High-quality epubs of public domain books

[DrNefario]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Goalpost successfully moved.

I don't know why you say that. What else would you understand by "high quality epubs"? The original post is clearly requesting properly authored books that cause no issues in Calibre and other software.

I'm too out-of-touch to contribute. I've tried a few of the mentioned sources and found them all to be quite variable in quality, cleanness and compatibility, but my knowledge is a few years out of date.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by DrNefario

I don't know why you say that.

Because Jon initially said:

Project Gutenberg are not high quality until they are converted properly. You either get HTML or a poorly generated by machine with no human intervention) eBook.

Then once confronted with the fact that almost none of the things he complained about are true any more (conversion is unnecessary; you only get html if you choose to download the HTML version; and human editors ARE involved), he promptly changed his criteria to a vague "not well made" complaint. He moved the goalpost.

[JSWolf]

The machine made ePub on PG are not well made. They do need human intervention. Or you can start with the HTML and turn that into a well made ePub.

[j.p.s]

You can also start with the plain text.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by j.p.s

You can also start with the plain text.

I've not looked at the plain text in a long time. Does it include markup so calibre can convert it with styles like bold and italics?

[nana77]

Originally Posted by Martinoptic

Isn't that what proofreading is for - to maintain accuracy in transcription?

Thanks, I wasn't to know that (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distributed_Proofreaders).
Ps: pardon, for I have written wrong a moderator's name, it wasn't intentional.

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I've not looked at the plain text in a long time. Does it include markup so calibre can convert it with styles like bold and italics?

I haven't looked in a long time, but as far as I know there as no markup. If there is, it is not plain text.

Others might prefer to start with the HTML version, but I strongly prefer to start with the plain text version.

[Adam Scribentis]

Originally Posted by NotSoMobile

Is there an authoritative / preferred repository for older books which are now in public domain due to expired copyright?

Just trying to find a repository where files are properly authored and case no issues in Calibre and other software.

I use "Standard E-Books" for classics. Very carefully produced by volunteers. I've not noticed a single typo in any of their editions that I have read.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Adam Scribentis

I use "Standard E-Books" for classics. Very carefully produced by volunteers. I've not noticed a single typo in any of their editions that I have read.

However, if you want to read their eBooks on an older Reader or a Kobo using RMSDK, it won't work because they use code the don't need that RMSDK thinks is an error and tosses out the entire CSS. It's a very simple fix yet they refuse to do this even though I've pointed it out to them.

[Readirect]

First, Calibre has a lot of features to fix just about any problem an ebook might have but if you want it done for you then annas-archive would be a good choice because they have every public domain book in existence; most all of which are properly formatted. You can find their active links on open-slum.org