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

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
}'

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"

Extract physical description
- Shelfmark
- Date and origin
- Dimensions and format
- Scribe/printer
- Binding
- Provenance marks

Phase 2: Production Context

Research the maker (scribe, printer, publisher)
- Web search for biographical info
- Other works by same maker
- Workshop/network connections
Research the patron/owner
- Commissioning context
- Collection history
- Contemporary documentation
Research the place/institution
- Printing center history
- Scriptoria traditions
- Library/collection context

Phase 3: Textual Transmission

Identify the text(s)
- Author attribution (real vs pseudonymous)
- Original composition date
- Genre and tradition
Map the stemma (manuscript families)
- Key witnesses (MSS and early prints)
- Siglum designations (A, B, C...)
- Critical editions and their apparatus
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