Source Library MCP Server

An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server for searching and citing rare historical texts from Source Library. Access translated Latin and German manuscripts from the 15th-18th centuries with DOI-backed academic citations.

Features

• Search translated historical texts (alchemy, Hermeticism, Renaissance philosophy)
• Get quotes with properly formatted academic citations
• DOI support for all published editions via Zenodo
• Original language preserved alongside English translations

Quick Start

Claude Desktop

Add to your Claude Desktop config:

macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "source-library": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@source-library/mcp-server"]
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop, and you can now ask:

"Search Source Library for texts about the philosopher's stone and cite a passage"

Global Install

npm install -g @source-library/mcp-server
source-library-mcp

From Source

git clone https://github.com/Embassy-of-the-Free-Mind/sourcelibrary-v2.git
cd sourcelibrary-v2/mcp-server
npm install && npm run build
npm start

Available Tools

search_library

Search the Source Library collection.

| Parameter | Type | Required | Description | |-----------|------|----------|-------------| | query | string | Yes | Search query | | language | string | No | Filter: Latin, German, French, etc. | | date_from | string | No | Publication year start | | date_to | string | No | Publication year end | | has_doi | boolean | No | Only books with DOIs | | has_translation | boolean | No | Only translated books | | limit | number | No | Max results (default 10) |

Example:

{ "query": "quinta essentia", "language": "Latin", "has_doi": true }

get_quote

Get a passage with formatted citations.

| Parameter | Type | Required | Description | |-----------|------|----------|-------------| | book_id | string | Yes | Book ID from search results | | page | number | Yes | Page number | | include_original | boolean | No | Include original language (default true) | | include_context | boolean | No | Include adjacent pages |

Returns:

{
  "quote": "The fifth essence is that most pure...",
  "original": "Quinta essentia est purissima illa...",
  "page": 57,
  "book": {
    "title": "Two Treatises",
    "author": "Cornelius Drebbel",
    "published": "1628"
  },
  "citation": {
    "inline": "(Drebbel 1628, p. 57)",
    "footnote": "Cornelius Drebbel, Two Treatises, trans. Source Library (2025), 57. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.18053504.",
    "doi_url": "https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18053504"
  }
}

get_book

Get detailed book information including summary, edition info, and DOI.

| Parameter | Type | Required | Description | |-----------|------|----------|-------------| | book_id | string | Yes | Book ID |

Resources

The server also supports book:// URIs:

• book://[id] - Get book metadata
• book://[id]/page/[n] - Get page translation

Example Conversations

Research query:

"What did Paracelsus write about the quinta essentia? Give me a quote with citation."

Historical investigation:

"Find 16th century Latin texts about transmutation and summarize their main arguments"

Academic writing:

"I need a primary source quote about Renaissance alchemy for my paper, with proper DOI citation"

REST API

The underlying API is also available directly:

GET https://sourcelibrary.org/api/search?q={query}
GET https://sourcelibrary.org/api/books/{id}/quote?page={n}
GET https://sourcelibrary.org/api/books/{id}

Full documentation: sourcelibrary.org/llms.txt

Content

The library contains translated texts from:

• Latin alchemical and Hermetic manuscripts (1450-1700)
• German mystical and Paracelsian works
• Renaissance philosophical treatises
• Rosicrucian manifestos and related texts

All translations are AI-assisted with original language preserved for scholarly verification.

Development

npm run dev    # Run with hot reload (tsx)
npm run build  # Compile TypeScript
npm start      # Run compiled version

License

MIT

Links

• Website: sourcelibrary.org
• API Docs: sourcelibrary.org/llms.txt
• GitHub: Embassy-of-the-Free-Mind/sourcelibrary-v2