Henri-Jean Martin (16 January 1924 – 13 January 2007) was a leading authority on the

history of the book The history of books became an acknowledged academic discipline in the 1980s. Contributors to the discipline include specialists from the fields of textual scholarship, codicology, bibliography, philology, palaeography, art history, social hi ...

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, and an expert on the

history of writing The history of writing traces the development of expressing language by systems of markings and how these markings were used for various purposes in different societies, thereby transforming social organization. Writing systems are the foundati ...

and

printing Printing is a process for mass reproducing text and images using a master form or template. The earliest non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabonidus. The ...

. He was a leader in efforts to promote

libraries A library is a collection of Document, materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or electronic media, digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, and the history of libraries and printing. Born in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

, Henri-Jean Martin's initial professional position was that of ''conservateur'' in the ''réserve des imprimés'' of the

Bibliothèque nationale A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vi ...

, a position he held from 1947 to 1958. In 1958 he published his famous work, ''L'Apparition du Livre'' (''The Coming of the Book''), which he co-authored with the French historian

Lucien Febvre Lucien Paul Victor Febvre (, ; 22 July 1878 – 11 September 1956) was a French historian best known for the role he played in establishing the Annales School of history. He was the initial editor of the ''Encyclopédie française'' together wit ...

. In 1962 he was named ''conservateur en chef'' of the Bibliothèque municipale de Lyon. With master printer Marius Audin he helped create

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of ...

's Musée de l’Imprimerie. In 1970 he left Lyon for Paris, and a chair of

bibliography Bibliography (from and ), as a discipline, is traditionally the academic study of books as physical, cultural objects; in this sense, it is also known as bibliology (from ). English author and bibliographer John Carter describes ''bibliography ...

the

at the École Nationale des Chartes, where he taught until 1993. In 1998 he was awarded the

Gutenberg Prize of the International Gutenberg Society and the City of Mainz The Gutenberg Prize of the International Gutenberg Society and the City of Mainz has been awarded since 1968 for outstanding artistic, technical and scientific achievements in the field of printing. The award was initially awarded every three years ...

. Henri-Jean Martin also taught at the École Nationale Supérieure des Bibliothèques (ENSB, in Paris, today the ''Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Science de l'Information et des Bibliothèques'' / ENSSIB in Lyon), and at the École pratique des hautes études where he served thirty years as a ''directeur des études'' in the ''IV° section''.Institut d'Histoire du Livre, Lyon
/ref> He died in Paris of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

Selected bibliography

''The author is Henri-Jean Martin unless indicated otherwise.'' * Series : Itinéraires du savoir. * * preface by Roger Chartier ; Series : Titre courant, 1420-5254, 14-15 ; Note : "Ce livre a d'abord paru en 1969 dans la collection Histoire et civilisation du livre." See also: (1969) (same title and publisher, no ISBN) Series : Histoire et civilisation du livre, 3 ; Note : "Publications du Centre de recherches d'histoire et de philologie de la IVe section de l'École pratique des hautes études, Paris." Originally presented as the author's thesis, Paris. * tr. by David Gerard ; ed. by Geoffrey Nowell-Smith and David Wootton ; Note : reprint, other reprints by this publisher 1990 & 1984, originally published (London : N.L.B., 1976) ; Translation of L'apparition du livre. * Series : Johns Hopkins symposia in comparative history, 22nd. * tr. by Lydia G. Cochrane. * tr. by David Gerard ; Note : Translation of Livre, pouvoirs et société à Paris au 17e siècle. Originally presented as the author's thesis, Paris. * 4 volumes. * Series : Histoire et décadence, ISSN 0291-3852 ; preface by Pierre Chaunu. * Series : Histoire du livre. * Series : Lezioni della Scuola di studi superiori in Napoli, 8. * 4 volumes. * tr. by David Gerard ; ed. by Geoffrey Nowell-Smith and David Wootton ; Series : Foundations of history library ; Note: Translation of ''L'apparition du livre'' * Series : L'évolution de l'humanité no. 30; Note : Previously published as v.49 of the Bibliothèque de synthèse historique "L'evolution de l'humanite". * *

Notes

External links

Obituary
by Roger Chartier
Obituary
in ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'', 9 February 2007 * Frédéric Barbier, « Henri-Jean Martin, ou qu’est-ce que l’histoire du livre ? », ''in'' ''Préfaces'', n° 17, February – March 1990, pp106–12. {{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Henri-Jean 1924 births Scientists from Paris 2007 deaths École Nationale des Chartes alumni École Nationale des Chartes faculty École pratique des hautes études faculty French librarians Deaths from cancer in France Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur 20th-century French historians