Find out how to read Loeb Classical Library books for free, without having to be a paid subscriber.
In other words, how to bypass Loeb Classical Library paywall.
This is an updated post.
The original post was published back in February 2019.
For those who do not know:
The Loeb Classical Library website is filled with a huge collection of books.
It was founded by James Loeb in 1911.
At the time of writing this post, there are 558 books available.
They are basically classic works of ancient Greek and Latin Literature published by Harvard University Press.
On one side of the page it is in Greek or Latin, while on the other side is in English language.
This abstruse stuff is not for everyone; or rather for most of us.
But for those who are into this great literary works, then read on...
For a start, in fact, you can already access some of Loeb Classical Library books online via these three websites:
1. Wikisource/Loeb Classical Library
2. Loebolus
But these sites do not have the whole complete collection of 558 books currently.
How to read Loeb Classical Library books for free
- Bypass Paywalls Clean extension
- Block cookies/site data
- Clear browsing data, cache and cookies
- Temporary Containers extension
- Google Translate
As it is, you can only access or read one page of the book.
Then when you click to the following page, you are greeted by this message:
"You've reached the page view limit for your Loeb Classical Library preview. Please log in or subscribe to continue reading."
So, how do you continue reading, if you are not a paid subscriber?
Here are a few ways to get over Loeb Classical Library paywall, to access all its digital books for free.
1. Bypass Paywalls Clean extension
Install this browser extension to your Firefox or Chrome, and you can begin reading all the books by Aristotle, Cato, Seneca The Elder, etc.
For Firefox, refer to this tutorial: How to install Bypass Paywalls Clean extension for Firefox
For Chrome, refer to this tutorial: How to install Bypass Paywalls Clean extension for Chrome
2. Block cookies/site data
By blocking or disabling the cookies, you can get past Loeb Classical Library paywall.
It works for Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome.
Mozilla Firefox Browser:
Click "Open menu" (three horizontal lines icon) at the top right hand corner of your computer screen.
It drops down a menu box.
Click "Settings" and a page appears.
Next click "Privacy & Security" on the left side of the page.
Scroll down a little bit until you see "Cookies and Site Data".
Click "Manage Exceptions..." button.
A box pops up, titled "Exceptions - Cookies and Site Data".
In the space below "Address of website", paste or type in:
https://www.loebclassics.com
Click the "Block" button.
You can see the Loeb Classical Library domain listed under "Website" and its "Status" as "Block".
Then click the "Save Changes" button.
Now you can continue reading all the books in this big digital library for free.
Google Chrome Browser:
Click the three small dots (Customize and control Google Chrome) at the top right hand corner.
The context menu pops up.
Click "Settings".
When you come to settings page, click "Privacy and security".
Next click "Site Settings".
Scroll all the way down and click "Additional content settings".
Scroll down until you see "On-device site data", click it.
Again scroll down until "Customize behaviors".
Go to "Not allowed to save data on your device".
Click the "Add" next to it.
A box pops up.
Replace [*.]example.com to [*.]loeblibrary.com
Then click the "Add" button.
At the same time, you can see the cookie icon ( a stack of cookies with a slash line) on the Chrome toolbar.
Then go to the Classical Library to read unlimited pages of any books for free.
3. Clear browsing data, cache and cookies
This method works for both Firefox and Chrome browser.
This is what you do when you come to the view-limit page.
Clear the browser data or cookies first.
Go to History to delete the recent history.
Make sure the "Cookies" under "History" is checked (with a tick in the box).
After clearing the browsing data and cookies, reload the page.
Now the remark: "You've reached the page view limit for your Loeb Classical Library preview. Please log in or subscribe to continue reading." is gone.
Instead it is now filled with the text of the book.
So, each time when you come to the paywalled page, clear the browsing data and cookies.
Then reload the page.
4. Temporary Containers extension
This tip works for Firefox browser only.
This is what you do:
Install the Firefox Temporary Containers extension.
After you have installed it, you can start to read unlimited books right away.
Go to any book at Loeb Classical Library, which you want to read.
Right click the "Next Page" arrow icon.
A menu pops up next to the "Next Page" icon.
Click "Open link in new Temporary Container tab".
It will load the page in a new tab with full text.
To continue reading the rest of the pages, again you right click the "Next Page" arrow icon.
Then click "Open link in new Temporary Container tab".
You don't get disrupted by the page view limit reminder again.
I hope you enjoy reading all those wonderful tome of knowledge for free and free from paywall.
5. Google Translate
Using Google Translate is easy and the best way to get through the paywall of all the books in Loeb Classical Library.
Do it once, and you can read up all the books in the digital library.
Go to Google Translate, click "Websites".
Paste Loeb Classical Library homepage domain inside the Website box.
On the left side, set "Detect language", while on the right side set to any of the language of your choice.
Now click the arrow icon (Translate), and immediately the full article appears.
From there you can continue reading all the five hundred over digital books at the Google Translate site.
Just keep clicking and reading...
NOTE: For other websites, you can only translate one article at a time with Google Translate.
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