Harvard Removes Book Cover Made Of 19th-Century Woman’s Skin From Library
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Harvard University’s Houghton Library recently made a skin-tingling decision regarding a controversial item in its collection: a 19th-century book titled Des Destinées de l’Âme (Destinies of the Soul). Written by Arsène Houssaye, the literature was discovered to be bound in human skin in 2014 through scientific testing. After years of internal discussions, Harvard announced that the unsettling layer would be removed due to its “ethically fraught” nature.
The university’s investigation revealed a disturbing origin story for the morbid modification. It is believed that the book’s first owner, a French physician named Dr Ludovic Bouland, was responsible for the human-origin binding, penning in an attached note that “a book about the human soul deserved to have a human covering.” He also detailed how he processed the skin so that it could be wrapped around the volume.
The practice of binding books in human skin, known as anthropodermic bibliopegy, is rare but has documented examples dating back to the 16th century. However, it was how Bouland, a friend of the author, had obtained this unusual material that deeply troubled Harvard officials.
The physician had purportedly taken the skin of a female patient who died of natural causes while under his care at a psychiatric hospital, without her prior consent, to cover the volume.
Harvard University researchers have said that a book owned by the university is bound in human skin. The book is called Des destinees de l'ame (Destinies of the Soul) and has been housed at Houghton Library since the 1930s. pic.twitter.com/SKNxy8PQI9
— Muna Esq âš–ï¸ (@munachi_esq) August 27, 2023
In a statement, the library acknowledged “past failures in its stewardship of the book that further objectified and compromised the dignity of the human being” and offered a sincere apology.
The human skin component has been placed in respectful storage, with Harvard expressing its commitment to working with French authorities to determine a final, dignified disposition for the remains.
The book itself, minus the binding, has been fully digitized and made accessible to researchers online, ensuring the survival of its literary content.
[via CBS News, NBC News, Literary Hub, NDTV, images via various sources]
