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Free ebook library and public-domain reading website

Project Gutenberg

Project Gutenberg is a popular digital library website offering more than 75,000 free ebooks, focused largely on older works whose U.S. copyright has expired.

Core use
Readers use Project Gutenberg to search, download, or read free ebooks online in formats such as EPUB, Kindle, HTML, and plain text.
Started
Michael Hart began Project Gutenberg in 1971, and the project describes him as the inventor of ebooks.
Collection model
The site focuses on free ebooks, especially older literature and public-domain works digitized and proofread by volunteers.
Project Gutenberg is a free ebook library and one of the web's oldest digital reading projects.View image on original site

What Project Gutenberg is

Project Gutenberg is an online library and ebook website for free digital books. On Project Gutenberg, readers can search the catalog, browse popular titles, read books in a web browser, or download ebooks for phones, tablets, computers, and dedicated ebook readers.

Free ebook library

The site describes itself as a library of more than 75,000 free ebooks. Its strongest focus is older literature and reference works for which U.S. copyright has expired, which is why many classic novels, poetry collections, nonfiction books, and historical texts are easy to find there.

Formats and reading options

Project Gutenberg books are usually offered in practical formats rather than locked to one app. A reader may see HTML for browser reading, EPUB for ebook apps, Kindle-compatible files, plain text, images, or audio where available. That portability is a major reason the site has remained useful across several generations of devices.

Volunteer digitization

The project depends on volunteer work. Books may be scanned, transcribed, proofread, corrected, formatted, and checked before release. Partner communities such as Distributed Proofreaders have helped turn public-domain source material into cleaner ebooks that ordinary readers can download.

From early ebooks to the web

Project Gutenberg began in 1971, long before modern web browsers, app stores, or commercial ebook ecosystems. Its history gives it a special place in digital culture: it helped show that books could be copied, transmitted, preserved, and read as ordinary digital files.

Why it matters

Project Gutenberg matters because it makes older literature and historical writing easier to reach without cost, registration, or proprietary software. It supports readers, teachers, students, researchers, translators, accessibility projects, and anyone who needs durable access to public-domain texts.

Limits and cautions

Availability is shaped by copyright law, especially U.S. public-domain rules, so a book that is free on Project Gutenberg may still have restrictions in another country. Metadata and formatting can also vary by title, and readers who need scholarly citations should compare editions carefully.

WHOIS domain data

Data pulled: May 19, 2026View current WHOIS record

Domain
gutenberg.org
IP address
152.19.134.47
Registrar
Network Solutions, LLC
WHOIS server
whois.networksolutions.com
Referral URL
http://www.networksolutions.com
Created
December 1, 1996
Updated
November 30, 2023
Expires
November 30, 2033
Nameservers
ns.unc.edu (152.19.255.120); ns2.unc.edu (152.2.255.120)
Domain status
clientTransferProhibited
Contact information
Who.is lists the registrant address as Staten Island, NY, US, and lists Newby, Gregory B as the technical contact.