This collection investigates the architectural elements of early modern books, challenging and extending the theoretical framework of Gérard Genette's 'Paratexts'. The essays explore the paratext as both a material and a conceptual category within the context of Renaissance book history, materiality, and rhetorical culture. By examining neglected sites such as imprints, endings, running titles, and printers' flowers, the contributors offer fresh perspectives on the creation and dissemination of books. These accounts delve into the marking of gender, the politics of translation, the geographies of texts, and the interplay between reading and visual perception, presenting the collection as a history of misreading as much as interpretation.

The collection is regarded as a significant contribution to early modern book history, offering compelling explorations of the architecture of Renaissance books. It is noted for challenging and extending established theoretical frameworks, particularly Genette's taxonomy, by presenting paratexts as both material and conceptual categories. The essays are praised for their fresh look at neglected sites within books and for opening up complex questions regarding gender, translation, and the relationship between reading and seeing. This work provides novel perspectives on the technologies of reading and highlights the sophisticated nature of paratexts in English Renaissance books.