About the press
Christian classics, freely given
For many centuries, ordinary Christians have been helped by books like The Pilgrim's Progress and All of Grace. Many of the best of them have been reprinted and copyrighted with prohibitions on sharing. We desire to update these works while keeping them freely available.
What we do
Common Weal Press prepares careful new editions of classic Christian books, mostly from the 1600s to the 1800s, and gives them away under the Creative Commons Zero license.
We start from the earliest reliable printing of each book. We bring its spelling and punctuation up to date, translate the Latin, and restore words that were lost or smudged in surviving copies. Older words that still carry meaning, like “thou” and “ye,” we usually leave as the author wrote them. Then we set it as a clean, comfortable book, in print and on screen.
What we don't do is rewrite it. The author's words, ideas and voice stay as they were. And because every single change is recorded, anyone can check our work, line by line, on each book's Then & Now page.
Our name and mark
The common weal
“Weal” is an old word for well-being, as in “for good or ill, for weal or woe.” The common weal is the good of everyone together in the body of Christ, the same idea behind the word “commonwealth.”
Our mark is a public fountain in a town square. Water overflows into the basin, and a cup hangs from it on a chain, so that anyone passing can drink freely. Nothing is asked in return.
The ribbons quote the last invitation in the Bible, from Revelation 22:17: Let the one who is thirsty come. Drink freely. It echoes Isaiah 55:1, “Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.”
How a book is made
From an old printing to your hands
- 1
Find the best source
Usually the first or best early printing, transcribed letter for letter from page images by scholarly projects.
- 2
Modernize, carefully
Our open-source tools update routine spelling (vnto → unto, ſ → s). An editor then checks every page and makes the harder calls.
- 3
Check everything
The edition is compared with other copies to catch slips, and scripture references are checked verse by verse.
- 4
Publish, free
The same master text becomes the web edition, the ebook, the PDF and the paperback, so they never drift apart.
Questions
Is it really free?
Yes. Reading online, the ebooks and the PDFs are free, with no account and no catch. Every edition is dedicated to the public domain, so you may copy it, share it, print it for your church or give it away, without needing to ask for permission.
Then why do the paperbacks cost money?
They aren't on sale yet, but they're coming soon. Paper, ink and binding cost something. Our paperbacks are printed on demand by Lulu and priced at what the printing costs. We take no profit and no royalty on them. Please read this article on covering costs for printed books.
Have you changed what the authors wrote?
As little as we can. We bring spelling and punctuation up to date so the books are easy to read, but we keep the author's words, arguments and voice. We usually keep older words like “thou” and “ye” too, because they carry meaning: “thou” speaks to one person and “ye” to many, a difference plain “you” has lost. Every change is recorded, and you can see each one on the book's Then & Now page.
Where do the texts come from?
From the original printings. Where the Text Creation Partnership has transcribed a book from scans of an early printing, we start from their text. Otherwise we make our own transcription from scans of an original printing. Other editions, such as those at the Christian Classics Ethereal Library, serve as witnesses: we compare against them to catch mistakes, and where they disagree, the printed page decides. A few books still rest on those editions while we finish our own transcriptions. Each book page lists its sources.
I found a mistake. What should I do?
Please tell us! Use the contact page, say which book and roughly where, and we'll check it against the original and fix it in the next printing.
Can I use these books in my church, school or ministry?
Absolutely. That's what they're for. Print them, quote them, adapt them, put them on your website. You don't need to ask.
Can I donate?
Thank you, but we aren't taking donations right now. Please give to your local church instead. If you'd like to help us, tell people about the books, read them, and pass copies on. Ways to help.
Something else? Get in touch.