The act of making known the contents of a writing or of a printed document. 2. In order to enable a party to a contract or a devisor to know what a paper contains it must be read, either by the party himself or by some other person to him. When a person signs or executes a paper, it will be presumed that it has been read to him, but this presumption may be rebutted. 3. In the case of a blind testator, if it can be proved that the will was not read to him, it cannot be sustained.