The British Library, in partnership with Google, has announced a project to digitise 40,000,000 pages produced between 1700 and 1870, roughly 250,000 out-of-copyright books – in a variety of languages – from the library's collections. The books set for digital republication take in such important historical events as the French and Industrial Revolutions, the Battle of Trafalgar, the Crimean War, and the end of slavery. Items that will be digitised include An address to the people, on the present relative situations of England and France, by Robert Fellowes (1799), and Proyecto de navegacion submarina, by Narciso Monturiol (1858), which describes the author's invention of the first combustion engine-driven submarine.
The full press release can be found here on the British Library press page (external link).