Amazon has sealed as deal with the British Library to make a whopping 65,000 books available to Kindle owners and via CreateSpace's Print on-Demand service.
The books were digitised as part of a partnership with Microsoft's Livesearch, and just hours after agreeing a patent deal with Microsoft, Amazon has now launched a joint venture with the British Library for tens of thousands of 19th century philosophy, history, poetry and literature.
The content will be available on Amazon's sites in the United States, UK, France and Germany, bringing a host of unique content to the public.
Literary gems
Chief Executive of the British Library, Dame Lynne Brindley, said: "The British Library's deal with Amazon to make literary gems available through print-on-demand and the Kindle e-book reader is a landmark agreement in more ways than one.
"Unlocking 65,000 titles of 19th century material for new generations to discover, the deal also shows how innovative public sector institutions can keep moving ahead, even in a tough economic climate.
"Re-imagining our relationships with both private and public sector partners is absolutely essential for extending our ability to connect with our users.
"The British Library has much to offer major commercial organisations such as Amazon, giving us an opportunity to leverage the high value of our collections to ensure doors that might have been closed for lack of funding remain open."
The content will include work from the likes of Charles Dickens, Jane Austen and Arthur Conan Doyle as well as books like Strange Story by Edward Lytton.
