Anyone who has splashed out US$259 or its local currency equivalent for a Kindle e-reader might be pleased to learn that the British Library is to give them plenty of chances to get their money’s worth.
It’s reported by Techwatch that 65,000 classic volumes in English are to be made available on the device, including classic works by Charles Dickens, Thomas Hardy, Jane Austen, and other 19th-century authors whose works are now free from copyright.
The library intends to make the books available for free over the next couple of months.
It is also reported that these e-book versions will be published in their original typefaces and with the original illustrations, so they will be truly authentic.
Microsoft is reported to have offered to fund the project.