This is the introduction from Lisa Maruca’s 2007 work, which traces some crucial changes in modern Europe in how people engage with texts. I first encountered this chapter as in college student in a class on 18th Century literature. I forgot who wrote it and wanted to use a concept from it for a paper this semester, so I emailed my old professor who sent it to me again. One idea that stuck with me most from this article is that when we read books the materiality of the page and all the work that went into making the book (that of editors, printers, publishers, booksellers, etc.) can seem invisible.