Classics available for free online from the British Library

Soon those who own the Kindle from Amazon will be able to view books along with their original illustrations of many classic and famous works by authors such as Thomas Hardy, Charles Dickens, and Jane Austin.  Many obscure artists will also see their books go up with full illustrations and original typeface.

For about £15 a piece many first edition printed paperback copies of classic works will be available for public purchase on the Kindle.  The same books in their hardcopy form usually run around £250 a piece.

This is quite a change for Amazon, since most of their Kindle download selections are more contemporary authors because they are the most profitable.

Amazon will have some competition to contend with however given that Google Books already offers out of copyright books for free with funds from Microsoft.

Chief executive of the British Library Lynne Brindley stated that allowing historic books to be accessed for free can help revolutionize the way people access library resources.

The British Library and Microsoft have worked together for the past three years to scan classics, put them online and offer them free.  Their focus at the moment are 19th century works since they are all out of copyright and can be thus be posted for free access.

Along with many of classic titles by famous authors, many of the downmarket books from the same era are also going to be posted soon so that avid readers have access to every type of work.

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