To celebrate the five hundredth anniversary of the functioning of the earliest Greek presses in Venice (1499), we have decided to organise an International Congress. Our aim is twofold: to honour two of the leading early Greek printers, Zacharias Kalliergis and Nikolaos Vlastos, and to assess the course of research into the world of books over the last two decades - since 1981, when the Centre for Neohellenic Research of the National Hellenic Research Foundation (CNR-NHRF) held an international symposium on 'The book in pre-industrial societies'. The subjects to be discussed in the Congress include: the transition from the manuscript to the printed document, the foundation of the first Greek presses, the mastering of the new art by Greeks and the foundation of new presses in both West and East, the publishing enterprises of Greek and foreign presses and their major achievements and failures, which involved both original writing and translations. The Congress will also examine points of correspondence between publishing activity and the cultural and intellectual concerns of the Greeks of the Ottoman Empire and the diaspora, and those who lived within the borders of the Modern Greek state during the early decades after its foundation, and Greeks resident abroad. These concerns include the preservation of the Greek language, the dissemination of Greek culture, the requirements of Christian worship and catechism, resistance to proselytising activity, the response to modern European ideas, literary aspirations, the turn towards antiquity, the Greek Uprising of 1821, and the ideological infrastructure and organization of the new Greek state. The mechanisms of book production and distribution, the public response, readings, and their impact on social development and mentality are some of the major questions associated with the history of books. We" belie(Je that the original papers presented by the delegates to the Congress will be important contributions on these issues, and will, it is hoped, pro(Joke debate.