The revelation that a 19th-century book in Harvard University's collections was bound with human skin has prompted the university to take action. The book, "Des Destinees de L’ame" by Arsene Houssaye, was bound with skin taken without consent from the body of a deceased female patient by a physician named Ludovic Bouland.
After a review, Harvard University decided to remove the human skin from the book's binding due to ethical concerns surrounding its origin and history. The decision was also influenced by a report on human remains in the university's museum collections, released in 2022.
The removal of the skin follows a scientific analysis conducted in 2014, which confirmed that the binding was indeed made of human skin. The university acknowledged that its stewardship practices had failed to meet ethical standards, particularly in making the book readily available to anyone who requested it.
The decision to remove the human skin from the book was made after careful consideration, and the skin is now in secure storage at Harvard Library. The university plans to conduct additional research into the book, Ludovic Bouland, and the anonymous female patient. It is also collaborating with French authorities to determine the appropriate and respectful disposition of the removed skin.
Harvard emphasized the importance of addressing the ethically fraught nature of the book's origins and history, leading to the decision to remove the human remains from its collections.
