A poignant image from the news this week: miniature bibles about to be sent 700 metres underground to the 33 men trapped in a Chilean mine. This scene illustrates starkly the practical importance of the materiality of texts – only volumes as small as these will fit in the narrow tube that connects these men to the surface. In this extreme but real-life context, the physical properties of these books have as much significance as their textual content. (Photo from www.guardian.co.uk).