Amazon Kindle Ignites the Fire of British Gems

This latest development is truly one of the reasons why ereader technology is changing the way we read. Amazon has made a deal with the United Kingdom’s British Library to make 65,000 out-of-print books dating back to the 19th Century available for FREE for the Kindle. Additionally, these books will be for sale on Amazon as print-on-demand paperbacks. In this sense, the ebook reader is really bringing something to the public that in the past was never achievable.

About 35% to 40% of the British Library’s 19th Century collections are either completely unique or inaccessible through other top libraries in the UK and abroad. The 65,000 editions include philosophy, history, poetry and literature which equal 25 million pages of text.

The titles do include known authors such as Dickens, Austen and Conan Doyle, but Kindle readers will also be able to download lesser known titles like “A Strange Story” by Edward Lytton. Lytton was one of the most popular novelists of the Victorian era, but was lost in time. Well, not any more. Another buried author, Ella Hepworth Dixon wrote “The Story of a Modern Woman”, and it is described “as the greatest unread novel of female struggle”.

Kindle users will also have access to works known as Penny Dreadfuls. Named Penny Dreadfuls because they were cheap, with dramatic plots and marketed to the working class, they were produced at the time on inexpensive pulp paper which is not very durable. Because of this, most titles are very rare. Due to the partnership with the British Library and Amazon, the world will now have access to these “dreadfuls”.

As for those who don’t own an ebook reading device, never fear. CreateSpace, which is owned by Amazon, will offer print-on-demand services, so consumers can have their own copies of these unique parts of history. They will have access to first editions at very affordable prices, but again for Kindle owners, the digital versions will be FREE.

This is definitely history-making, and a positive outcome of technology. Not only is it unlocking classic reading material that was only available to a select few, but it also is giving future generations the option to really discover the Victorian Era. It is also noted that public sector institutions such as The British Library is finding ways to survive in these hard economic times. A partnership with Amazon and its popular Kindle DX to bring these buried manuscripts back to life is just the sort of thing the world needs right now.