Turning The Pages

A few months ago someone, and I don't remember who, directed me to this site called Turning the Pages, which is part of the Online Gallery of the British Library web site.  I had saved it to look at later, and about a month ago was "later".  I was very enchanted with it, so I thought I'd share the info with you.  I really enjoyed reading through the Jane Austen's The History of England in her own hand.  This is a scanned copy of the book in her own handwriting, complete with little vignette sketches that she did.  You can "turn" the pages, using your mouse, just as if you were holding the book in your hand.  If her handwriting proves to be too hard to decipher, you can choose to read it in text or you can choose audio and listen to it being read as you read along.  You can also magnify portions of the text.

There are several very interesting pieces on the site, including a personal notebook of sketches of Leonardo DaVinci, Diamond Sutra -- the oldest printed book, and the first atlas of Europe, compiled in the 1570s.

So check out Turning the Pages when you have a moment.  And if one my readers is the one who first suggested it to me, then I apologise for taking so long to try it out!

Tags: British Library, Online Gallery, Turning the Pages, Jane Austen's History of England