Harvard University recently made the decision to remove a book bound in human skin from its library collection. It is surprising, to say the least, that the book cover had been kept for so long. The book, “Des destinées de l’âme” by Arsène Houssaye, was bound by Dr. Ludovic Bouland in the 19th century using skin from a deceased female patient, an act done without her consent.
This practice, known as anthropodermic bibliopegy, was more common in the 19th century but is considered ethically problematic today. Harvard’s removal of the book cover follows a broader reflection on the ethical implications of such items in academic collections. The university has recently apologized for the past failures in stewardship of the book and is “committed to addressing the dignity of the human remains involved”.
The famed Ivy League school “concluded that the human remains used in the book’s binding no longer belong in the Harvard Library collections, due to the ethically fraught nature of the book’s origins and subsequent history,” Harvard said in a statement on their website.
However, in 2014, when tests confirmed the book was bound with human skin, Harvard’s response had been anything but respectful or sensitive. Indeed, it seemed to totally disregard questions of ethical propriety. “Good news for fans of anthropodermic bibliopegy, bibliomaniacs and cannibals alike,” the school said at the time.
Today they are adopting a very different tone. “The Library is now in the process of conducting additional provenance and biographical research into the book, Bouland, and the anonymous female patient, as well as consulting with appropriate authorities at the University and in France to determine a final respectful disposition of these human remains,” Tom Hyry, an archivist at the school’s Houghton Library, stated.
Until recently, the macabre book was available to people who asked for it for whatever reason. The book has a bizarre history, irrespective of its origin. “Lore suggests that decades ago, students employed to page collections in Houghton’s stacks were hazed by being asked to retrieve the book without being told it included human remains,” the statement revealed.
It must be said that even considering the many dubious practices that used to be common in the past, that of using human skin to cover books must be thought to be repulsive.
“The core problem with the volume’s creation was a doctor who didn’t see a whole person in front of him and carried out an odious act of removing a piece of skin from a deceased patient, almost certainly without consent, and used it in a book binding that has been handled by many for more than a century. We believe it’s time the remains be put to rest,” he said.
They are now contrite for their past insensitivity. “We apologize on behalf of Harvard Library for past failures in our stewardship of the book that further objectified and compromised the dignity of the human being at the center,” said Hyry.
