The HISTORY OF THE BOOK from the perspective of its material production and circulation constitutes a parallel approach to intellectual creation and the reading phenomenon, complementing that of the history of ideas, intellectual movements, and literary trends with which we may be more familiar.

The journey of publishing businesses over time, their vision for creation and the challenges of their operation and survival, the evolution of the entrepreneurship of publishers, and necessary links between the realm of intellect and that of the market, are defining indicators of the relationship between the intellectual sphere and its physical recipients, all of us readers.

The Estia Bookstore is the longest-lived Greek publishing house that has continued its activities uninterrupted since 1885, and this is a unique phenomenon in the publishing field as well as a rare business success in general.

Five generations of the founding Kolláros family have taken up the baton and managed to establish and maintain the prominent presence and contribution of the house in Greek letters, overcoming obstacles and innovating boldly.

This study follows the history of this multifaceted journey along the traces of the history of the book and the intellectual world in Greece, from the emergence of the bookseller-publisher in the late 19th century to the modern technological and economic upheavals, the rise of the digital book, and the shocks of the economic crisis, which violently rearrange the fragile world of Greek books.