Harvard University made headlines this week as it removed a book from its collection that had been bound with human skin without consent. The book, "Des destinees de l'??me" or "Destinies of the Soul," was originally published by Ars??ne Houssaye in 1879, but French physician Dr. Ludovic Bouland decided to bind it with human skin from a deceased female patient without her consent. Bouland included a handwritten note inside the book, stating that "a book about the human soul deserved to have a human covering."

The removal of the book was prompted by a review following a report on human remains in Harvard University's museum collections. The university concluded that the human remains used in the book's binding no longer belonged in the Harvard Library collections due to the ethically fraught nature of the book's origins. The removed skin is now in secure storage at Harvard Library, and the university is working with French authorities to determine a final respectful disposition.

The book had long been a source of fascination at Harvard, with rumors circulating about its binding being made of human skin. In 2014, the university confirmed that the binding was indeed human skin using new technology. However, the university faced criticism for its handling of the book, with accusations of objectifying and compromising the dignity of the deceased patient.

Anne-Marie Eze, associate librarian of Harvard's Houghton Library, stated that the book's removal was part of the university's larger project of addressing human remains in its collections. The university published a report in 2022 about human remains found in its collections, including remains of individuals who may have been enslaved and Native American individuals.

Moving forward, the book will only be made available to researchers without its cover, as it has been fully digitized without the skin binding. The university hopes that the remains will be put to rest and treated with the respect they deserve.