Ink mirrors, history of the book, reading desires.

A desired object, a work tool, a precious commodity, a remedy for melancholy, or a source of knowledge... the values and uses of books seem endless. At the intersection of history and literature, Christine Bénévent captures this diversity and questions the place of books and reading within the humanities, as well as the personal trajectory of researchers.
If history deals with what is, works on the lack which is at the origin of our knowledge, would literature, which focuses on what could be, not point towards a form of plenitude?
By reflecting a life journey through the works that have marked it, this essay offers a reflection on the multiple dimensions of this singular medium . It draws on the structuralist approach to texts, philology and material bibliography, as well as the history of books and reading spaces, as well as lived experience, to offer a visit to a veritable inner library.