The CD and DVD Project

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These CD/DVD images have not been updated in several years. The online ISO generator is not currently functioning, and there is no timeline for returning it to service. There are other methods to build your own collection of Project Gutenberg eBooks via bulk download. The Robot Access page has more information.

Project Gutenberg has, in the past, generated CD and DVD image files (ISO files) containing books from the collection. When downloaded, they can be used to make a CD or DVD using a CD or DVD writer. Note that you will need a dual layer burner in order to burn our dual layer DVD. If you'd rather not burn a physical disc, the ISO files can also be mounted on most systems (Windows, Mac, Linux), and browsed just like any other local files/folders.

We encourage readers to make your own CD/DVD collection. See: create your own CD or DVD image.

Note that the contents are NOT automatically updated. There are many changes and fixes to the items they contain. You can always get the latest version of any eBook via www.gutenberg.org.

Please copy and give away physical or digital copies of these CDs and DVDs! Keep one for yourself, and give one to a friend … or a library … or a school.

These CD and DVD compilations are copyrighted and licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 1.0 license. Individual files should be consulted for individual licenses, including the Project Gutenberg Trademark License ("small print"). Verbatim copies of the Project Gutenberg 'Best Of' CD may be sold provided that 20% of the gross proceeds are donated to Project Gutenberg, however, none of the DVDs may be sold, as they contain some material which is copyrighted.

These CD and DVD images (and the CDs and DVDs they can be used to create) should run on all computer systems. Many files on the DVDs are compressed using Zip; most modern computers (and many older ones as well) have an unzip program built-in, or you can find a free unzip program on the Internet for your computer.

What the Discs Contain

  • The August 2003 CD contains 600 of our best Ebooks.
  • The December 2003 DVD contains 9400 of our first 10,000 books.
  • The July 2006 DVD contains over 17,000 books from our first 19,000 titles.
  • The March 2007 Science Fiction Bookshelf CD contains most of our science fiction titles.
  • The April 2010 (Dual Layer) DVD contains 29,500+ books.

All of the books found on the 2003 CD can also be found on all of the DVDs and most of the files on the December 2003 DVD can be found on the July 2006 DVD. Likewise, most of the books on the July 2006 DVD can also be found on the April 2010 DVD. There are very few images on the discs, and no audio books.

If these compilations are not to your liking, you can create your own CD or DVD image containing only the books you want.

How to download

The CD and DVD images are distributed as ISO files. One ISO file contains all of the data for one disc, so they tend to be large. these images may take some time when downloading via slow connections. At 56K (modem speed), the zipped versions of the CD ISOs could take up to 24 hours to download, and each single layer DVD will require about 11 days, with the dual layer DVD requiring about twice that. The time will of course be a fraction of that when downloading over a higher speed connection.

Downloading Via BitTorrent

BitTorrent is our recommended way to download the images. Not only does it tend to be quite fast, but it also insures that you receive an error-free copy of the files.

In order to download via BitTorrent, you will need a BitTorrent Client. You can download the official BitTorrent client from http://www.bittorrent.com, or you can use one of the many other clients available on the internet. See here for a list and comparison of various BitTorrent clients. See here for more information about BitTorrent in general.

Once you have BitTorrent installed, you only need the torrent file for the image you wish to download. You can Usually obtain these torrent files from The Project Gutenberg BitTorrent Tracker.

You can also get the torrent files from the below links:

Or, if your client supports magnet links, you might try the following:

Downloading Via Edonkey/Emule

If you have a program which uses the Edonkey Protocol, you might try the following links:

  • for the July 2006 DVD, ed2k://|file|pgdvd072006.iso|4626251776|F149537F97E9B2FF57A28712FA70CC6A|h=MAIUF5WXX3C5ZZ7C2SDKCNSGITLSODX2|/
  • for the December 2003 DVD, ed2k://|file|The.Project.Gutenberg.DVD.December.2003.Edition.pgdvd.iso|4139646976|02CEB6E1E07A0CDC98757134B0678B14|/
  • For the December 2003 CD, ed2k://|file|The.Project.Gutenberg.CD.August.2003.Edition.-.PG2003-08.zip|387828452|0485242D72E3B440D7D9FD61F0ED44DD|/
  • for the March 2007 Science Fiction Bookshelf CD, ed2k://|file|PGSFCD-032007.zip|154915573|E5EE354281E500B29BC29B61BDBBC26E|h=3P7ANYCATOMLK4IQTOONBKLOSLP7WDXR|/

If the above ed2k links are not clickable from your browser, you may need to copy and paste them into your edonkey aware application.

Downloading Via Jigdo

The December 2003 DVD is available via Jigdo. For more information about Jigdo, visit http://atterer.org/jigdo/

Use a command such as: 

jigdo http://www.gutenberg.org/cdproject/jigdo/10802.jigdo

Note that the CD and July 2006 DVD are not currently available via Jigdo.

Downloading Via FTP

To select an FTP mirror near you, please visit one of the following links:

Alternatively, you can go directly to the CD or DVD directories on the main Ibiblio FTP server, but you will probably receive a faster download rate by choosing a mirror near you.

  • For the July 2006 DVD, [1]
  • For the December 2003 DVD, [2]
  • For the August 2003 CD, [3].

One of the official mirrors has all of the images for direct FTP or HTTP download. Visit ftp://mirrors.pglaf.org/mirrors/gutenberg-iso or http://mirrors.pglaf.org/gutenberg-iso.

Please note that we have received numerous reports of the images not arriving intact when downloading via FTP, especially from those using DSL or cable connections. Therefore, in order to insure an error-free download, we strongly recommend you use one of the other methods, such as bittorrent, whenever possible.

The August 2003 DVD and the July 2006 DVD can also be found on most of our FTP sites as a multi-part RAR file. Programs for extracting RAR files can be found at RAR Labs.

Downloading Via HTTP

Due to the size of the files, this method is strongly discouraged and is not supported. If you attempt to download via HTTP, it is probable that your download will be truncated by the server because it is too large.

Verifying Your Download

If you downloaded via BitTorrent or Edonkey, you can be quite certain that your download was error free. However, if you used one of the other methods, you may wish to use one of the following checksums to confirm that your copy of the file is an exact copy.

  • April 2010 DVD .ISO MD5 sum: B1EA6C8C15BB2EE84126227017F56310
  • July 2006 DVD .ISO MD5 sum: 62de77c257dbe0e571f33cd957b79114
  • December 2003 DVD .iso MD5 sum: 59d8a193874349181122ff52e2e3e114
  • Aug 2003 CD .ISO MD5 sum: e448aaec6010fa03373d0f74dde5f36e size 711589888 bytes
  • Aug 2003 CD .ZIP MD5 sum: 2bf96ee51d593169ee5b08202b41179d size 387828452 bytes
  • March 2007 Science Fiction Bookshelf CD .ISO MD5 sum: BBA22759BAF63DCA58D439DBDE985F20
  • March 2007 Science Fiction Bookshelf CD .ZIP MD5 sum: AE0D518FCB2835A83DC04594670A6750

If you encounter Problems

If you are still unable to download successfully, please don't hesitate to Email us at cd2014_AT_pglaf.org with a description of the problem. (Replace the _at_ with the @ (at sign) in our email address.) We will do our best to help.

Disc Labels

We currently only offer a label for the DVD.

Pgdvd042010-label-preview.jpg

We offer both a high resolution PNG and an original .PSD file.

If You Cannot Download

Project Gutenberg had a free CD/DVD giveaway program, which was discontinued in 2014. Please seek assistance from a local librarian or university, if you are having difficulty getting the needed content to make your own CD or DVD.

Creating a Custom CD or DVD

One of our volunteers has created a web service which will allow you to create a custom CD or DVD with as much or as little of our content as you like. You can specify which authors, titles, languages, etc. you would like included. Complete documentation is available in the FAQ at the site. Please note that we are unable to mail you a copy of any custom CDs or DVDs you create.

International Copyright

PGLAF is committed to complying with copyright laws. PGLAF has not verified that all the eBook files on these discs are unprotected by copyright laws in countries outside of the United States. PGLAF recommends that you investigate the status of copyright protection where you are located before using these files outside the United States and requests that you advise us of any problems you may be aware of under U.S. law (see the Contact Information page).

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