CODEX IN CRISIS: THE BOOK DEMATERIALISES
This article analyses the transformation of the idea of codex from the Antiquity, through the modern concepts of manuscript and printed volume, to its current digital form and digital repositories as Google Books or JSTOR. The author situates the process of digitization of books within a rich historical context and explores the influence of new media on the contemporary methods of reading, writing, publishing and storing information. He offers a critical analysis of the policies adopted by the largest libraries with regard to their digital collections as well as the consequences of digitization for academic publishing. This essay also attempts to show the tangible consequences of our growing familiarity with digital editions, for as useful and democratic as they are, they also make us forget the material aspect of the historical sources, e.g. their tangibility, size and format, as well as their sensual qualities which cannot be transmitted through the digital medium.

This article analyses the transformation of the idea of codex from the Antiquity, through the modern concepts of manuscript and printed volume, to its current digital form and digital repositories as Google Books or JSTOR. The author situates the process of digitization of books within a rich historical context and explores the influence of new media on the contemporary methods of reading, writing, publishing and storing information. He offers a critical analysis of the policies adopted by the largest libraries with regard to their digital collections as well as the consequences of digitization for academic publishing. This essay also attempts to show the tangible consequences of our growing familiarity with digital editions, for as useful and democratic as they are, they also make us forget the material aspect of the historical sources, e.g. their tangibility, size and format, as well as their sensual qualities which cannot be transmitted through the digital medium.