Mallarme attempted to write an absolute book, the quintessence of all literature and all reality—the Total Book. The world exists to arrive at a book, he said. This book would be proclaimed by a sacred ceremony of predetermined detail, a proof as well as a communion.

The form of The Book can be described briefly: four books, which can be ordered as two pairs, make up The Book. Each book is subdivided into five volumes (not only interchangeable within each book, but also from book to book). Thus, Mallarme envisions the mixing and exchange of the volumes of one book with those of another.