harvard university library books bound in human skin

#Harvard university library books bound in human skin skin

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#Harvard university library books bound in human skin skin

The process of using skin to cover books is called anthropodermic binding. Her body went unclaimed and her skin was used for the cover. They also said it was “unlikely that the binding was made from a primate source.” According to the library’s catalogue, the skin came from the body of French woman who died suddenly in a mental hospital. “A book about the human soul deserved to have a human covering.”ĭespite Houssaye’s skin-crawling claim, researchers tested the book’s cover to eliminate the possibility it came from more common parchment sources like sheep, cattle or goats. “By looking carefully you can easily distinguish the pores of the skin. “This book is bound in human skin parchment on which no ornament has been stamped to preserve its elegance,” reads the translation from French.

Ludovic Bouland, with a personalized note about its origin. Researchers had some doubt about the cover’s origin, despite a note that came with the book saying it was, indeed, made of human skin.Īccording to the Harvard website, Houssaye wrote the manuscript in the late 19th century and gave it to his friend, Dr. Harvard researchers made the announcement on the Houghton Library blog, saying that the cover on the French treatise “Des destinées de l’ame” by Arsène Houssaye is “without a doubt” made from human epidermis. Here’s the skinny: a book in the Harvard University library is almost surely bound in human skin.