It's True, Harvard University Has a Book Bound in Human Skin

A smooth read?

Image via @Harvard Library/Twitter

Harvard University has come forth and admitted that, yes, it does have a book that's bound in the skin of a dead human being.

This revelation comes after Harvard said in April that two of the three books in its libraries rumored to be bound in human skin were not: 

Good news for fans of anthropodermic bibliopegy, bibliomaniacs and cannibals alike: tests have revealed that Houghton Library’s copy of Arsène Houssaye’s Des destinées de l’ame (FC8.H8177.879dc) is without a doubt bound in human skin.

For the record, the book was created using "the back of the unclaimed body of a woman patient in a French mental hospital who died suddenly of apoplexy." That's not even the disturbing part—this is something people actually did with some frequency back in the 19th century.

Hey, at least it's not the Necronomicon.

[via Gawker and Caveat Lecter Houghton Library Blog]

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