Book Biography

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:

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
}'

1. 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"

1. 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

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