Destinies of the Soul
In the Houghton Library (at the great learning institute of Harvard) you will find a book called Des destinées de l’âme “Destinies of the Soul” in English that is bound in human skin.
The book Destinies of the Soul was not the handiwork of a madman like the human skin lover Buffalo Bill from The Silence of the Lambs, but a donation to Harvard University in the 1930’s.
The story says that the author of Des destinées de l’âme, Arsène Houssaye, gave a copy of his book to a friend the renowed French doctor Ludovic Bouland, who bound the book with human skin from an unclaimed body of a female mental patience who had died from a cardiovascular issue.
Inside the book is a note written in French where Bouland explains his thinking.
“This book is bound in human skin parchment on which no ornament has been stamped to preserve its elegance. By looking carefully you easily distinguish the pores of the skin,” he wrote. “A book about the human soul deserved to have a human covering: I had kept this piece of human skin taken from the back of a woman.”
Bouland, A madman or a poet? You the reader must decide.
Note, the practice of binding books with human skin is called anthropodermic bibliopegy. There are many reports of this practice being used, starting in the 16th Century. Families would honor their deceased with an endearing skin based book binder that could be passed down to generations of kin to enjoy. Imagine today binding the old pervert uncle Don over his favorite type of book, a big and chunky smut novel. Don was such a wonderful church going and God fearing man, who unfortunately fell out of a tree to his death rescuing his neighbor’s cat while his neighbor’s wife undressed.
What I ask in all seriousness: who was the women bound forever in the book at Harvard? We don’t know what her dreams and desires were, not even her name today.
Did she have lovers and children and meaningful passions before she was locked away from society. We don’t know, only that she was unclaimed after dying in a mental hospital. What one would assume is that she lived a difficult and sad life. A poor soul who was unclaimed at the end of her earthly life, neither receiving a proper buriel or respect. Ironically, a piece of this woman exists infinitely for strangers to gawk at and ponder about how beautiful the leather has aged. A strange fate, indeed!
I will read Des destinées de l’âme “Destinies of the Soul” sometime soon. A book that ponders about the soul and life after death. I hope I will get some answers on what led a man to put human skin around a book.
“I ate his liver with some Fava beans and a nice Chianti.”
Hannibal Lecter
Author Arsène Houssaye and a caricature of him by André Gill.
