Frenchness in the History of the Book: From the History of Publishing to the History of Reading.

Traces the history of the book as a discipline in France since 1958 as well as the long-term peculiarities (including interruptions) of French publishing. A marked tendency to publish books in French outside of France has characterized publishing in French since the 18th century. This notwithstanding, there is a strong continuum between the age of the manuscript and that of the printed book. Within the printed tradition, the industrialization of book production in 1830 marks a major technical breakthrough. Publishing emerged as an autonomous profession. Traces the practices of reading that have accompanied this change in publishing.