36,000+ Free eBooks For Your eReader and Tablet

When you hear the name Gutenberg, one immediately associates it with the printing press (Johannes Gutenberg: German publisher who introduced the printing press). But more and more this name is nowadays associated with the "Project Gutenber", the first and largest single collection of free electronic books, or eBooks, founded by Michael Hart, who unfortunately recently past away. His legacy though keeps thriving into a paradigm that will shape the future, together with the eReaders, of how information is exchanged and shared.

And how does all of this affect you? Well, all of a sudden you are the beneficiary of 36,000+ free eBooks. Does it sound good? It gets better. All of these books are compatible with your eReader and tablet!

As they say, Project Gutenberg is not only for your desktop or notebook computer:

The Nook, Kindle, Sony EReader, iPad and other eBook readers can display Project Gutenberg eBooks (we are not going to try to list them all here, but every such device we are aware of has the ability to display one or more of Project Gutenberg's typical file formats). Most recent mobile phones can also display them. Many MP3 players, gaming systems, and other devices can display eBooks, too. The Project Gutenberg site offers download formats suitable for eBook readers, mobile phones, and other devices. 

Different devices and download formats offer different features for displaying and manipulating the eBooks. They can all display eBooks for reading a page at a time. Other available features might include choice of fonts, sizes and colors; bookmark or annotation functionality; and options for sharing. 

There are several different ways of obtaining and viewing the titles, and most people will be able to choose whichever suits them best. Before getting started, check with your device's documentation to determine which formats you can display. This page lists the formats that Project Gutenberg offers: 

Here are some of the ways we know of to get Project Gutenberg eBooks to your eBook reader or mobile phone:

1. Try the new Project Gutenberg Mobile Site. This site is still undergoing testing and development, but has been found to work well for many devices.
2. Download eBooks directly to your device over the Internet. If your device is Internet-enabled, just visit the catalog page for a book, and download one of the formats your device can display. Here is a sample catalog page: www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/11. Use the author/title search boxes on every page at www.gutenberg.org to find eBooks you are interested in.
3. Download to your computer, using your Web browser. Then, transfer the book's file(s) to your device using a USB cable or similar method. Before copying, you might use a program on your computer to transform the files to another format.
4. Use a third party site (including some for-fee sites), which facilitate getting files onto your device. Try Project Gutenberg's partners and affiliates. Here is the magic catalog for Project Gutenberg titles, created in MOBI and EPUB versions (MOBI is suitable for the Kindle): http://www.freekindlebooks.org/MagicCatalog/magiccatalog.html 

Kindle

The Amazon "Kindle" devices seem to work well with Project Gutenberg titles, including the different versions (DX etc.). Amazon has made instructions available for downloading Project Gutenberg titles in "Mobi" format, which is now listed as "Kindle" format at www.gutenberg.org. See Amazon's instructions at Amazon.com: Free Book Collections. For MS-Windows users, there is a video describing the process at YouTube, via a blog on the power of small instructional videos

Kindle devices favor the "MOBI" format, which is usually labeled "Kindle" on the Project Gutenberg download pages

As described above, you can first download to your computer, then connect your Kindle and copy files to it. This works with MOBI and plain text. The HTML and EPUB files we copied were not viewable on the Kindle. Audio books in MP3 format will play through the Kindle's music player, but the player is limited and does not let you see and select from available audio books.

The Kindle Web browser can display HTML and plain text from Project Gutenberg, but not the other formats we tried from the Project Gutenberg site.
Beware that there are many Amazon titles in print and eBooks that are not free from them, but are free from Project Gutenberg. In addition, we have found that Amazon outsources many of their own digital imprints, and sometimes their non-free titles violate the Project Gutenberg trademark (i.e., Project Gutenberg has never received any trademark royalty payments from Amazon). For older (pre-1923) content, there is a good chance that Project Gutenberg has it for free, but Amazon will charge money for it. Of course there might be advantages to the non-free version (such as better formatting). Be aware, and make an informed choice.
Project Gutenberg would like to thank Amazon for providing Kindles for our evaluation.

Nook

The Barnes & Noble "Nook" devices seem to work well with Project Gutenberg titles, including the different versions (Color etc.). Here is a forum article describing one way to transfer eBook files from your computer to the Nook: How to transfer EPUB files to your Nook. Note that to connect, your Nook needs to be awakened (use the on-screen slider to do this, you'll get a message that it is connected to your computer). Other points for the Nook:
You can use the built-in Web browser to look at Project Gutenberg eBooks in text and HTML format, but it will not display EPUB or the other common Project Gutenberg download formats
Instead, use your computer's Web browser to find and download EPUB or other formats. Use the techniques described elsewhere on this page. There does not seem to be a way to download those formats to your Nook without going through your computer or the online Nook store.
Beware that there are many Barnes & Noble titles in print and eBooks that are not free from them, but are free from Project Gutenberg. B&N often adds a "Copyright" statement to such old books (for example, Pride and Prejudice, which actually is included with the Nook), but only things like the cover and introduction are copyrighted, the main text is not. For older (pre-1923) content, there is a good chance that Project Gutenberg has it for free, but B&N will charge money for it. Of course there might be advantages to the non-free version (such as better formatting). Be aware, and make an informed choice.

Kobo Reader

The Kobo reader online store includes free access to 100 of the most popular Project Gutenberg titles. You need to go through the registration process to get access to the store. Direct transfer of downloaded eBooks from a computer to the Kobo did not immediately work for us, but is supposed to be supported. The Kobo supports PDF and ePub formats. Project Gutenberg would like to thank Kobo for providing free evaluation readers. 

Android

The Android operating system is found on many phones and tablets. The specific features and applications varies, and there are often customizations to Android that change functionality. For the most part, however, Android devices include Web browsers that can be used to read Project Gutenberg's text and HTML eBooks. For other file types, you can try copying from your computer to the device as described above. 

Source: Project Gutenberg 

In the same way that mp3 files and players, combined with the Internet, changed the music industry for good, projects and new ideas like these will create a world where information and literature are gonna be available to anyone. The forces of the market are braking the weird chains that constrain ideas and beauty.

Hope you enjoy your reading! :)

Eric