Over 6,000 Free Historical Children’s Books

The Baldwin Library of Historical Children’s Literature in the Department of Special Collections at the University of Florida’s George A. Smathers Libraries contains more than 130,000 books and periodicals published in the United States and Great Britain from the mid-1600s to present day. The Library also has manuscript collections, original artwork, and assorted ephemera such as board games, puzzles, and toys. The Baldwin Library is known for comparative editions of books, with special emphasis on Robinson Crusoe, Pilgrim’s Progress, Aesop’s Fables, and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. The Library also has the largest collection of Early American Juvenile Imprints of any academic institution in the United States.

In this collection you’ll find over 6,000 free historical children’s books from plethora of publishers, with a majority of them in English, and very few in German, French and Spanish. Publication year ranges as early as in the 1800s touching Juvenile Fictions, Novels, Juvenile Literatures, Non-Fictions, Children’s Stories / Poetries and Poetries. Unfortunately, all materials are only readable online and cannot be downloaded.