual used by wizards of the Indonesian Toba Batak tribe that's in a collection belonging to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam

A traditional 18th-century Nepalese shaman's manual that's covered in blood, skin and flesh fragments from five animals 'representing the five senses' - buffalo, chicken, dog, goat and cow. The tome contains spells for exorcising spirits

The 2016 smallest book in the world, by Russian physicist Vladimir Aniskin, which contains letters just 15 micrometres tall, sprayed using a lithographic stencil. The letters spell out the character names from the 1881 story by Nikolai Leskov called The Tale of Cross-eyed Lefty from Tula and the Steel Flea, which tells the tale of engravers who make inscribed shoes for clockwork fleas. 'Aniskin cleverly trumped them all,' says Brooke-Hitching

The 12-page Old King Cole book issued by Gleniffer Press in 1985. It measures 1mm by 1mm and Brooke-Hitching says that its pages can only be turned using a needle

This book is bound in human skin. Its title is A Treaty on Virginity, Pregnancy and Childbirth and it was penned by Severin Pineau and printed in Amsterdam in 1663. Brooke-Hitching says that a note by the book's owner, Dr Ludovic Bouland, reveals the nature of the macabre material used to bind it: 'This curious little book... has been re-dressed in a piece of the skin of a woman tanned for myself.' Brooke-Hitching explains that book-binding with human skin dates back to at least the 13th century and that in the 18th and 19th centuries '[human skin] became an acceptable decorative extra when publishing accounts of murderers' crimes and medical studies'. He adds that 'a human-skin book was also, frankly, a great thing to show off at parties'

A human skull covered in prayers for the deceased that resides in the Wellcome Collection in London. It was collected by Robert Baden-Powell during an expedition to Ghana in 1895

Can you work out what this page says? If you can, then you've outsmarted some of the world's finest cryptographers, including British WWII codebreakers. The page is from the Voynich Manuscript, which is named after the Polish rare book dealer, Wilfrid Voynich, who found it in 1912 in an Italian village. It's thought to date to the 15th century - but to this day, no cryptographer - amateur or professional - has been able to decipher it. It could be aliens, it could be seventh-century Cornish, it could be a hoax. So what do we know? Not much, says Brooke-Hitching, beyond the fact that the author was right-handed. It currently resides at Yale University's Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library

This picture shows an extraordinary Italian 'prayer book pistol', which was custom-made for Francesco Morosini, the Duke of Venice (1619-94), reveals Brooke-Hitching. The gun, he explains, was likely used for personal protection and can only fire when the book is closed via a trigger-pin concealed in silk thread that's designed to look like a bookmark

Author Edward Brooke-Hitching spent nearly a decade searching for the weirdest books in the world - and his investigations have paid off in spellbinding style.

He has bound together a cornucopia of curiosities in a fascinating tome called The Madman's Library, published by Simon & Schuster, which reveals the strangest books and manuscripts ever written, and the stories behind their creation.

He documents books bound in human skin, a commode disguised as book, a bible that conceals a pistol, cryptic passages that not even military codebreakers can crack, Martian writing channelled through a psychic, pacts with the Devil, a war diary written on a violin, books so minuscule they're invisible to the human eye and a giant medieval book that weighs 74kg.

Simon & Schuster says that 'every strand of strangeness imaginable (and many inconceivable) has been unearthed and bound together for a unique and richly illustrated collection'.

Brooke-Hitching, meanwhile, sums it up thus - 'the forgotten recollected'.

Scroll down for a peek at some of the oddball tomes he has uncovered, and pipe up if you think you've decrypted the mysterious Voynich Manuscript...

Behold The Codex Gigas (or Devil's Bible), which Brooke-Hitching explains is the largest existing medieval manuscript. The 74kg tome is said to have been written in one night by a monk charged with diabolic power, he says. It resides in the National Library of Sweden in Stockholm

wiseword316:
OP you didn't talk about the one in clash of the titans. Abi that one nor be scorpion?

Aug28th:
Deathstalker appeared 2ce

Another deadly and lethal scorpion in the world is the Indian Red Scorpion. They can be found in India, eastern Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. They can grow up to 3.5 inches in length and have dark orange or reddish-brown colour. They are nocturnal creatures. The Indian Red Scorpion stings have caused death in between 8 -40% of all recorded cases. Common symptoms of their bite include sweating, nausea, vomiting, heart problems, and severe pain. In more serious cases, it may lead to respiratory failure and finally death.

The Deathstalker Scorpion is one of the world’s most lethal scorpions in the world. This species is found in the deserts and scrublands of North Africa and the Middle East. They grow up to 3 inches in length and have a distinct yellow colour and a darker body. The sting from a Death Stalker can result in excruciating pain. It leads to increased blood pressure and heart rate, and can even cause muscle convulsions, and comas.

The emperor scorpion is one of the largest scorpions in the world. This species is native to rainforests and savannas in West Africa. It lives for 6–8 years. Some of these scorpions can reach up to 8 inches in length. They have a deep black colour and large size, which makes them appear to be a formidable species. Scorpion stings hurt, yes, but they are usually not fatal. Still, you would want to stay as far away from as possible.

As their name suggests, these scorpions are native to African countries, especially Tanzania. They have a black body and red-coloured claws. In some species, the claws may have a slight tint of red. They are 10 to 12.5 cm in length and mainly dwell in humid climates like the forest floor of the African tropical rainforests. They use their large pinchers to prey on insects, frogs, small mice, and other rodents. They use their stings for defence and may get very aggressive when threatened. Their stings are not fatal but can cause pain and pinching or even a burning sensation.

These scorpions belong to the species of burrowing scorpions, which are known for making deep and spiral burrows in the sandy soil. Their burrows can be up to 1 m deep. They are found in southern African countries. They are larger than normal scorpions with a bulky body and large pinchers. They have broad, powerful claws. The Yellow-legged Burrowing Scorpion is a yellow-rust brown. Its legs are of a lighter yellow colour than the body, which gives its name. These scorpions are known to stridulate or make a hissing sound when disturbed, due to which they are, also known as “Hissing Scorpions”.

The Brazilian yellow scorpion is considered the most dangerous scorpion in South America. Brazil’s cities provide excellent habitat for these scorpions. These scorpions have extremely toxic venom. The number of people stung by scorpions across Brazil has risen to 140,000 in 2019, according to their health ministry reports. A unique feature of the Brazillian Yellow Scorpion is the miracle of parthenogenesis- i.e. It reproduces without any male participation and the female scorpion will generate copies of her twice a year, spawning up to 20 to 30 baby scorpions each time

deadliest scorpions in the world, the Arabian fat-tailed scorpion is another dangerous scorpion, notorious for its stings and venom. It is found in North Africa and the Middle East. It is a relative of the Yellow Fattail scorpion and is a medium-sized scorpion. It can prey on insects, spiders, lizards and small rodents. The Yellow Fat –tail is known for its aggressive temperament and lethal venom. Its venom contains one of the most potent neurotoxins of any scorpion. These sting poisons can fast attack the central nervous system and cause respiratory failure and even paralysis.