Google will allow downloads of out-of-copyright books
It’s certainly a brief story, but to the point…. Google will allow pdf downloads of the books in their book search that are already out of copyright. Of course, copyright law is a strange and peculiar thing to many people, so this doesn’t mean that EVERY edition of “The Canterbury Tales” is now freely downloadable. So, it may take a bit of digging to find the free downloads for some of the titles you’re searching for, but they can be found and downloaded. They do categorize by “limited preview” and “full view” books. It’s possible to JUST search “Full view” books as well.
The Official Google Blog has updated with more details on this. I’m hoping this will greatly complement the free etexts that are currently available online. (I just wish there was a good way to display ALL of the fully available texts (or browse by category.)