This publication deals with the encounter between the common Danish population of the 17th century and the printed word - and not least with the foundations of that meeting. Appel examines the teaching of reading and the reading abilities of the age in society outside the circles of the cultural elite, and questions the general conception of a predominantly illiterate population. The book draws a sketch of the book market of that period, marked by expansion and differentiation, and of the various attempts of the public authorities, including the church, to control and make use of the new media. It also tells of the various interests of the population in the art of reading, and of the channels - sale, loans and gift exchange - through which the printed papers reached the readers of the 17th century.