The book (in this context any portable object whose prime purpose is to convey documentary information, including both images and text) is, in the view of the editors of this interesting volume), a much-neglected artifact in the spectrum of objects which constitute the material cultural heritage. This collection of papers represents the work of a group of national and international researchers who have studied the various components of the book as object, with the aim of sharing expertise, generating new interactions, and promoting interdisciplinary collaboration between researchers from the arts and humanities and those from science and heritage science disciplines. This volume documents discussions which took place between March and November 2009 at workshops and symposia organized by the BookNET Research Cluster.