Here is world’s ebook #1 – download it from Project Gutenberg

You may remember that a first ebook was created 40 years ago and that it was United States Declaration of Independence. But do you know that this 40-year digital file is still available for download?

World’s Ebook #1 was created by Michael S. Hart. This true visionary who wanted to make books freely available in digital form, the father of ebooks, and the founder of Project Gutenberg has died on September 6, 2011 – but his legacy remains.

Michael Hart started developing the electronic version of Declaration of Independence on the 4th of July, 1971. Later this year the document was finished and added as a No. 1 file to Project Gutenberg’s catalog . It’s still there, being the best example of Hart’s long-sighted vision. You can download it from this page:

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1

As you see in a picture below, where all books were sorted by release date,  Ebook #1 is one of 37,428 titles available in Project Gutenberg. They are free, in many formats, and in many languages.

Picture 1

There is something truly magical when you open a digital file which was created in the age when almost no one believed such thing as electronic book would ever take off.

Picture 2