This Harvard University Library Book Is Bound in Human Skin

Caveat Lecter–tests prove book is definitely bound in human skin http://t.co/BX2Bhsea4x @HoughtonLib pic.twitter.com/bzMrzb9Sak

— Harvard Library (@HarvardLibrary) June 4, 2014

A book bound in human skin sits in one of Harvard University’s libraries, experts at the school said this week. Scientists tested the 19th-century book Des destineés de l’ame and concluded that they were “99.9% confident” that the binding comes from a person’s epidermis.

The library says that Dr. Ludovic Bouland bound the book in the mid-1880s after receiving it as a gift from the author, Arene Houssaye. He wrapped it using skin from the unclaimed body of a female mental patient who died of a stroke. He left a now-missing note in the book to shed some light on his decision, albeit : “A book about the human soul deserved to have a human covering.”

The tests of the binding ruled out other animal sources, including sheep, cattle, goats and primates closely related to humans like apes and gibbons.

Write to Eliana Dockterman at eliana.dockterman@time.com.