One interesting development in the book world over recent years has been the digitizing of many books that are out of copyright and in the public domain. These include out-of-print books that have otherwise been hard to find or access. Whereas at one time these books would only be available from libraries and collections, today these books are now available as free ebooks from websites such as Google Books and Project Gutenberg. The books can be read on line or downloaded to a computer or other electronic reading device, such as a PDA. These 'electronic books' or 'ebooks' are in PDF format which means that they are simple to access, download, print or save.
A Snapshot of History
Many of the books that have been digitized are books that are two or three hundred years old. This gives readers the opportunity to take a look back into history, taking an interesting snapshot of a bygone age. The books that are available online are not just stuffy academic tomes or heavy works of literature. There are many interesting and accessible books available. These include cookery and household management books, satirical publications, travel diaries and political news. Several of these books are classics of the type, and although written long ago, can still offer plenty to the modern reader.
Living History
One of the fascinating aspects of these ebooks is that, from the comfort of a twentieth century home, a reader can gain an insight into the real lives of people from other centuries. As these are books that were contemporary to their time, the issues, language and style are completely reflective of the era. This includes fascinating reminders of how language has changed and developed. In old English, for instance, the letter 'f' was used instead of 's' and many spellings are unusual and are often inconsistent.
Language also appears more poetic - a 'rabbet- is larded with bacon before being festooned with pepper. Readers will read warnings about drunken housemaids, the perils of too much fresh air for babies and the benefits of drinking purging ales before lunch.
Google Book Search
The search facility of Google Books means that a reader does not have to read through hundreds of pages to find interesting snippets. The search function works in exactly the same way as a search on the Internet. Therefore a reader would simply type a few keyword into the search box and all books with these key words featured anywhere in the text will be returned. This text is highlighted making it simple to find on the screen. The different elements that a reader can search on include:
- Publication Date - readers can set time bands, for instance to search only books that were published between 1750 and 1800
- Keywords - useful for specific searches, such as the name of a person or town
- Author - this also picks up where an author has contributed to a publication
- Publisher
Note: When using the search facility of Google Books, readers should ensure that they click the 'full text' box to return only books that are completely available online.
The flexibility of the digital format opens up these long forgotten books to casual browsers as well as researchers and students. There is a wealth of fascinating information that is freely available in ebook format.
More Information
18th Century Cookbooks - digitized cookbooks give a fascinating insight into the kitchens of a bygone era.
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