Internet search giant Google will digitize 250,000 out-of-copyright books from the British library’s collections, making up to 40 million pages from 1700 to 1870 available to the public online. In a joint statement, the British Library and Google said they will work in partnership over the coming years to deliver the content free through Google Books and the library’s website, and full text search, download and reading will be available. Google will cover all digitization costs.

The project is going to cover a huge range of printed books, pamphlets and periodicals dated 1700 to 1870, a period of political and technological turmoil, from the Industrial Revolution to the French Revolution, from the introduction of the income tax in Britain and the invention of the telegraph and railway. Since December 2004, Google has announced partnership with some 40 high-profile university and public libraries, planning to digitize and make available some 15 million volumes within a decade through Google Books service.