The Library’s ebook project will make more than 65,000 first-editions available this spring for the first time. It is funded by Microsoft. Microsoft and the Library have been scanning books for the past three years. The article in the Telegraph about the project goes on to say:
As well as classic titles by famous 19th Century authors, many of the downmarket books known as “penny dreadfuls” will also be made available to the public, including Black Bess by Edward Viles and The Dark Woman by J M Rymer.
In addition, paperback copies of the first editions will be available from Amazon for about £15. Unfortunately the article does not give any technical details, or any links.
A further article in Times Online says:
Books to be made available will include Victorian classics such as A Strange Story by Edward Bulwer-Lytton and The Story of a Modern Woman by Ella Hepworth Dixon.
Altogether, 35%-40% of the library’s 19th-century printed books — now all digitised — are inaccessible in other public libraries and are difficult to find in second-hand or internet bookshops.
Thanks to Richard Herley for the heads up.
