Sources and method
Every line open to check
The examples on this site quote public-domain books from the sample library, in the editions published by Standard Ebooks. Each quotation links to the chapter it comes from.
How excerpts are made
- Quotations are verbatim from the linked edition. An ellipsis (…) marks an omission; a line break in verse follows the edition's line.
- Highlighting marks the phrase an example is attending to. It is ours, not the author's.
- A source link identifies the edition quoted, not the copy on your shelf. Translations and editions differ, so an identified edition is labelled as such and never presented as yours.
- A link to a source does not license anything; it lets you read the passage in context.
Who wrote the interpretations
The readings, notes, glosses and suggestions in these examples were prepared for the website with AI assistance. They are not live AI responses, and they have not had independent editorial review. They are offered to be questioned: every reading can be declined, and you can write your own.
Editions quoted
- The Odyssey, Homer, translated by William Cullen Bryant
- Book V
- Walden, Henry David Thoreau
- Conclusion
- The Prophet, Kahlil Gibran
- On Houses
- The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett
- Chapter XII · Chapter XXVII
- Siddhartha, Hermann Hesse (the public-domain translation by various translators)
- “The Son of the Brahmin” · “Sansara”
- Paradise Lost, John Milton
- Book XII
Images, type and code
- Book covers: Standard Ebooks. Each edition's licence states that its text and cover artwork are believed to be in the United States public domain and dedicates Standard Ebooks' own contributions to the public domain (CC0). The homepage uses smaller copies of those covers. Rights outside the United States are not inferred.
- The forest-night opening image comes from Library Twin's original website design and is used with the owner's publication permission.
- Type: Crimson Pro and Inter, under the SIL Open Font License 1.1.
- The book scene is drawn with three.js (MIT licence, licence text).