The art of printing did not invent the book, but it spread the written word so that more people became aware of it. Since letterpress printing, increasing circles of readers could participate in written culture across the barriers of class society. With the art of printing, the written word thus became a medium for the man in the street too. This publication deals with how letterpress printing became a part of the everyday life in Denmark. How more and more connections in everyday life were described or prescribed, and how the medium opened up new schemes of things that could change everyday life: Life as a prescript, as a tale, stories, history -- a sign of the times.