Oracle has the latest versions of the java specifications at http://docs.oracle.com/javase/specs/ , but I could not find older versions. Are they archived anywhere?
If you are still interested - I had the same problem and I found the old specifications using waybackmachine, for example, JLS 1st edition here:
http://web.archive.org/web/20041208124545/http://java.sun.com/docs/books/jls/first_edition/html/index.html
Downloading PDF versions failed, but I can display online versions of HTML.
, Oracle Java Archive. , .