Harvard Library has made the eerie decision to strip human skin from a 19th-century book after facing ethical scrutiny. The book, Des destinées de l'âme, had been bound in a piece of skin from a deceased female patient by its owner, Dr. Ludovic Bouland—a detail that made it a ghoulish curiosity.
The grim cover was not made public knowledge until 2014, and the book was acquired by Harvard in the 1930s from donor John B. Stetson Jr., according to a statement by Harvard Library. In a move prompted by a 2022 report on human remains in university collections, the library's Returns Committee ultimately concluded that the human remains had no place among its books.
In a bid for redemption, the library admitted to shortcomings in how it handled the macabre tome. "Harvard Library acknowledges past failures in its stewardship of the book that further objectified and compromised the dignity of the human being whose remains were used for its binding," said Harvard Library in a statement. The book had been accessible to anyone curious enough to request a look, and before the nature of its binding was scientifically verified, employees were reportedly hazed by being asked to fetch the volume without warning of its grisly material.
Despite its dark past, the Harvard Library is now committed to respectful handling of this sensitive case. While previously, the book's origin was treated with a "sensationalistic, morbid, and humorous tone," the institution is now focusing on unraveling the book's provenance and deciding how to properly deal with the human skin removed from its binding. Details of the process are being made public through updates on the library's website.
