Harvard library removes human skin from book binding
NBCApr 06
The Facts
Harvard University has announced that it has removed human skin from the binding of a 19th-century book kept in its library since the 1930s.
According to Harvard, physician Ludovic Bouland "bound the book ["Des Destinées de L'âme" by Arsène Houssaye] with skin he took without consent from the body of a deceased female patient in a hospital where he worked."
The Spin
Pro-establishment narrative
Removing the human skin binding of this book is a necessary ethical step to restoring the dignity of the unknown woman whose skin had been taken without consent. The book has repeatedly been sensationalized for its binding, with the remains of this unknown woman being continuously disrespected. It's high time that the identity of the individual is researched and her remains returned to be placed to rest in her native France.
Establishment-critical narrative
While there should be some ethical considerations when displaying artifacts that contain human remains, the fact that the practice has existed for centuries should also be respected. As long as the book was treated with appropriate significance, and neither the government of France nor the unidentified woman's family objected, the human skin-bound book should have been allowed to exist in its unaltered state. While morbid, this historical artifact shouldn't have been damaged just to satiate modern-day sensitivities.