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PostgreSQL is the best large C codebase I've ever seen.

Look for anything where there are multiple groups using some backend. libpurple is pretty good, both in that it's not perfect, but it's pretty good.

Anything where there's just one group using it lets too much stuff get through.

i think the key is to find something secure (and thus, "correct") and not doused with tons of portability goo (ifdefs, etc.)

look at openssh, but the one in openbsd's tree and not the portable branch. for that matter, any of the openbsd-developed daemons (openbgpd, openntpd, etc.) at http://www.openbsd.org/cgi-bin/cvsweb/src/usr.sbin/ or usr.bin/ssh for openssh.

any of the openwall projects are also small and easy to work with - http://www.openwall.com/

Secure & correct programs don't always have a nice code.

For example qmail is probably the most secure smtp server around. But the code is not easy to read.

Pretty much all the stuff Dan Bernstein writes is secure and correct. But his coding style is just too weird for me and many others.

yes, i avoided listing djb's stuff for that very reason.

I imagine you'd get the most utility out of looking at the source of a system doing something similar to what you're trying to build.