Narrative of the Life of James Allen

{{Short description|Autobiography of James Allen}}{{italic title}}

{{refimprove|date=October 2020}}

{{Infobox book

| author = James Allen

| location =

| country = United States

| pub_date = 1837

| publisher = Harrington and Co.

| external_host = the Internet Archive

| external_url = https://archive.org/details/narrativeoflifeo00alle

| genre = Autobiography

| image = Narrative of the Life of James Allen.png

| caption = 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)

}}

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.{{cite journal |last1=Jay |first1=Mike |title=The Hide That Binds |journal=New York Review of Books |date=5 November 2020 |volume=67 |issue=17 |page=51}} 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.{{cite book |last=Nonack |first=Stephen Z.|date=February 28, 2007 |editor-last1=Dearinger |editor-first1=David B. |editor-last2=Cushing |editor-first2= Stanley|title=Acquired Tastes: 200 Years of Collecting for the Boston Athenaeum |publisher=Boston Athenaeum |pages=152–154 |chapter=Chapter 38: The Narrative of the Life of James Allen, Alias George Walton, 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 |isbn=978-0934552738}}

The binding has been scientifically confirmed to be human skin, according to Megan Rosenbloom of the Anthropodermic Book Project,{{cite web |last=Colby |first=Christine |title=7 Times The Skin Of Executed Criminals Was Used To Bind Books |url=https://www.investigationdiscovery.com/crimefeed/crime-history/7-times-the-skin-of-executed-criminals-was-used-to-bind-books |website=Crimefeed |access-date=9 December 2021}} a group which seeks to confirm or deny cases of books allegedly bound in the material.{{cite web |url=https://anthropodermicbooks.org/about/the-team/|title=Anthropodermic Book Project Staff|date=19 October 2015 |access-date=9 December 2021}}