Put a thousand books from the British Library on your iPad for free
I just love finding apps like this, and I think you'll be excited too. The British Library has released 1000 books from its 19th Century collection into a free iPad app that includes novels, historical works, poetry, philosophy and scientific books.
The books have been scanned in high resolution and color so you can see the engraved illustrations, the beauty of the embossed covers, along with maps and even the texture of the paper the books were printed on.
You can search the collection, browse titles by subject, and even read commentary on some of the titles. The books can be downloaded for reading offline.
In general, I found the app a joy to use. It was fun to browse titles, or search for things I was interested in. While some of the type is old and weathered, you can zoom in and read everything without issue.
Just like a real book, there are some blank pages you have to skip through, but I didn't find that a frustration. The app only works in portrait mode, but some of the illustrations are oriented in landscape view. Many of these literary treasures will likely never be offered as standard e-books so this is a unique opportunity for readers.
Although the app is free, the British Library plans to charge for an enhanced version of 60,000 titles later this year. Many of the books have an option to buy, and when you click you are sent to Amazon to purchase a printed copy. The app is iPad only for now, but will be coming to the Kindle Reader and Android tablets in the future. If you grab the app let us know what you think.
Share
Categories
I just love finding apps like this, and I think you'll be excited too. The British Library has released 1000 books from its 19th Century...
Add a Comment
Hi,
Get a new iPad 2 for free with just simple three steps:
1. Go to http://goo.gl/pVDob.
2. Complete the required fields of the form (Note: for field "Register Type" select "Buyer").
3. Go to your inbox and confirm your registration.
Good luck.
Soon as it comes in Android, I'm definitely picking that up. :)
June 12 2011 at 8:58 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyIf you're getting the 'not currently available' error, search for the app and download it from there, instead of following the link.
June 12 2011 at 7:30 PM Report abuse Permalink +1 rate up rate down Reply@gethin: i just downloaded this from UK iTunes, give it another try =D
June 12 2011 at 11:26 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyIf you have interests in Android Tablet PC. You can read review of chinese Android Tablet PC 70D2. It is in good design and good performance, http://dootar.com/Android/Android-Tablet/2011/06/05/98.html
June 12 2011 at 10:34 AM Report abuse Permalink -3 rate up rate down ReplyShould be interesting to see how that all turns out. Wow.
www.online-privacy.no.tc
amazing stuff! thanks for the recommendation!
June 12 2011 at 8:54 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyFunny, iTunes is telling me the app isn't available in the UK store at the moment but it is available from the US store.
June 12 2011 at 8:48 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyHot Apps on TUAW
Deals of the Day
more deals- Used Apple iPhone 3G 8GB for AT&T for $108 + $5 s&h
- Apple Mac Pro Xeon 6-Core 3.3GHz Desktop w/ 12GB RAM for $3,899 + $28 s&h
- Apple MacBook Pro Core i7 Quad 2.2GHz 15" SSD Laptop for $2,447 + $13 s&h
- Apple Earphones with Remote and Mic for $6 + $2 s&h
- PC Micro Store sale: Up to 50 off
- USB MP3 Player FM Transmitter with remote for $6 + free shipping
Software Updates
more updates- EFI Firmware Update brings Lion Internet Recovery to 2010-model Macs
- OS X Lion 10.7.3 released with Safari 5.1.3, Wi-Fi bug fix
- Aperture updated to 3.2.2, addresses Photo Stream issue
- Apple updates Keynote to address Lion issues
- Google Search app gets new look on iPad
- Apple releases Apple TV Software Update 4.4.3



8 Comments