The article presents the history of the creation of the French monograph L’apparition du livre ("The Coming of the Book", 1958), which has not been translated into Russian. The research traced the paths of its authors – French scholars L. Febvre, an innovator of historical science in the 20th century, and A.-J. Martin, the founder of the French school of book history. The role of the ideas and results of French book historians for the further development of Western book science in the end of the last century and in the early of the 21st century is outlined. The purpose of the article is to provide an analysis of this work, emphasizing its impact for the formation of the social history of the book. This article considered the importance and prospects for including this fundamental and already classic work in the research field of present-day Russian book studies as well as in educational practices.