Amazon's Kindle Gets Access to Out-of-Print 19th Century Books

Amazon has inked an deal with the UK's British Library to make some 65,000 out-of-print books from the 19th Century available as free downloads on its Kindle e-book, or for sale as paperbacks via a print-on-demand service.

Originally digitised in partnership with Microsoft Livesearch, the British Library's new joint venture with Amazon will unlock 65,000 editions of 19th century philosophy, history, poetry and literature - over 25 million pages of content. The agreement covers Amazon's sites in the USA, the UK, France and Germany, and Amazon's Kindle.

Estimates suggest that roughly 35% to 40% of the British Library's 19th century British printed collections are either unique, or at least inaccessible through other major libraries in the UK and abroad.

Covering the likes of Dickens, Austen, and Conan Doyle, the 65,000 titles also include a range of lesser know Victorian classics such as, A Strange Story by Edward Lytton, one of the period's most popular novelists - now largely neglected, and The Story of a Modern Woman by Ella Hepworth Dixon, described as 'the greatest unread novel of female struggle'. Through print on-demand with CreateSpace, part of the Amazon group of companies, readers will be able to have their very own copies of these previously rare and inaccessible titles now in the public domain, including some classic first editions, re-printed at an affordable price. Print-on-demand is both a convenient and economically viable way of making these collections available. In addition, Kindle owners will be able to download these titles for free.

Chief Executive of the British Library, Dame Lynne Brindley, said "The British Library's deal with Amazon to make literary gems available through print-on-demand and the Kindle e-book reader is a landmark agreement in more ways than one. Unlocking 65,000 titles of 19th century material for new generations to discover, the deal also shows how innovative public sector institutions can keep moving ahead, even in a tough economic climate.

Cheap Popular Victorian Fiction known as penny dreadfuls

Released in mini series over a number of weeks, these lurid works, known as Penny Dreadfuls because of their low price and sensational plots, were primarily aimed at the working class masses. Originally produced on cheap pulp paper, and therefore not particularly durable, many of the titles are now extremely rare. Home to the UK's best archive of penny dreadfuls, the agreement with Amazon will open up the British Library's collection to a mass market once more.