Harvard removes a book bound with human skin (shudder)

Harvard University explained its decision to remove the binding, saying: "After careful study, stakeholder engagement, and consideration, Harvard Library and the Harvard Museum Collections Returns Committee concluded that the human remains used in the book's binding no longer belong in the Harvard Library collections, due to the ethically fraught nature of the book's origins and subsequent history."

It added it was looking at ways to ensure "the human remains will be given a respectful disposition that seeks to restore dignity to the woman whose skin was used".

The library is also "conducting additional biographical and provenance research into the anonymous female patient", the university said.