04/01/2024

Harvard Removes Human Skin from a Book's Binding

The book dates back to the 19th century

Harvard University said it has removed human skin from the binding of a 19^th century book about the afterlife that has been in its collections since the 1930s. The decision came after a review found ethical concerns with the book’s origin and history.

The book, "Des Destinées de L’âme," meaning "Destinies of the Soul," was written by Arsène Houssaye, a French novelist and poet, in the early 1880s. The printed text was given to a physician, Ludovic Bouland, who "bound the book with skin he took without consent from the body of a deceased female patient in a hospital where he worked," Harvard said in a recent statement. The book has been at the university's Houghton Library.

Bouland included a handwritten note inside the book. It said "a book about the human soul deserved to have a human covering," associate university librarian Thomas Hyry said in a published question-and-answer segment online Wednesday. The note also detailed the process behind preparing the skin for binding.

Please select this link to read the complete article from The Associated Press.