ALL MEDICIFive moments. A next chapter to imagine.
Public-domain books
In 1971, Michael Hart began Project Gutenberg. Volunteers went on to digitise public-domain literature and make ebooks freely available. Opening the past could be a collective undertaking.
Read the source ↗An author opens a novel
Cory Doctorow’s 2003 novel Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom became available as a complete, free ebook, alongside editions readers could buy. An author could choose to share a book without abandoning print sales.
Read the source ↗Open scholarly publishing
Founded in 2008, Open Book Publishers built a nonprofit, scholar-led press offering free access to academic books. Paid editions and support for publishing help sustain the work behind those books.
Read the source ↗Readers fund open access
In 2012, reader and organisational donations through Unglue.it helped make Ruth Finnegan’s Oral Literature in Africa freely downloadable through Open Book Publishers. A specific book, a collective contribution, an open edition.
Read the source ↗An initiative taking shape
All Medici is an early-stage nonprofit initiative. We want to connect reading, annotations and reading circles with the pride of supporting valuable writing—so funded ebooks can remain free for everyone. This is the chapter we are working to begin.
Explore our concept ↗Selected milestones in different approaches to free access—not a complete history or a claim of affiliation.
A NONPROFIT INITIATIVE · AT THE ADVOCACY STAGE
An open world for knowledge.
A place for the people who read, think and make it possible.
Knowledge should be free. Patronage should be glorious.
CORE FEATURES · AN INTERACTIVE CONCEPT
STEP INSIDE ALL MEDICIA world worthThe door stays open as you read.
All Medici is a nonprofit platform initiative at the advocacy stage. We aim to help knowledge get produced and circulate freely in the internet age—and give readers a place to connect and think together.
We are bringing together readers, independent knowledge writers and patrons around a simple ambition: more worthwhile books written, more people able to read them, and richer conversations between them.
A QUESTION WORTH ASKING
Are you tired of downloading books from pirate sites—and wondering why, in an age of instant information, so much knowledge remains out of reach under copyright rules inherited from another era?
All Medici is dedicated to making new knowledge fully open access. Selfless, yet glorious patronage can pay for the work of creation, so access no longer depends on each reader paying for a copy.
OUR OPEN-ACCESS COMMITMENT
Every book that receives patronage through All Medici must make its electronic edition permanently available, free of charge.
Support the creation. Open the knowledge to everyone.
Four ways to take part in one shared knowledge world.
Read open books. Discover an independent bookshop’s taste. Keep a copy that acquires a history of your own.
Visit the bookshopMeet through books, visit another reader’s study, and bring a passage to a reading circle.
Take a seat at the salonLeave a question in the margin. Follow an argument across readers and across the life of an annotated copy.
Explore the marginsHelp a writer keep working. Make your contribution visible through a beautiful edition, a title, and the knowledge you helped open.
Meet a patron
03 / ALSO IN OUR PLANS
We want to make the geography of reading and generosity visible—from countries and regions all the way down to local communities.
04 / A POSSIBILITY WE ARE EXPLORING
We may also help readers meet nearby in real life. Friendship, collaboration, or simply someone worth talking to can begin with a book you both care about.
Nearby discovery would be an opt-in feature.
We need your help to make this possible. If you would like to collaborate—as a writer, developer, designer, researcher, institution or patron—get in touch. And pass this idea to someone who should see it.
CONTACT THE FOUNDER
Li Shangze · Founder of All Medici
Explore the worldThe 10-scene concept journey