The “grand procès” of the brochure and the bound text in the eighteenth century

If the eighteenth century condemns the proliferation of these small ephemeral works called brochures, some like Caraccioli see them as a way to spread knowledge to a wider public, contributing to polite manners. Louis-Sébastien Mercier goes further, seeing in the pamphlet an ethical and aesthetic standpoint, which he contrasts with the deleterious and ghoulish effect of binding: the immateriality of the brochure is what allows the text to circulate and to continue to live.