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Get the plain text of a public-domain Project Gutenberg book by title, optionally matching its author and language. Chooses the most downloaded matching edition with a plain-text file; removes Gutenberg notices and can cut the text after a chosen number of words.

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Book title, for example Pride and Prejudice.

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Example results

Title
Candide, ou l'optimisme
Author
Voltaire
Language
French
Book Text
OEUVRES DE VOLTAIRE. TOME XXXIII DE L’ IMPRIMERIE DE A. FIRMIN DIDOT, RUE JACOB, Nº 24. OEUVRES DE VOLTAIRE PRÉFACES, AVERTISSEMENTS, NOTES, ETC. PAR M. BEUCHOT. TOME XXXIII. ROMANS. TOME I. A PARIS, CHEZ LEFÈVRE, LIBRAIRE, RUE DE L’ÉPERON, Kº 6. WERDET ET LEQUIEN FILS, RUE DU BATTOIR, Nº 20. MDCCCXXIX. CANDIDE, OU L’OPTIMISME Préface de l’Éditeur CHAPITRE I. Comment Candide fut élevé dans un beau château, et comment il fut chassé d’icelui. CHAPITRE II Ce que devint Candide parmi les Bulgares. CHAPITRE III. Comment Candide se sauva d’entre les Bulgares, et ce qu’il devint. CHAPITRE IV. Comment Candide rencontra son ancien maître de philosophie, le docteur Pangloss, et ce qui en advint. CHAPITRE V. Tempête, naufrage, tremblement de terre, et ce qui advint du docteur Pangloss, de Candide, et de l’anabaptiste Jacques. CHAPITRE VI. Comment on fit un bel auto-da-fé pour empêcher les tremblements de terre, et comment Candide fut fessé. CHAPITRE VII Comment une vieille prit soin de Candide, et comment il retrouva ce qu’il aimait. CHAPITRE VIII. Histoire de Cunégonde. CHAPITRE IX. Ce qui advint de Cunégonde, de Candide, du grand-inquisiteur, et d’un Juif. CHAPITRE X. Dans quelle détresse Candide, Cunégonde, et la vieille, arrivent à Cadix, et leur embarquement. CHAPITRE XI. Histoire de la vieille. CHAPITRE XII. Suite des malheurs de la vieille. CHAPITRE XIII. Comment Candide fut obligé de se séparer de la belle Cunégonde et de la vieille. CHAPITRE XIV. Comment Candide et Cacambo furent reçus chez les jésuites du Paraguai. CHAPITRE XV. Comment Candide tua le frère de sa chère Cunégonde. CHAPITRE XVI. Ce qui advint aux deux voyageurs avec deux filles, deux singes, et les sauvages nommés Oreillons. CHAPITRE XVII. Arrivée de Candide et de son valet au pays d’Eldorado, et ce qu’ils y virent. CHAPITRE XVIII Ce qu’ils virent dans le
Ebook Number
4650
Release Date
2003-11-01
Text Was Cut
Yes
Book Page Link
gutenberg.org
Total Word Count
34,080
Example data · Run in Studio for fresh results.

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Project Gutenberg (Gutenberg) Search free books finds books by required title, author, or topic, with optional language and sorting.

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Built by Fous from gutenberg.org and checked automatically; it last passed a check on Sep 29, 2026. Fous is not affiliated with Project Gutenberg.

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Get book text

1 credit per run

Get the plain text of a public-domain Project Gutenberg book by title, optionally matching its author and language. Chooses the most downloaded matching edition with a plain-text file; removes Gutenberg notices and can cut the text after a chosen number of words.

What you provide

FieldTypeRequiredDescription
TitletitleTextRequiredBook title, for example Pride and Prejudice.Example: Pride and Prejudice
AuthorauthorTextOptionalAuthor name to distinguish books, for example Jane Austen.Example: Jane Austen
LanguagelanguageTextOptionalBook language, for example English or French.Example: French
Max Wordsmax_wordsNumberOptionalMaximum number of words to include in the returned text, for example 200000.Example: 600000

What you get

FieldTypeDescription
TitletitleTextBook title.Example: Candide, ou l'optimisme
AuthorauthorTextBook author.Example: Voltaire
LanguagelanguageTextBook language.Example: French
Book Textbook_textTextBook text with Project Gutenberg header and license footer removed.
Ebook Numberebook_numberNumberProject Gutenberg ebook number.Example: 4650
Release Daterelease_dateDateProject Gutenberg release date.Example: 2003-11-01
Text Was Cuttext_was_cutYes or noWhether the returned text was shortened to max_words.Example: Yes
Book Page Linkbook_page_linkLinkProject Gutenberg book page.Example: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/4650
Total Word Counttotal_word_countNumberWords in the full cleaned text before cutting.Example: 34080

Example result

For Title: Candide, Author: Voltaire, Language: French, Max Words: 300

JSON
{
  "title": "Candide, ou l'optimisme",
  "author": "Voltaire",
  "language": "French",
  "book_text": "OEUVRES\r\n\r\nDE\r\n\r\nVOLTAIRE.\r\n\r\nTOME XXXIII\r\n\r\nDE L’ IMPRIMERIE DE A. FIRMIN DIDOT,\r\n\r\n\r\nRUE JACOB, Nº 24.\r\n\r\nOEUVRES\r\n\r\nDE\r\n\r\nVOLTAIRE\r\n\r\nPRÉFACES, AVERTISSEMENTS, NOTES, ETC.\r\n\r\nPAR M. BEUCHOT.\r\n\r\nTOM…",
  "ebook_number": 4650,
  "release_date": "2003-11-01",
  "text_was_cut": true,
  "book_page_link": "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/4650",
  "total_word_count": 34080
}

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FieldTypeRequiredDescription
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QueryqueryTextRequiredBook title, author, or topic, for example Sherlock Holmes.Example: Jane Austen
LanguagelanguageTextOptionalLanguage name or two-letter code, for example French or fr; default any.Example: French
Max Resultsmax_resultsNumberOptionalMaximum number of books to return, for example 20; at most 100.Example: 5

What you get

FieldTypeDescription
BooksbooksList
Titlebooks[].titleTextExample: Raison et sensibilité, ou les deux manières d'aimer (Tome 4)
Authorsbooks[].authorsList
Subjectsbooks[].subjectsList
Languagesbooks[].languagesList
Ebook Numberbooks[].ebook_numberNumberExample: 37634
Book Page Linkbooks[].book_page_linkTextExample: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/37634
Cover Image Linkbooks[].cover_image_linkTextExample: https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/37634/pg37634.cover.medium.jpg
Read Online Linkbooks[].read_online_linkTextExample: https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/37634/pg37634-images.html
Epub Download Linkbooks[].epub_download_linkTextExample: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/37634.epub3.images
Downloads Last 30 Daysbooks[].downloads_last_30_daysNumberExample: 385
Plain Text Download Linkbooks[].plain_text_download_linkTextExample: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/37634.txt.utf-8

Example result

For Sort: Newest, Query: Jane Austen, Language: French, Max Results: 5

JSON
{
  "books": [
    {
      "title": "Raison et sensibilité, ou les deux manières d'aimer (Tome 4)",
      "authors": [
        {
          "name": "Austen, Jane",
          "birth_year": 1775,
          "death_year": 1817
        }
      ],
      "subjects": [
        "England -- Social life and customs -- 19th century -- Fiction",
        "Inheritance and succession -- Fiction"
      ],
      "languages": [
        "French"
      ],
      "ebook_number": 37634,
      "book_page_link": "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/37634",
      "cover_image_link": "https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/37634/pg37634.cover.medium.jpg",
      "read_online_link": "https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/37634/pg37634-images.html",
      "epub_download_link": "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/37634.epub3.images",
      "downloads_last_30_days": 385,
      "plain_text_download_link": "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/37634.txt.utf-8"
    },
    {
      "title": "Persuasion",
      "authors": [
        {
          "name": "Austen, Jane",
          "birth_year": 1775,
          "death_year": 1817
        }
      ],
      "subjects": [
        "England -- Social life and customs -- 19th century -- Fiction",
        "Psychological fiction"
      ],
      "languages": [
        "French"
      ],
      "ebook_number": 36777,
      "book_page_link": "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/36777",
      "cover_image_link": "https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/36777/pg36777.cover.medium.jpg",
      "read_online_link": "https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/36777/pg36777-images.html",
      "epub_download_link": "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/36777.epub3.images",
      "downloads_last_30_days": 698,
      "plain_text_download_link": "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/36777.txt.utf-8"
    }
  ]
}

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  "api": "@project-gutenberg",
  "visibility": "public",
  "operation": "get_book_text",
  "version": 1,
  "input": {
    "title": "Pride and Prejudice",
    "author": "Jane Austen"
  },
  "response": {
    "format": "json"
  }
}'

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