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Călinescu's method of critical inquiry is based on biography and psychoanalysis. Thus, in his capital work The History of Romanian Literature from Its Origins to the Present, portrayal techniques have an essential role in conveying ideas. Nevertheless, his interest in anecdote has usually been ignored because it has been considered only the residual, unserious part of his critical vocation. What I aim in the present article is to prove that the anecdote represents not only the very engine of Călinescu's ideas, but also the incentive of the creative process. Taking into consideration the anecdote's mediation and remediation role, I aim at analyzing the subtle exchanges between the book's "matters" (enchaining a series of monographs/ portraits) and the book's matter (Călinescu's choice of book illustrations and paper) in the process of building a monument of petty things. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]