Histoire du livre et de l’édition. Postface de Robert Darnton

From the invention of writing to the digital revolution, Yann Sordet’s ambitious synthesis, richly documented and illustrated, traces the major stages and revolutions in the history of the book, through its production, economy, circulation and regulation, as well as its uses, forms and major changes - the expansion of the codex at the beginning of the Christian era, the development of typography in Europe in the 15^th century, the invention of periodicals at the beginning of the 17^th century, the involvement of bookshops in the consumer society and the globalization of the publishing market since the 19^th century, the dematerialization of processes in the 20^th century, etc. This wide-ranging study covers the whole of written production, while examining a fundamental ambiguity: at once a manufactured object and a commercial product, the book is also a symbolic good, a work of strong identity value. Finally, it pays close attention to the diversity and interactions of the actors in this general history of books and publishing: authors, legislators, copyists, illuminators and engravers, printers and publishers, as well as readers, collectors and librarians.