four decades. The opening of this insightful exploration introduces readers to the origins of the ebook, noting the founding of the Project Gutenberg in 1971 by Michael Hart, who aimed to make literary works freely accessible in digital format. Lebert outlines the project's initial challenges and its eventual growth alongside the internet, highlighting its role in democratizing access to literature. Key achievements, such as the incorporation of distributed proofreading and the project’s expansion in response to the web’s emergence, set the stage for the rich history that will unfold throughout the volume, emphasizing the ebook's significance in transforming reading and information sharing. (This is an automatically generated summary.)