This paper explores the various ways in which Byzantine authors exploit the traditional Greek imagery related to books and writing. If in most cases they just reactivate well-known topics and metaphors, we can single out at least two themes peculiar to Byzantine culture: a bent for spiritualizing every aspect of the book, having even ink and bindings bear a mystical meaning, and the widespread habit of describing both Christ and the Virgin Mary as volumes. In Byzantium, books have completed their process of becoming ‘subjects’ and (very important) persons.
