Book Biography

Bibliographic research agent that analyzes books and manuscripts in Source Library, situating them within their networks of production, transmission, and reception.

When to Use

• "Research this book's history"
• "Find other editions of this text"
• "Where does this manuscript fit in the tradition?"
• "Build a book biography for..."
• "What other versions of this text exist?"
• "Analyze the transmission of..."
• "Find related works to import"

Invocation

/book-biography                           # Start interactive session
/book-biography [book_id]                 # Research specific book
/book-biography "Title or Author"         # Research by name
/book-biography import [book_id]          # Research and import related editions

Core Disciplines

This skill applies methods from:

Field	Focus	Application
Bibliography	Books as physical objects	Format, binding, typography
Codicology	Manuscripts as objects	Scribes, materials, construction
Paleography	Historical scripts	Dating, localization
Stemmatology	Textual transmission	Manuscript families, variants
Provenance	Ownership history	Stamps, ex libris, annotations
Reception History	How texts were read	Annotations, citations, influence
Book History	Social/cultural context	Patrons, printers, readers

Research Workflow

Phase 1: Identification

1. Get book from Source Library

curl -s "https://sourcelibrary.org/api/books/BOOK_ID" | jq '{
  title, author, year, place, publisher,
  original_language, pages: .pages_count,
  image_source
}'

2. Check source institution (Gallica, IA, MDZ)

# For Gallica
curl -s "https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/ARK_ID"

# For Internet Archive
curl -s "https://archive.org/metadata/IA_ID" | jq '.metadata'

# For MDZ
curl -s "https://api.digitale-sammlungen.de/iiif/presentation/v2/BSB_ID/manifest"

3. Extract physical description
   • Shelfmark
   • Date and origin
   • Dimensions and format
   • Scribe/printer
   • Binding
   • Provenance marks

Phase 2: Production Context

1. Research the maker (scribe, printer, publisher)

   • Web search for biographical info
   • Other works by same maker
   • Workshop/network connections

2. Research the patron/owner

   • Commissioning context
   • Collection history
   • Contemporary documentation

3. Research the place/institution

   • Printing center history
   • Scriptoria traditions
   • Library/collection context

Phase 3: Textual Transmission

1. Identify the text(s)

   • Author attribution (real vs pseudonymous)
   • Original composition date
   • Genre and tradition

2. Map the stemma (manuscript families)

   • Key witnesses (MSS and early prints)
   • Siglum designations (A, B, C...)
   • Critical editions and their apparatus

3. Position this witness

   • What exemplar was it copied from?
   • What derives from it?
   • Unique readings or variants?

Phase 4: Related Works in Source Library

# Search by author
curl -s "https://sourcelibrary.org/api/search?q=AUTHOR&limit=20" | jq '.results[] | {id, title, author}'

# Search by title/text
curl -s "https://sourcelibrary.org/api/search?q=TEXT_NAME&limit=20" | jq '.results[] | {id, title, author}'

# Search by theme
curl -s "https://sourcelibrary.org/api/search?q=THEME&limit=20" | jq '.results[] | {id, title, author}'

Phase 5: Find External Editions

Archive.org

curl -s "https://archive.org/advancedsearch.php?q=creator:(AUTHOR)+OR+title:(TITLE)&fl[]=identifier&fl[]=title&fl[]=date&fl[]=creator&sort[]=date+asc&rows=30&output=json" | jq '.response.docs'

Gallica

• Search: https://gallica.bnf.fr/
• Check for IIIF manifests

MDZ (Bavarian State Library)

• Search: https://www.digitale-sammlungen.de/
• BSB identifiers for import

USTC (pre-1601 books)

• https://www.ustc.ac.uk/
• Authoritative bibliographic data

WorldCat

• https://www.worldcat.org/
• Edition counts and library holdings

Phase 6: Import Related Editions

# Internet Archive
curl -X POST "https://sourcelibrary.org/api/import/ia" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "ia_identifier": "IDENTIFIER",
    "title": "Title (Editor/Translator Year)",
    "author": "Author; Editor (ed.)",
    "year": YYYY,
    "original_language": "Language"
  }'

# Gallica
curl -X POST "https://sourcelibrary.org/api/import/gallica" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "ark": "ARK_ID",
    "title": "Title",
    "author": "Author",
    "year": YYYY,
    "original_language": "Language"
  }'

# MDZ
curl -X POST "https://sourcelibrary.org/api/import/mdz" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "bsb_id": "BSB_ID",
    "title": "Title",
    "author": "Author",
    "year": YYYY,
    "original_language": "Language"
  }'

Book Biography Template

# Book Biography: [Shelfmark]

## Physical Description

| Field | Value |
|-------|-------|
| **Shelfmark** | [Institution, Collection, Number] |
| **Date** | [YYYY or range] |
| **Origin** | [Place] |
| **Format** | [Folio/Quarto/Octavo/MS] |
| **Dimensions** | [H × W mm] |
| **Foliation** | [Structure] |
| **Binding** | [Description] |
| **Scribe/Printer** | [Name] |
| **Patron/Owner** | [Name] |

---

## Contents

| No. | Text | Author | Folios |
|-----|------|--------|--------|
| 1 | [Title] | [Author] | ff. X-Y |
| 2 | [Title] | [Author] | ff. Y-Z |

---

## Production Context

### The Maker
[Biography and significance of scribe/printer]

### The Patron
[Who commissioned/owned, why]

### Historical Context
[What was happening when this was made]

---

## Textual Transmission

### The Text(s)
- **Original composition**: [Date, place, circumstances]
- **Author**: [Real name, dates, attribution issues]
- **Genre**: [Type of text]

### Stemma

[ASCII diagram of manuscript relationships]

### Key Witnesses
| Siglum | Manuscript | Date | Notes |
|--------|-----------|------|-------|
| A | [Shelfmark] | [Date] | [Significance] |
| B | [Shelfmark] | [Date] | [Significance] |

### This Witness
- **Exemplar**: [What it was copied from]
- **Descendants**: [What was copied from it]
- **Unique features**: [Variants, errors, additions]

---

## Related Works in Source Library

| ID | Title | Relationship |
|----|-------|--------------|
| `[id]` | [Title] | [How related] |

---

## Editions Available

### Manuscripts
| Location | Shelfmark | Date | Notes |
|----------|-----------|------|-------|
| [City] | [Shelfmark] | [Date] | [Significance] |

### Printed Editions (Chronological)
| Year | Place | Editor/Translator | Significance |
|------|-------|-------------------|--------------|
| YYYY | [City] | [Name] | [First edition/Critical/etc.] |

### On Archive.org
| ID | Title | Year | Pages |
|----|-------|------|-------|
| `[ia_id]` | [Title] | YYYY | N |

---

## Research Questions

1. [Open question about this witness]
2. [Open question about transmission]
3. [Open question about reception]

---

## Bibliography

- [Scholarly works on this text/manuscript]
- [Critical editions]
- [Catalog entries]

Network Visualization

When mapping relationships, use ASCII diagrams:

ANTIQUITY                BYZANTIUM              RENAISSANCE            PRINT

[Original]  ──────────►  [MS Family A]  ────►  [Humanist copy]  ────►  [Editio princeps]
                              │                       │                      │
                         [MS Family B]  ────►  [YOUR BOOK]  ◄────────────────┘
                              │                       │
                         [MS Family C]  ────►  [Later editions]

Scoring Editions for Import

Criterion	Weight	Description
Historical priority	3x	Earlier = better (editio princeps, early MSS)
Critical apparatus	2x	Scholarly editions with variants
Textual coverage	2x	Complete vs excerpts
Language	1x	Original language > translations
Availability	1x	Not already in collection
Image quality	1x	Readable scans

Example Session

User: /book-biography 695230c6ab34727b1f044784

Agent: Researching BnF grec 2518...

## Physical Description
- **Shelfmark**: Paris, BnF, grec 2518
- **Date**: 1530-1539
- **Origin**: Venice
- **Scribe**: Ange Vergèce (royal scribe)
- **Patron**: Francis I of France

## Contents
1. Hero of Alexandria, Pneumatica
2. Corpus Hermeticum
3. Ocellus Lucanus, De universi natura

## Key Finding
This manuscript predates all printed editions of its texts:
- Ocellus first printed: 1539
- Hero Pneumatica first printed: 1575
- Corpus Hermeticum (Greek): 1554

## Related Works in Source Library
[Lists 15+ related Hermetic and Ficino texts]

## Available Editions on Archive.org
[Lists 17 editions of Hero and Ocellus]

Would you like me to import these related editions?

Reports Storage

• Session reports append to bookbiography.md
• Import logs tracked with book IDs and page counts
• Network diagrams preserved for reference

Key Resources

Digital Libraries

• Archive.org - Largest free collection
• Gallica - BnF digitizations
• MDZ - Bavarian State Library
• e-rara - Swiss rare books
• Google Books - Pre-1928 works

Catalogs

• USTC - Universal Short Title Catalogue (pre-1601)
• ISTC - Incunabula Short Title Catalogue (pre-1501)
• WorldCat - Global library holdings
• Biblissima - Medieval MSS portal

Scholarship

• Textual Criticism: West, Reynolds & Wilson
• Codicology: Lemaire, Derolez
• Book History: Johns, Chartier, Febvre & Martin
• Paleography: Bischoff, Brown

Rules

DO

• Always get book details from Source Library first
• Check what's already in the collection before importing
• Research production context (who, when, where, why)
• Map textual transmission (stemma)
• Search multiple digital libraries
• Present findings with clear citations
• Offer to import related editions
• Generate network visualizations

DO NOT

• Import without checking for duplicates
• Skip the physical description
• Ignore production context
• Present speculation as fact
• Import modern copyrighted editions
• Forget to document imports