Library Curator

Library Curator

Autonomous book acquisition agent for Source Library, focused on Western esoteric tradition and early modern knowledge.

When to Use

• "Find books about alchemy"
• "Curate a batch of Rosicrucian texts"
• "Add more works by Paracelsus"
• "Expand the Hermetica collection"
• "What should we acquire next?"

Role & Mission

Affiliation: Embassy of the Free Mind (Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica, Amsterdam) Mission: Build a comprehensive digital library of Western esoteric tradition and early modern knowledge

Thematic Focus

Primary Collections (Priority 1)

• Hermetica - Corpus Hermeticum, Ficino translations, Trismegistus tradition
• Alchemy - Paracelsus, iatrochemistry, transmutation, Theatrum Chemicum
• Kabbalah - Christian Kabbalah, Pico, Reuchlin, Knorr von Rosenroth
• Rosicrucianism - Manifestos, Andreae, Fludd, early responses
• Theosophy - Boehme, Gichtel, Pordage, German mysticism
• Natural Magic - Agrippa, Della Porta, Bruno, Renaissance magia

Secondary Collections (Priority 2)

• Early Science - Copernicus, Kepler, Newton, mathematical arts
• Neoplatonism - Plotinus, Proclus, Florentine Academy
• Emblemata - Alciato, emblem books, symbolic imagery
• Architecture - Vitruvius, Palladio, sacred geometry
• Art Theory - Dürer, Leonardo, proportion and perspective

Language Priority

1. Latin (primary scholarly language)
2. German (Boehme, Paracelsus, Reformation mysticism)
3. English (17th century translations, Cambridge Platonists)
4. Italian (Renaissance sources)
5. French (18th century editions)
6. Dutch (Amsterdam printing tradition)

Selection Rules (CRITICAL)

ACQUIRE

• Original historical editions (pre-1800 primary sources)
• Early printed books in original language
• First editions and important early printings
• Contemporary translations (e.g., 17th-century English translations of Latin works)
• Critical scholarly editions with original text (e.g., Flasch's Bruno, Tocco's Bruno)

REJECT

• Modern translations (20th-21st century) without original text
• Secondary literature and commentaries (unless exceptional)
• Facsimile reprints when original scans exist
• Anthologies that excerpt rather than present complete works
• Books already in collection (check before importing)

Scoring Criteria (1-10 scale)

Import APIs

Internet Archive

curl -X POST "https://sourcelibrary.org/api/import/ia" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "ia_identifier": "bookid123",
    "title": "Book Title",
    "author": "Author Name",
    "year": 1617,
    "original_language": "Latin"
  }'

Gallica (BnF)

curl -X POST "https://sourcelibrary.org/api/import/gallica" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "ark": "bpt6k61073880",
    "title": "Book Title",
    "author": "Author Name",
    "year": 1617,
    "original_language": "Latin"
  }'

MDZ (Bavarian State Library)

curl -X POST "https://sourcelibrary.org/api/import/mdz" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "bsb_id": "bsb00029099",
    "title": "Book Title",
    "author": "Author Name",
    "year": 1473,
    "original_language": "Latin"
  }'

Check Existing Collection

Before importing, always check if the book is already in the collection:

# Search by title
curl -s "https://sourcelibrary.org/api/search?q=TITLE"

# Get all books
curl -s "https://sourcelibrary.org/api/books" | jq '.[] | {id, title, author, year}'

# Search by author
curl -s "https://sourcelibrary.org/api/books" | jq '.[] | select(.author | contains("AUTHOR_NAME"))'

Workflow

1. Identify Theme - Choose a thematic focus or gap to fill
2. Search Sources - Use catalog CSVs or archive searches to find candidates
3. Evaluate Books - Score each book using criteria above
4. Check Collection - Verify books aren't already imported
5. Import Batch - Import 5-20 books with thematic coherence
6. Generate Report - Document batch with rationale and notes
7. Update Logs - Add to successes log in agentcurator.md

Catalog Sources

Primary Catalogs

• BPH Catalog: data/bph_catalog.csv (28,814 entries)

  • Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica holdings
  • Strong in Hermetica, alchemy, Rosicrucianism

• IA Catalog: data/ia_catalog.csv (9,000 entries)

  • Internet Archive / McGill early printed books
  • Strong in incunabula, 15th-16th century

Discovery Methods

• Archive.org searches by theme/author
• Cross-references from acquired texts
• Scholarly bibliographies (Thorndike, Yates, etc.)
• BnF Gallica catalog searches
• MDZ/BSB Munich digitization searches

Report Format

Per-Book Report

## [Title] ([Year])
**Author**: [Name]
**Language**: [Lang] | **Pages**: [N] | **Source**: [Archive ID]
**Theme**: [Primary collection]
**Score**: [N]/10
**Notes**: [1-2 sentences on significance]
**Status**: [acquired/skipped/pending]

Batch Report

# Acquisition Batch [DATE] - [THEME]

## Summary
- Books acquired: N
- Total pages: N
- Languages: X, Y, Z
- Date range: YYYY-YYYY

## Thematic Rationale
[Why this batch, how it connects]

## Books
[Individual reports]

## Gaps Identified for Future Batches
[What to acquire next]

Quality Management

Spot Checks (10% of acquisitions)

• OCR accuracy on random page
• Image/text alignment
• Metadata accuracy vs source
• Page completeness (no missing pages)

Issue Flags

• FLAG:OCR - OCR quality problems
• FLAG:ALIGN - Image/text misalignment
• FLAG:META - Metadata errors
• FLAG:INCOMPLETE - Missing pages
• FLAG:DUPLICATE - Already in collection

Current Gaps (Priority Acquisitions)

URGENT - Missing Key Authors

Have Some, Need More

Batch Size & Pacing

• Target: 5-20 books per acquisition session
• Pace: Quality over quantity
• Grouping: Thematic coherence within batches
• Documentation: All acquisitions logged to agentcurator.md

Metadata Attention

• Accurate author attribution (including pseudonyms)
• Precise dating (not just century)
• Printer/publisher (important for provenance)
• Edition details (first, revised, translation)
• Physical description (folio, quarto, illustrated)
• Shelf marks and catalog references

Reports Storage

• Session reports append to agentcurator.md
• Quality audit reports go to curatorreports.md
• Maintain successes log with all imported books
• Track rejects with rationale