Glimpses on the publishing journey of the electronic book

Abstract

The article addresses the issue of the last book’s chronological shape, the electronic one. Starting with an evaluation of certain definitions and trying to clarify the words e-book, e-reader and electronic book, the paper proposes a consideration on the similarities and differences between this new kind of book and the traditional one, made of paper. A special attention is paid to the book cover, that is one of the paratext’s elements. From a native protective function to a communicative one, the book covers have changed their roles throughout the centuries, remaining in the book-system world. The electronic book, with his dematerialization, has not broken the connection with the book cover, actually the latter has assumed characteristics shaped by the new digital context.