Скачать или смотреть Harvard’s Human Skin Book – The Shocking Truth

Harvard University once owned several books believed to be bound in human skin, though most have since been tested, with only one confirmed to be genuine. Here’s what we know:

The Most Famous Harvard "Human Skin" Book

One book, "Des Destinées de l'Ame" (The Destinies of the Soul), was confirmed in 2014 to be bound in real human skin after scientific testing.

Written by: Arsène Houssaye (19th-century French author)

Bound by: Dr. Ludovic Bouland, a French doctor

Why Human Skin? Bouland used the skin of an unidentified female patient, claiming it was a common practice in medical circles at the time. He even left a note inside the book explaining that the skin came from a woman who had died in a mental hospital.

Scientific Testing: Harvard scientists used a technique called Peptide Mass Fingerprinting (PMF) to confirm the material was indeed human leather.


Other Suspected Harvard Skin Books

Harvard also had two other books once thought to be bound in human skin:

1. "Practicarum Quaestionum Circa Leges Regias" – A legal text from the 1600s.


2. Another unidentified book in the Houghton Library.



However, further testing showed that both were actually made from sheep or cow leather, not human skin.

The Legacy & Controversy

Harvard kept the human-skin book as a historical artifact but does not display it publicly.

The existence of the book has sparked ethical debates about whether such artifacts should be preserved or destroyed.

Some argue that books like these are important historical relics, while others believe it’s a disturbing violation of human dignity.