The prestigious American university Harvard has apologized for keeping a French book from the 1880s bound in human skin for almost a century, which will be removed from the work.
In a press release Thursday, the library service of the oldest university in the United States said it had “removed human skin from the binding of Houghton’s copy of Arsène Housset’s Destinies de l’âme (1880s). Library.
Harvard Libraries admits its mistakes in this matter, which affects the dignity of the person whose remains were used to bind the book. We apologize to those who were harmed.”
The university, founded in 1636 in Cambridge, a suburb of Boston (northeastern Massachusetts), regretted that such “practices do not correspond to the ethical standards that it has set for itself.”
Arsène Houssay (1814–1896) was a French writer, journalist, literary critic and collector whose work Des destines de l’âme is a meditation and meditation on life after death.
In 2014, after scientific tests, Harvard Library Service discovered that the book, which had been in its possession since 1934 and belonged to a former student from the early 20th century, was covered and bound in human flesh and skin.
AFP
Ten years ago, Harvard explained that the French writer showed his book to the physician and bibliophile Louis Bouland (1839–1933). The latter then had the idea to connect the work with the skin of a suddenly deceased patient who suffered from mental disorders. Without “any consent,” Harvard clarifies.
Experts call this practice “anthropodermal bibliopegy.”
Dr. Buland left a note, reproduced in print in 2014: “This book is bound in parchment human skin (…) If you look closely at it, you can easily see the pores of the skin. A book about the human soul deserved to be given human clothing.
Harvard said its “library is now researching the provenance and biographical elements of the book about Buland and the anonymous patient and is consulting with competent authorities at the university and in France to determine how to respectfully dispose of these human remains.” “
The New York Times recalls that Harvard, which has libraries and museums, completed a major inventory in 2022 of more than 20,000 human remains in its book and art collections.
According to the newspaper, this is a way of acknowledging his role in slavery and colonialism in the late 17th century.
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