Inksky
Official site: gutenberg.org
Project Gutenberg is the grandparent of digital libraries. Founded in 1971 by Michael Hart, it was the first online project to digitize public domain books. Today it hosts over 70,000 free ebooks, all in the public domain.
What You’ll Find
- Literary classics — Shakespeare, Austen, Dickens, Dostoevsky, Melville, Twain, and thousands more
- Philosophy and science — Aristotle, Darwin, Freud, Marx, Newton
- History — Gibbon, Plutarch, Tacitus
- Reference — Roget’s Thesaurus, dictionaries, encyclopedias
- Rare and obscure works — Books that are out of print everywhere else
Formats Available
Project Gutenberg offers multiple formats for every book:
- EPUB — Best for Kobo, Boox, PocketBook, and any EPUB-compatible reader
- Kindle (MOBI) — Works on all Kindle devices (though EPUB via “Send to Kindle” is now preferred)
- HTML — Read directly in a browser
- Plain text — Universal compatibility, but no formatting
How to Get Books on Your E-Reader
Kindle: Download the EPUB and use Send to Kindle or email it to your Kindle’s email address.
Kobo: Download the EPUB and copy it to your Kobo via USB, or use Calibre for metadata management.
Boox: Download the EPUB directly on the device using its browser, or transfer via USB/Dropbox.
PocketBook: Download the EPUB. PocketBook supports Dropbox sync and email-to-device.
Tips
- Start with the “Top 100” list on Gutenberg’s homepage — these are the most downloaded titles and tend to have the best formatting
- For better typography, check the same book on Standard Ebooks — they take Gutenberg texts and apply professional typesetting
- Search for “illustrated” editions of classics — many Gutenberg books include the original illustrations
For more sources, see our free ebook directory.