Harvard University apologizes for holding a French book bound in human skin

The prestigious US university Harvard has apologized for keeping for nearly a century a French book from the 1880s bound in human skin, which will be removed from the work.

In a press release received Thursday, the library service at the oldest university in the United States noted that it had “removed human skin from the cover of a copy of Arsène Houssaye + Des Destines de l’âme + (1880s) that was held by the Houghton Library.”

The Harvard Library Service acknowledges its failures in this matter, which affects the dignity of the human being whose remains were used in binding the book. We apologize to those affected.”

The university, which was founded in 1636 in Cambridge, a suburb of Boston (Massachusetts, northeast), expressed its regret that these “practices are not consistent with the ethical standards it has set for itself.”

Arsène Houssaye (1814-1896) was a French writer, journalist, literary critic and collector whose work Des Destines de l’âme is a meditation and reflection on life after death.

In 2014, the Harvard Library Service revealed, after scientific tests, that this book, which it had owned since 1934, from a former student from the beginning of the twentieth century, was covered and bound with human flesh and skin.

Ten years ago, Harvard University explained, the French writer showed his book to the physician and bibliophile, Ludovic Boland (1839-1933). Then the latter came up with the idea of ​​linking the work to the skin of a patient who suffers from psychological disorders and suddenly dies. Without “any approval,” Harvard University specifies.

Experts call this practice “anthropodermic bibliobiology.”

Dr. Boland left a note that was republished in the press in 2014: “This book is covered in human skin (…) When you look at it carefully, you can easily see the pores of the skin. A book about the human soul that deserves to be dressed as a human being.

Harvard University said, “its library is now researching the source of the book and biographical elements related to Boland and the unknown patient, and is consulting with the relevant authorities at the university and in France to determine how to dispose of these human remains in a respectful manner.” “.

The New York Times reports that Harvard University, which runs libraries and museums, completed a major inventory in 2022 of more than 20,000 human remains in its collections of books and works of art.

A way to learn about its role in slavery and colonialism since the end of the seventeenth century, according to the newspaper.