Luminarium, where have you been all my blog-life?

How is it that I've been blogging about classic literature for two years and haven't run across Luminarium: Anthology of English Literature? Do roll your mouse over that link to get a taste of the gorgeousness of this site. It is not only a beautiful website but a comprehensive one, with texts, essays, biographies, and resources for scores of great English writers from the 14th to 18th centuries.

Luminarium is the creation of Anniina Jokinen, who, in 1996 (which she calls the "Internet Dark Ages"), saw a need to gather together online resources on English literature and so she went ahead and did it. Her Letter from the Editor describes that as it has grown in popularity (now at 10 million page views per month!) she has had offers that would turn the site into a paid service, but for the sake of starving students everywhere she has opted to continue as a volunteer, supporting the site with unobtrusive Google ads and book and poster affiliates. Jokinen has received many (many) awards for her site's content and design, but I think she also deserves one for generosity.

via Don't Point That Thing At Me