Smithsonian Libraries

Free eBooks for Your New eReader

This is the second post in our new series, Library Hacks, where we take a look at cool and interesting online resources from the Smithsonian Libraries and the cyberworld at large.

Are you giving or getting an eReader this holiday season? Maybe you are one of the millions already using smartphones or tablets to access just about everything online. In my humble librarian opinion, one of the greatest uses for such devices is free downloadable books! Of course, you can and should check your local public library to find ebooks to borrow, but there are lots of websites offering access to ebooks, too. However, not all such sites give free access! Many, like Amazon.com, offer ebooks for sale only. So I thought I'd highlight some of the biggest and best sites for finding free ebooks -- which won't put an extra squeeze on your holiday budget.

Project Gutenberg

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free full-text ebooks. Its founder Michael S. Hart, who passed away earlier this year, invented ebooks in 1971, so this is really the granddaddy of free downloadable book sites. It currently offers access to over 36,000 titles, but that number increases to over 100,000 ebooks when you include Project Gutenberg’s partners around the world. These books were all previously released by established publishers, which means you won’t just find a bunch of fan fiction self-published by some guy obsessed with Batman. Also, all of the ebooks uploaded by Project Gutenberg have been diligently proofread by volunteers to limit typos/errors.

Project Gutenberg offers a simple book search feature to search by title, author or subject. You can also browse the bookshelves if you’re not sure what you’re looking for. It’s fun to scan all the topics covered –- everything from children’s picture books (many with full-color illustrations) to cookery (lots of recipes!) to German language books (das ist gut!). Keep in mind -– these ebooks are available for free because their U.S. copyright has expired. But this means you won’t be able to access the current New York Times bestsellers here.

No fee or registration is required, and these ebooks can be downloaded to your PC, eReader, tablet, most smartphones, and even some MP3 players and gaming systems. Easy-to-follow instructions are available to help you figure it all out.

 

Open Library

The goal of Open Library, an initiative of the Internet Archive, is stated simply: One web page for every book ever published. But this definitely is not a simple task! So far the site has over 20 million edition records, and new records are constantly being added. This is truly an open project, with information being contributed by a wide variety of libraries. Individual people also are encouraged to participate by adding and/or fixing book records, writing book descriptions, adding book cover images, or editing nearly any page on the site.

Open Library offers direct access to over 1 million free ebooks in a variety of formats (PDF, plain text, ePub, DjVu, MOBi, DAISY, and "Send to Kindle"). And it's easy to use -- a simple search box is offered at the top of each page on the Open Library site. Right below that, you will find a small check box to limit your search to only ebooks. You also can browse on the Accessible Books page to see what is available for free. Open Library even has its own Lending Library with over 10,000 ebook titles available to borrow, one copy at a time for two weeks. These include mainly 20th century works which might be hard to find elsewhere online for free. For example, I found The Razor's Edge by W. Somerset Maugham, a book I've been wanting to read, which I was able to borrow, even though it's not offered for free download here or on other sites.

Another great service from Open Library is the availability of books in Digital Accessible Information SYstem (DAISY) format. DAISY presents written material in an audible format for people with print disabilities such as blindness, impaired vision, and dyslexia. Details on accessing DAISY books are provided in Open Library's FAQ section, and a list of all the devices that can read DAISY files is available at daisy.org.

 

HathiTrust Digital Library

This is one of the less well known ebook sources, but it's particularly valuable for research. The mission of the HathiTrust is "to contribute to the common good by collecting, organizing, preserving, communicating, and sharing the record of human knowledge." It is a partnership of over 60 major research institutions and libraries worldwide, and the HathiTrust Digital Library brings together their collections to be preserved in digital form for posterity. In fact, the name "Hathi" comes from the Hindi word for elephant, an animal known for its long memory.

It is important to realize that currently the main focus for this organization is preservation, not necessarily free public access. So while the HathiTrust has digitized nearly 10 million volumes (including both books and journals), only about a quarter of them are available free online -- a total of about 2.5 million volumes, mostly ones in the public domain. Also, these items are offered only in PDF format, which is a less eReader-friendly format than some of those available at the other ebook sites mentioned in this post.

The search options allow you to do a catalog search by title, author, subject, etc., and you can check a box to limit it to full view only (meaning complete books you can read online or download in PDF). A handy feature for doing research is the full-text search option, which allows you to look for terms within the full-text of all 10 million+ volumes that the HathiTrust has digitized. While you can't access the full-text of them all, you can determine if your search term shows up only once or multiple times in the volume, which can help you decide if it might be a resource worth tracking down for your research.

 

Google Books

Did you know that digitizing books was part of the driving force behind the creation of Google? Back in 1996, Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page were computer science graduate students working on a project about digital libraries and the use of a “web crawler” to search through the contents of electronic books. Google certainly grew way beyond this idea, but it wasn’t forgotten -- it evenutally became Google Books. The ultimate goal for Google Books is to scan all the books in the world, allowing people to easily search for and find the books they need. While this goal is still far off, Google Books reports that it has already scanned over 15 million books in over 400 languages.

Now a caveat -- most of these books are not available in full-text for free. Where possible, Google Books does provide free access, mainly for books that are in the public domain because the copyright has expired, or those where the copyright holder has given permission for free access. Most of these scanned books give access to only part of the text, along with links to find libraries that hold physical copies of the book or sources that sell copies. Keep in mind that, unlike the other ebook providers included in this post which are nonprofits, Google is a profit-making venture. And there has been some debate about whether Google Books should be allowed to provide even limited access to books that are still protected by copyright.

That said, Google Books is still a good resource for finding books you are interested in. It lets you browse by broad subect areas, or you can use a simple search box to search for specific words. Like the HathiTrust, this site also offers the capability of looking for terms within the full text of all its scanned books, even if the entire text is not available for free download. Your search will take you to where your term appears within the book, providing access to a limited section surrounding that term (the amount of surrounding material you can see will vary, depending upon the copyright holder's agreement with Google). This can help you determine if the book seems to be relevant to your subject and may be worth trying to find in a library or for sale if it's not available to download.

Google Books also offers both iPhone/iPad and Android apps that sync automatically with your own account on the site, as well as different formats for use with eReaders, making it even easier to take ebooks with you.

 

Have you used any of these sites to download books? If so, what did you find there? Where else have you gone to get your ebook fix? Feel free to share your experiences in the comments section below. And if you're giving an eReader as a gift, be sure to let the recipient know about these free ebook sites to get the most out of their new gadget!

Happy Holidays from the Library Hacks!

Captivated by Science, Mathematics, and Imagination: An 18th Century Lady's Commonplace Book

Blogs across the Smithsonian will give an inside look at the Institution’s archival collections and practices during a month long blogathon in celebration of October’s American Archives Month. See additional posts from our other participating blogs, as well as related events and resources, on the Smithsonian’s Archives Month website.

Mary Smith's "Commonplace book concerning science and mathematics"

 

A couple of years ago, I saw a production of Tom Stoppard's play Arcadia. One of the central characters is Thomasina Coverly, a precocious girl in early 19th century England whose student notebooks were bursting with ideas on how to unlock the greatest mysteries of science and mathematics. I was reminded of the voracious intellect and efforts of Stoppard's Thomasina recently in the Dibner Library of the History of Science and Technology when I came across an 18th century vellum-bound volume filled with more than 300 pages of carefully handwritten notes on a wide variety of scientific themes. Arranged in two parts, the volume includes a detailed table of contents indexed with a set of hand-cut alphabetical thumb tabs, followed by hundreds of pages filled front and back with summaries of articles, experiments, and questions on science, mathematics, medicine, and religion.

 

Pages 57-58.

 

The manuscript (MSS 001281 B SCDIRB) provides remarkable evidence of a lively, inquiring mind absorbing a level of information that would be impressive anywhere, but it seems particularly surprising that this volume was apparently produced by a girl or woman named Mary Smith, who resided in the remote village of Thorney, part of the Earl of Bedford's model agricultural estate in the Fens of Cambridgeshire during the 1760s and 1770s. Who was Mary Smith? She was wealthy or well-connected enough to have her own folio volume elegantly bound in vellum, and her own specially printed bookplate, shown here, consisting of an elaborate architectural design created by artfully arranged printer's ornaments. The bookplate was printed by Thomas Fletcher (fl. 1762-1779) and Francis Hodson (d. 1812), partners in Cambridge who also printed the Cambridge Chronicle, a magazine frequently cited in Smith's manuscript. Otherwise, there are almost no details in the volume that help to further identify its compiler.

 

Book plate of the manuscript

 

According to an accession list kept in the Dibner Library, the manuscript was acquired by Bern Dibner for his Burndy Library collection of landmark works in the history of science and technology in 1958 for $40.00 from the London antiquarian book dealer Ben Weinreb. Weinreb described the manuscript as a "commonplace book relating to scientific and mathematical subjects, including notes from several 18th century books." The volume apparently was created after 1764 and continues into the 1780s, based on references cited in the text. Mary Smith's notes indicate she had access to several of the most popular periodicals of the time, including the New Universal Magazine, the London Magazine, the Philosophical Transactions, the Gentleman's Magazine, the Monthly Review, and the Universal Museum, and she frequently refers to lectures and articles sponsored by the Royal Society and the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce. She was particularly interested in the latest debates over scientific theories and inventions, for example filling up several pages of notes dated 1765 summarizing contemporaneous reports about the marine chronometer invented by clock-maker John Harrison, who was awarded a prize of £10,000 from the commissioners of the British Board of Longitude.

Unfortunately, with a name as common as "Mary Smith," a search for more information about the person who kept this notebook has quickly gone cold, but perhaps one of the readers of this blog who knows more about the Smith family or the local history of Thorney will be able to supply more detail. There is a tantalizing possibility that another tome of her notes may exist somewhere, since the detailed index occasionally refers to a second volume.

 

Page 20

 

With such a wealth of material ranging over a wide variety of topics, it was difficult to select just a few representative pages from Mary Smith's manuscript to show here. There are some carefully drawn diagrams in the volume, including one for the mathematical exercise of dialling (from p. 20) and an astronomical illustration (from p. 37). The page opening for p. 57-58 discusses the cause of thunder and its relationship to electricity and magnetism, citing sources ranging from the Bible (Job 28, verse 26) to Welsh mathematician William Jones to the scientific observations of Benjamin Franklin.

 

Page 37

 

This blog entry was written in recognition of Ada Lovelace Day (October 7, 2011), an international initiative to highlight the contributions of women in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The intellectual curiosity and enthusiasm of Mary Smith is almost forgotten to time, except for this volume she left behind testifying to her love of scientific inquiry. Ada Lovelace (1815-1852), an amazing woman who corresponded with some of the most noted scientists and mathematicians of her day, is generally recognized as the first computer programmer. I hope that the stories of these two women, Ada Lovelace and Mary Smith, will inspire generations of students with their passion for learning.

-- Diane Shaw, Special Collections Cataloger

Works of Art by a Master Luthier

The National Museum of American History Library recently acquired a four volume set entitled Antonius Stradivarius edited by Jost Thone & Jan Rohrmann with text by Alessandra Barabaschi, et al.  A few of the instruments depicted in this work can be found on display at the museum.  This book provides background on these Stradivarius instruments.

Antonio Stradivari was born in Cremona, Italy around 1644.  He was probably apprenticed to the luthier Nicolo Amati and began crafting instruments prior to 1665, though these earlier creations are now lost.  Throughout his career, Stradivari created hundreds of instruments but only 620 are known to us today.  He died in 1737, around age 95.  His reputation as a master luthier and the influence of his instruments as works of art can still be felt every time one of his creations is played.  On display, in the Hall of Musical Instruments at the National Museum of American History, are four superb examples of his work.  Highlighted here are two of them.

The "Greffuhle" Violin, named for a former owner, Vicomte de Greffuhle, was constructed of spruce and maple around 1700 by Stradivari.  The front and back feature an inlay of ivory in a repeating pattern of lozenges and circles.  The sides of the violin are intricately carved and depict scrolling foliage with a rollicking chase scene between leopards and griffins.  This decoration, without the chase scene, can also be seen on the scroll of the violin.  The "Greffuhle" is one of eleven known instruments by Stradivari that are decorated.

Jost Thone & Jan Rohrmann, editors; text, Alessandra Barabaschi...et al.  Antonius Stradivarius.  [Cologne]:  Jost Thone Verlag, 2010.  Volume 3, pages 8-9, front and back of the "Greffuhle" Violin.

Jost Thone & Jan Rohrmann, editors; text, Alessandra Barabaschi...et al.  Antonius Stradivarius.  [Cologne]:  Jost Thone Verlag, 2010.  Volume 3, pages 10-11, sides and scroll of the "Greffuhle" Violin.

The "Servais" Cello, by Stradivari, was crafted in 1701 of spruce and maple and is his only known cello from that year.  This cello has a rich reddish-orange varnish which is pleasing to the eye.  On closer observation, traces of his design drawings can still be observed inside the f-holes.  This cello, highly valued among experts, is a top tier work with striking sound quality.  It is named after Adrien-Francois Servais, a Belgian cellist, who used this cello during his career.  He was known for using the technique of vibrato and was one of the pioneering cellists to utilize the modern end pin.

Jost Thone & Jan Rohrmann, editors; text, Alessandra Barabaschi...et al.  Antonius Stradivarius.  [Cologne]:  Jost Thone Verlag, 2010.  Volume 2, pages 134-137, "Servais" Cello.

The "Greffuhle" Violin and "Servais" Cello, both shown in the four volume set, Antonius Stradivarius, were given to the Smithsonian Institution as gifts and can be viewed in the Hall of Musical Instruments at the National Museum of American History.

—Alexia MacClain and Molly Reynolds, photos by Liz O'Brien

Related articles

• Preserving the heavenly sound of Stradivarius violins (cnn.com)

Poor Kitty Popcorn, or The Soldier's Pet

Inspiration for writing Smithsonian Libraries blog posts can come from a very winding path. In my work as the Libraries' Special Collections Cataloger, it seems that almost every book I pick up offers fertile ground for blogging. But time and attention are limited, and it's just too easy most days to say to myself, "Wow, that's interesting," and move on to the next item. But this particular piece has stayed in the back of my mind for a while now—it has an almost irresistible combination of American historical context, insights into nineteenth century attitudes, and noteworthy biographical and bibliographical details. Throw in the cat-blogging aspect (on the heels, or rather paws, of my earlier Libraries blog entries on the Pallas Cat, the Cheshire Cat Challenge, and the feline-powered sewing machine), as well as the wintry setting, and the designation of January 19th as National Popcorn Day, and this entry just seemed to write itself. 

 

Did you ever hear the story of the loyal cat? Meyow!
Who was faithful to the flag, and ever follow'd that? Meyow!

Poor Kitty Popcorn, one of the many songs written by American composer Henry Clay Work (1832-1884), spins a grand tale of the loyal bond formed between a Union soldier and his pet cat, Popcorn, during the Civil War.

Oh she had a happy home beneath a southern sky,
But she pack'd her goods and left it when our troops came nigh,
And she fell into the column with a low glad cry, Meyow!

Round her neck she wore a ribbon—she was black as jet—Meyow!
And at once a gallant claim'd her for a soldier's pet—Meyow!
All the perils of the battle and the march she bore,
Climbing on her master's shoulder when her feet were sore,
Whisp'ring in his ear with wonder at the cannon's roar, Meyow!

In the song, the stalwart soldier who marched forth with this remarkable cat survived the rigors of the war, returning to his home on the northern prairies. But the story then takes a more pathetic turn.

Now the “cruel war is over” and the troops disband —Meyow!
Kitty follows as a pilgrim in the Northern land—Meyow!
Ah! But sorrow overtakes her, and her master dies,
While she sadly sits a gazing in his dim blue eyes,
Till by strangers driven rudely from the door, she cries, Meyow!

So she wanders on the prairie till she sees his form—Meyow!
Carried forth and buried roughly 'mid the driving storm—Meyow!
Oh! Her slender frame, it shivers in the northern blast,
As she seeks the sand mound on which the snow falls fast,
And alone amid the darkness there she breathes her last Meyow!

The dismal chorus of the song tugs at the heart strings:

Poor Kitty Popcorn!
Buried in a snow drift now.
Never more shall ring the music of your charming song, Meyow!
Never more shall ring the music of your charming song, Meyow!

The song Poor Kitty Popcorn, in spite of its overly dramatic rendering in song and in the vivid before and after scene engraved on the cover of the sheet music (shown above), might have some true elements to the story. The life of a soldier can be lonely, alternating tedium with terror, and the affection of a pet can offer much solace and amusement, creating a bond that can continue long after deployment is over (for instance, there have been recent stories in the news about some U.S. Marines who have adopted pet cats in Afghanistan, detailing their efforts to bring these beloved animals back home with them). The notion of a pet cat accustomed to riding along perched on a soldier's knapsack hardly seems so fanciful.

Henry Clay Work was a prolific writer of words and music, whose songs Grandfather's Clock and Marching Through Georgia (inspired by Major General William Tecumseh Sherman's 1864 campaign) are still familiar today. An ardent abolitionist who nonetheless wrote a number of songs for blackface minstrel groups, Work used his talents to celebrate American patriotism and the achievements of the Union Army, in songs with titles like Sleeping for the Flag, Who Shall Rule This American Nation? and Washington and Lincoln. Sensitive to the sufferings of widows, orphans, and families blighted by alcoholism, Work also wrote songs supportive of the Temperance Movement, such as Lillie of the Snow-Storm, or, Please, Father, Let Us In!, in which a pitiful child pleads with her drunken father who has locked his family out of their home on a bitterly cold winter's night.

The Dibner Library copy of Poor Kitty Popcorn was reprinted circa 1920 in a volume of collected songs by Work. The imprint on the original sheet music was S. Brainard's Sons of Cleveland, with the copyright registered in 1866 to the noted music publishing firm of Root & Cady in Chicago, where Work had been employed as a printer of sheet music. The Dibner Library's copy was donated by Bertram Work, Jr., a descendant of the songwriter. Additional pages of the sheet music for Poor Kitty Popcorn can be seen on the Libraries' Flickr site (here, here, here, and here).

Songs of Henry Clay Work: poet and composer, born 1832, died 1884. Compiled by Bertram G. Work, Nephew of the Author. New York: Press of J.J. Little & Ives Co., [1920?].

Call number: qM1620 .W897S6X 1920 SCDIRB
Housed in the Dibner Library of the History of Science and Technology, Smithsonian Institution Libraries, located in the National Museum of American History, Washington, D.C.

—Diane Shaw, Special Collections Cataloger