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This article attempts to understand the conditions surrounding the late emergence of the “essay” as a category for classifying books. Starting from the observation that this category did not take hold as a genre until the period between the wars, the author begins by studying the editorial use of the “essay” in the order of Gallimard and Grasset catalogues, before going on to discuss the multiple meanings of the references that authorised this usage. Finally, he analyses this emergence as a response to the issue of the changing structure of literary production and the key access to the market given to supporters of “pure” literature.