Four free classic ebooks bundled with the Reading Vault
Obsidian plugin's "Add sample books" feature. The plugin downloads these
files only when you press "Add sample books" (in the empty Library or the
first-run welcome screen), checks each one against the checksum in
manifest.json, and from then on they're regular books in your own
vault — nothing calls home again.
Every file is an unmodified copy of the EPUB published by Standard Ebooks, a volunteer project that produces carefully typeset editions of already-public-domain books.
| Title | Author | File | Source | Licence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meditations | Marcus Aurelius (translated by George Long) | meditations.epub |
Standard Ebooks | CC0 1.0 (public domain) |
| Pride and Prejudice | Jane Austen | pride-and-prejudice.epub |
Standard Ebooks | CC0 1.0 (public domain) |
| The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes | Arthur Conan Doyle | sherlock-holmes.epub |
Standard Ebooks | CC0 1.0 (public domain) |
| Walden | Henry David Thoreau | walden.epub |
Standard Ebooks | CC0 1.0 (public domain) |
Standard Ebooks dedicates the entirety of each ebook file — the already-public-domain text plus their own typesetting, editing and cover work — to the public domain under a CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication (confirmed on standardebooks.org/about, 2026-09-26). That means these files may be copied, redistributed, and bundled into a paid product with no attribution required — the credits above are given anyway, as thanks to the Standard Ebooks project.
manifest.json lists each file's exact size and SHA-256 checksum, so the
plugin can verify a download arrived intact before adding it to your
Library.