Open Shelf

A curated public-domain library

Discover Great Books. Read Freely.

Classic novels, philosophy, poetry and more, free to read online or download. Every book here is in the public domain in the United States and comes with an introduction written by an editor, not a template.

50 books with full editorial pages · 300 titles in the catalog · no account needed

Editor's selection

Featured books

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Cover of Candide

Candide

Voltaire

1759 Classic Literature

Cover of Carmilla

Carmilla

Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu

1872 Classic Literature

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Curated

Reading lists

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Children's Classics for All Ages

Books written for children that adults keep rereading, with notes on reading aloud and on which ones suit independent readers.

8 books

Classic Novels to Read First

Six short, fast, clearly written classics that make a good first encounter with pre-1930 fiction, in a sensible order.

6 books

Early Science Fiction: Verne to Wells

The foundational scientific romances of Jules Verne and H. G. Wells, with Frankenstein as a prologue, arranged by publication date.

5 books

People

Featured authors

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Reading guides & literary insights

Learn how to read the classics

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getting started

A Beginner's Guide to Philosophy Books

Five free philosophy classics, Meditations, Candide, The Prince, On Liberty and the Republic, in a sensible reading order, with what each one asks of you.

getting started

Best Classic Novels for Beginners

Twelve public-domain classics that are short, clearly written and easy to get into, with a table comparing length and why each one works as a first book.

formats devices

EPUB vs PDF vs TXT: Which Format Should You Choose?

How the three common ebook formats differ in layout, size, device support and accessibility, and which one to download for the way you read.

literary history

Famous Literary Movements Explained

Romanticism, the Gothic, Realism, Naturalism, Transcendentalism and Modernism: when each began, what marks it, and which free books show it best.

Transparency

How our library works

Where the books come from

Every text is a digitized edition produced by Project Gutenberg volunteers and obtained through its official catalog and mirrors. We keep the Project Gutenberg license inside each file and link to the original record. Copyright & public domain policy →

How books are selected

A title appears with a full page only after an editor has written an introduction, checked the publication facts against named sources and confirmed the rights record. Imported titles without that review are listed as plain catalog entries. How we select books →

How rights are determined

We publish works recorded as public domain in the United States, and we flag whether they are also likely free in life-plus-70 countries. Rights holders can reach us through the takedown page at any time. Takedown requests →