Harvard University library removes human skin from 19th century book binding
Harvard University has removed human skin binding from a 19th century book housed in its library.
The book is a copy of Des Destinées de l’âme, a meditation on the soul and life after death, first published by French novelist Arsène Houssaye in 1879.
The author handed the book to his friend and physician Dr Ludovic Bouland in the early 1880s, who bound the book with the skin of an anonymous dead female patient, without her consent, in a hospital he worked as a medical student in the 1860s.
A handwritten note by Dr Bouland inside the volume states that “a book about the human soul deserved to have a human covering”.
The note also describes the process used to treat the skin so it could bind the text.
It has been in Harvard’s collections since 1934, later transferred to the institution’s Houghton Library.
Harvard announced the human remains were no longer in the library due to “the ethically fraught nature of the book’s origins and subsequent history”.
Harvard’s Houghton Library has had the book in its collection for decades. Pic: iStock
The university said the skin would be placed into “respectful temporary storage” to “restore dignity to the woman” it belonged to.
In 2014, the library had the binding tested using a scientific process known as peptide mass fingerprinting, which confirmed the human origin.
Harvard apologised for “falling short of an ethic of care” in its stewardship of the book, saying the library had first published “sensationalist” blog posts centring on its “morbid nature” instead of the lack of consent by the patient or the morality surrounding the book.
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The Ivy League institution added students who worked in the Houghton Library years ago apparently underwent initiations where they were asked to get the book without knowing it included human skin.
The library is conducting further research into the book, Dr Bouland and the anonymous patient.
Previously, the text was available to anyone who requested it. Now, the disbound copy is off limits but can be consulted through Harvard’s online library catalogue.
Anti-Trump protests took place across America on Saturday, with demonstrators decrying the administration’s immigration crackdown and mass firings at government agencies.
Events ranged from small local marches to a rally in front of the White House and a demonstration at a Massachusetts commemoration of the start of the Revolutionary War 250 years ago.
Thomas Bassford, 80, was at the battle reenactment with his two grandsons, as well as his partner and daughter.
He said: “This is a very perilous time in America for liberty. I wanted the boys to learn about the origins of this country and that sometimes we have to fight for freedom.”
At events across the country, people carried banners with slogans including “Trump fascist regime must go now!”, “No fear, no hate, no ICE in our state,” and “Fight fiercely, Harvard, fight,” referencing the university’s recent refusal to hand over much of its control to the government.
Some signs name-checked Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadorian citizen living in Maryland, who the Justice Department admits was mistakenly deported to his home country.
Read more: Donald Trump’s deportations explained
Pic: AP
People waved US flags, some of them held upside down to signal distress. In San Francisco, hundreds of people spelt out “Impeach & Remove” on a beach, also with an inverted US flag.
People walked through downtown Anchorage in Alaska with handmade signs listing reasons why they were demonstrating, including one that read: “No sign is BIG enough to list ALL of the reasons I’m here!”
Pic: AP
Protests also took place outside Tesla car dealerships against the role Elon Musk ahas played in downsizing the federal government as de facto head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
The protests come just two weeks after similar nationwide demonstrations.
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Organisers are opposing what they call Mr Trump’s civil rights violations and constitutional violations, including efforts to deport scores of immigrants and to scale back the federal government by firing thousands of government workers and effectively shuttering entire agencies.
The Trump administration, among other things, has moved to shutter Social Security Administration field offices, cut funding for government health programs and scale back protections for transgender people.
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