Harvard University has decided to remove from its library a 19th-century book binding made from human skin that has been on its shelves since the 1930s. The decision came after a review found ethical concerns with the origin and The history of the book.
The book Des Destinées de L'âme (Destinies of the Soul), was written by Arsène Houssaye, French novelist and poet, in the early 1880s. The printed text was given to a doctor, Ludovic Bouland, who "bound the book with skin he took without consent from the body of a deceased patient at a hospital where he worked," Harvard said in a recent statement.
Scientific analysis carried out in 2014 confirmed that the binding was made of human skin. In a statement, Harvard said the library noted several ways in which its management practices did not meet its ethical standards. "Until relatively recently, the library had made the book available to anyone who requested it, regardless of the reason they wanted to consult it."
"Library lore suggests that decades ago, students paging collections on Houghton's shelves were bewildered when asked to retrieve the book without being told it included human remains." When testing confirmed that the book was bound with human skin, "the library made posts on Houghton's blog that used a sensational, morbid and humorous tone that prompted similar international media coverage," the university adds.
The removed skin is now in “secure storage at the Harvard Library,” Anne-Marie Eze, associate librarian at the Houghton Library, said in the question-and-answer session. The library will conduct additional research on the book, Bouland and the anonymous patient. It is also working with French authorities to determine a “respectful final disposition.”
Harvard said the binding change was prompted by a library review following a Harvard University report on human remains in its museum collections, published in 2022. “The Harvard Library and Harvard University Committee Return of Museum Collections concluded that the human remains used in the book's binding no longer belong in the collections of the Harvard Library, due to the ethically complicated nature of the book's origins and its subsequent history," the university concludes.
