The present collection of papers is the result of the fourth “Siècle des Lumières” International Conference held at Le Havre University on 21-23 June 2016. The papers presented bear witness to the links between the book and Man, and the power of the book to change lives and the world. Crossing a variety of disciplines, this volume engages with the book as a complex cultural phenomenon, a cultural object for consumption (both as an artistic artefact and a distinct intellectual or artistic creation, i.e. a valuable product both regarding its materiality and its contents) as well as a momentous and vital concept for society, offering an analysis of book reading as a personal and social activity.