Conversely, books are made by history: that is, they are shaped by economic, political,
social, and cultural forces. No book is created solely by its author: printers, publishers,
literary agents, editors, designers, and lawyers all play a role in molding the final product.
Critics, booksellers, and educational bureaucrats can proclaim a book a classic

The celebrated text on the history of the book, completely revised, updated and expanded
The revised and updated edition of The Companion to the History of the Book offers a global
survey of the book's history, through print and electronic text. Already well established as a
standard survey of the historiography of the book, this new, expanded edition draws on a
decade of advanced scholarship to present current research on paper, printing, binding,
scientific publishing, the history of maps, music and print, the profession of authorship and …