Project Gutenberg websites host thousands of free-to-read books that are in the public domain. Their copyrights have expired. They can be read online in various languages, formats and editions. Books can even be downloaded from the digital library.
There is a lot of general information about Project Gutenberg in Wikipedia and on the Project websites themselves. It is best for interested people to go direct to the sources and look at the rules, the catalogues and the search and other options, but I want to say a few things about my experiences of using this wonderful resource.
I may want to refer to certain books from time
to time; going to Project Gutenberg saves my having to keep getting them from
the public library or storing my own copies. It is often much easier to search the digital
copies for remembered topics or phrases than it is to try to find something in
a printed book.
Three websites
There is one main site and two smaller,
sister sites for English language books.
The US website looks more professional than
the other two.
Accessing books mentioned on here
Project Gutenberg does not want people to
link directly to a particular book for a variety of reasons, which is why I
have not done so. They do permit linking to an author’s top-level entry though.
Here are some relevant examples:
Note that this works on the US site only.
Distribution and completion
Not all works by a particular author may be
available. It is worth checking all possible sources: I have found that some of
a particular author’s books may be available on one of the sites and some on
another one. For example, Stella Benson’s Living Alone is available only on the
US site, while her The Little World and Worlds Within Worlds are on the Canadian
site only.
Some authors’ works are available both as
individual books and in a ‘complete works’ version.
New books are being added daily, so it is
worth checking the sites from time to time.
Project Gutenberg is a treasure trove.
