Books & sources
Thirty books in the public domain
Last updated: 2026-10-13
Ginquill only carries books whose authors died more than a hundred years ago, in editions published before 1930. Under every copyright term in force today — including the longest, life plus one hundred years — these texts are in the public domain worldwide. The table lists, for every book, the author, the author’s year of death, the edition and the transcription used, with its licence.
Transcriptions from Project Gutenberg are used as public-domain text, without the Project Gutenberg name or licence. Standard Ebooks transcriptions are dedicated to the public domain (CC0 1.0). Wikisource transcriptions are licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; their contributors are credited here and in the app, and our modified versions (split into dated entries, a few passages omitted) are offered under the same licence. Dates, hours, places, routes and introductions were prepared for Ginquill.
A few passages of graphic cruelty and period slurs are omitted and marked […] in the app. If you believe something here is not in the public domain where you live, write to support@ginquill.info and we will look at it straight away.
| Book | Author | Died | Edition | Transcription and licence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Around the World in Seventy-Two Days English · 87 entries · 71 passages omitted | Nellie Bly | 1922 | 1890 | Wikisource contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0 (modified: split into dated entries and abridged) — source |
| Memorial de Aires Portuguese · 181 entries | Machado de Assis | 1908 | 1908 (H. Garnier) | Wikisource contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0 (modified: split into dated entries) — source |
| The Grasmere Journal English · 136 entries | Dorothy Wordsworth | 1855 | 1897 (ed. William Knight) | Project Gutenberg (public-domain transcription; the Project Gutenberg name and licence are not used) |
| Daddy-Long-Legs English · 76 entries · 2 passages omitted | Jean Webster | 1916 | 1912 | Project Gutenberg (public-domain transcription; the Project Gutenberg name and licence are not used) |
| Carta a El-Rei D. Manuel Portuguese · 11 entries | Pero Vaz de Caminha | 1500 | 1500 (manuscrito; ortografia atualizada) | Wikisource contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0 (modified: split into dated entries) — source |
| The Voyage of the Beagle English · 220 entries · 120 passages omitted | Charles Darwin | 1882 | 1839 (2nd edition 1845) | Project Gutenberg (public-domain transcription; the Project Gutenberg name and licence are not used) |
| A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains English · 74 entries · 29 passages omitted | Isabella L. Bird | 1904 | 1879 | Project Gutenberg (public-domain transcription; the Project Gutenberg name and licence are not used) |
| Unbeaten Tracks in Japan English · 98 entries · 97 passages omitted | Isabella L. Bird | 1904 | 1880 | Project Gutenberg (public-domain transcription; the Project Gutenberg name and licence are not used) |
| The Hawaiian Archipelago English · 107 entries · 85 passages omitted | Isabella L. Bird | 1904 | 1875 | Project Gutenberg (public-domain transcription; the Project Gutenberg name and licence are not used) |
| My First Summer in the Sierra English · 109 entries · 13 passages omitted | John Muir | 1914 | 1911 | Project Gutenberg (public-domain transcription; the Project Gutenberg name and licence are not used) |
| A Thousand-Mile Walk to the Gulf English · 61 entries · 41 passages omitted | John Muir | 1914 | 1916 | Project Gutenberg (public-domain transcription; the Project Gutenberg name and licence are not used) |
| Recollections of a Tour Made in Scotland English · 54 entries · 6 passages omitted | Dorothy Wordsworth | 1855 | 1874 (ed. J. C. Shairp) | Project Gutenberg (public-domain transcription; the Project Gutenberg name and licence are not used) |
| The Journal of a Voyage to Lisbon English · 38 entries · 4 passages omitted | Henry Fielding | 1754 | 1755 | Project Gutenberg (public-domain transcription; the Project Gutenberg name and licence are not used) |
| The Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides English · 118 entries · 18 passages omitted | James Boswell | 1795 | 1785 | Project Gutenberg (public-domain transcription; the Project Gutenberg name and licence are not used) |
| Letters from Switzerland and Travels in Italy English · 229 entries · 8 passages omitted | Johann Wolfgang von Goethe | 1832 | 1849 (tr. A. J. W. Morrison) | Project Gutenberg (public-domain transcription; the Project Gutenberg name and licence are not used) |
| Leaves from the Journal of Our Life in the Highlands English · 100 entries · 1 passages omitted | Queen Victoria | 1901 | 1868 (ed. Arthur Helps) | Project Gutenberg (public-domain transcription; the Project Gutenberg name and licence are not used) |
| Rural Rides English · 275 entries · 22 passages omitted | William Cobbett | 1835 | 1830 (ed. 1885) | Project Gutenberg (public-domain transcription; the Project Gutenberg name and licence are not used) |
| Dear Enemy English · 95 entries · 12 passages omitted | Jean Webster | 1916 | 1915 | Project Gutenberg (public-domain transcription; the Project Gutenberg name and licence are not used) |
| The Natural History of Selborne English · 72 entries · 5 passages omitted | Gilbert White | 1793 | 1789 | Project Gutenberg (public-domain transcription; the Project Gutenberg name and licence are not used) |
| The Letters of Jane Austen English · 68 entries | Jane Austen | 1817 | 1884 (ed. Lord Brabourne, selection 1892) | Project Gutenberg (public-domain transcription; the Project Gutenberg name and licence are not used) |
| Letters to His Family and Friends English · 197 entries · 14 passages omitted | John Keats | 1821 | 1891 (ed. Sidney Colvin) | Project Gutenberg (public-domain transcription; the Project Gutenberg name and licence are not used) |
| The Letters of Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Barrett English · 235 entries · 10 passages omitted | Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett | 1889 | 1899 | Project Gutenberg (public-domain transcription; the Project Gutenberg name and licence are not used) |
| Familiar Letters of John Adams and His Wife Abigail Adams English · 280 entries · 17 passages omitted | John Adams and Abigail Adams | 1826 | 1876 (ed. Charles Francis Adams) | Project Gutenberg (public-domain transcription; the Project Gutenberg name and licence are not used) |
| The Journal to Stella English · 160 entries · 8 passages omitted | Jonathan Swift | 1745 | 1766 (ed. 1897) | Project Gutenberg (public-domain transcription; the Project Gutenberg name and licence are not used) |
| Letters from Egypt English · 208 entries · 66 passages omitted | Lucie Duff Gordon | 1869 | 1865 (complete edition 1902) | Project Gutenberg (public-domain transcription; the Project Gutenberg name and licence are not used) |
| The Diary and Letters of Madame D'Arblay English · 177 entries · 7 passages omitted | Fanny Burney | 1840 | 1842 (ed. Charlotte Barrett, 1904) | Project Gutenberg (public-domain transcription; the Project Gutenberg name and licence are not used) |
| Journal, 1850–1851 English · 182 entries · 29 passages omitted | Henry David Thoreau | 1862 | 1906 (ed. Bradford Torrey) | Project Gutenberg (public-domain transcription; the Project Gutenberg name and licence are not used) |
| The Diary of John Evelyn, Volume 1 English · 877 entries · 14 passages omitted | John Evelyn | 1706 | 1818 (ed. William Bray, 1901) | Project Gutenberg (public-domain transcription; the Project Gutenberg name and licence are not used) |
| Ao Correr da Pena Portuguese · 77 entries · 4 passages omitted | José de Alencar | 1877 | 1854–1855 (coletânea 1874) | Wikisource contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0 (modified: split into dated entries) — source |
| Correspondência de Euclides da Cunha Portuguese · 188 entries · 8 passages omitted | Euclides da Cunha | 1909 | cartas 1890–1909 | Wikisource contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0 (modified: split into dated entries) — source |