The British Library has reached a deal with search engine giant Google that will allow readers to view, search and copy from 250,000 out-of-copyright texts dating back to the 18^th century.  This feature is available on both the library and Google books websites.

The selected works date back to between 1700 and 1870, and Google expects the project to take some years to complete.  The search engine will cover the costs.

Google has similar deals with about 40 libraries around the world.