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Getting Started with gutenbergr

The gutenbergr package helps you download and process public domain works from Project Gutenberg. This vignette introduces the package’s metadata datasets and core downloading functionality.

Required Libraries

library(dplyr)
library(stringr)

Exploring the Metadata

gutenberg_metadata

The gutenberg_metadata dataset contains information about each work in the Project Gutenberg collection:

gutenberg_metadata
#> # A tibble: 81,633 × 8
#>    gutenberg_id title    author gutenberg_author_id language gutenberg_bookshelf
#>           <int> <chr>    <chr>                <int> <fct>    <chr>              
#>  1            1 "The De… Jeffe…                1638 en       Politics/American …
#>  2            2 "The Un… Unite…                   1 en       Politics/American …
#>  3            3 "John F… Kenne…                1666 en       Category: Essays, …
#>  4            4 "Lincol… Linco…                   3 en       US Civil War/Categ…
#>  5            5 "The Un… Unite…                   1 en       United States/Poli…
#>  6            6 "Give M… Henry…                   4 en       American Revolutio…
#>  7            7 "The Ma… <NA>                    NA en       Category: History …
#>  8            8 "Abraha… Linco…                   3 en       US Civil War/Categ…
#>  9            9 "Abraha… Linco…                   3 en       US Civil War/Categ…
#> 10           10 "The Ki… <NA>                    NA en       Banned Books List …
#> # ℹ 81,623 more rows
#> # ℹ 2 more variables: rights <fct>, has_text <lgl>

You can filter this to find specific works:

gutenberg_metadata |>
  filter(title == "Persuasion")
#> # A tibble: 3 × 8
#>   gutenberg_id title     author gutenberg_author_id language gutenberg_bookshelf
#>          <int> <chr>     <chr>                <int> <fct>    <chr>              
#> 1          105 Persuasi… Auste…                  68 en       "Category: Novels/…
#> 2        22963 Persuasi… Auste…                  68 en       ""                 
#> 3        36777 Persuasi… Auste…                  68 fr       "FR Littérature/Ca…
#> # ℹ 2 more variables: rights <fct>, has_text <lgl>

The metadata currently in the package was last updated on 13 March 2026.

gutenberg_works()

In most analyses, you’ll want to filter for English works, avoid duplicates, and include only books with downloadable text. The gutenberg_works() function does this automatically:

gutenberg_works()
#> # A tibble: 63,090 × 8
#>    gutenberg_id title    author gutenberg_author_id language gutenberg_bookshelf
#>           <int> <chr>    <chr>                <int> <fct>    <chr>              
#>  1            1 "The De… Jeffe…                1638 en       Politics/American …
#>  2            2 "The Un… Unite…                   1 en       Politics/American …
#>  3            3 "John F… Kenne…                1666 en       Category: Essays, …
#>  4            4 "Lincol… Linco…                   3 en       US Civil War/Categ…
#>  5            5 "The Un… Unite…                   1 en       United States/Poli…
#>  6            6 "Give M… Henry…                   4 en       American Revolutio…
#>  7            7 "The Ma… <NA>                    NA en       Category: History …
#>  8            8 "Abraha… Linco…                   3 en       US Civil War/Categ…
#>  9            9 "Abraha… Linco…                   3 en       US Civil War/Categ…
#> 10           10 "The Ki… <NA>                    NA en       Banned Books List …
#> # ℹ 63,080 more rows
#> # ℹ 2 more variables: rights <fct>, has_text <lgl>

You can also filter directly within the function:

gutenberg_works(author == "Austen, Jane")
#> # A tibble: 14 × 8
#>    gutenberg_id title    author gutenberg_author_id language gutenberg_bookshelf
#>           <int> <chr>    <chr>                <int> <fct>    <chr>              
#>  1          105 "Persua… Auste…                  68 en       "Category: Novels/…
#>  2          121 "Northa… Auste…                  68 en       "Gothic Fiction/Ca…
#>  3          141 "Mansfi… Auste…                  68 en       "Category: Novels/…
#>  4          158 "Emma"   Auste…                  68 en       "Category: Novels/…
#>  5          161 "Sense … Auste…                  68 en       "Category: Romance…
#>  6          946 "Lady S… Auste…                  68 en       "Category: Novels/…
#>  7         1212 "Love a… Auste…                  68 en       "Category: Romance…
#>  8         1342 "Pride … Auste…                  68 en       "Best Books Ever L…
#>  9        31100 "The Co… Auste…                  68 en       "Category: Romance…
#> 10        37431 "Pride … Auste…                  68 en       "Category: Plays/F…
#> 11        42078 "The Le… Auste…                  68 en       "Category: Biograp…
#> 12        63569 "The Wa… Auste…                  68 en       "Category: Novels/…
#> 13        74233 "Fragme… Auste…                  68 en       "Category: Novels/…
#> 14        77117 "The Wa… Auste…                  68 en       ""                 
#> # ℹ 2 more variables: rights <fct>, has_text <lgl>
# Using regular expressions
gutenberg_works(str_detect(author, "Austen"))
#> # A tibble: 24 × 8
#>    gutenberg_id title    author gutenberg_author_id language gutenberg_bookshelf
#>           <int> <chr>    <chr>                <int> <fct>    <chr>              
#>  1          105 Persuas… Auste…                  68 en       Category: Novels/C…
#>  2          121 Northan… Auste…                  68 en       Gothic Fiction/Cat…
#>  3          141 Mansfie… Auste…                  68 en       Category: Novels/C…
#>  4          158 Emma     Auste…                  68 en       Category: Novels/C…
#>  5          161 Sense a… Auste…                  68 en       Category: Romance/…
#>  6          946 Lady Su… Auste…                  68 en       Category: Novels/C…
#>  7         1212 Love an… Auste…                  68 en       Category: Romance/…
#>  8         1342 Pride a… Auste…                  68 en       Best Books Ever Li…
#>  9        17797 Memoir … Auste…                7603 en       Category: Biograph…
#> 10        22536 Jane Au… Auste…               25392 en       Category: Biograph…
#> # ℹ 14 more rows
#> # ℹ 2 more variables: rights <fct>, has_text <lgl>
# Multiple conditions
gutenberg_works(author == "Dickens, Charles", has_text == TRUE)
#> # A tibble: 93 × 8
#>    gutenberg_id title    author gutenberg_author_id language gutenberg_bookshelf
#>           <int> <chr>    <chr>                <int> <fct>    <chr>              
#>  1           46 "A Chri… Dicke…                  37 en       Children's Literat…
#>  2           98 "A Tale… Dicke…                  37 en       Historical Fiction…
#>  3          564 "The My… Dicke…                  37 en       Mystery Fiction/Ca…
#>  4          580 "The Pi… Dicke…                  37 en       Best Books Ever Li…
#>  5          588 "Master… Dicke…                  37 en       Category: Novels/C…
#>  6          644 "The Ha… Dicke…                  37 en       Christmas/Category…
#>  7          650 "Pictur… Dicke…                  37 en       Category: Travel W…
#>  8          653 "The Ch… Dicke…                  37 en       Category: Novels/C…
#>  9          675 "Americ… Dicke…                  37 en       Category: Travel W…
#> 10          676 "The Ba… Dicke…                  37 en       Christmas/Category…
#> # ℹ 83 more rows
#> # ℹ 2 more variables: rights <fct>, has_text <lgl>

gutenberg_subjects

The gutenberg_subjects dataset pairs works with Library of Congress classifications and subject headings:

gutenberg_subjects
#> # A tibble: 262,666 × 3
#>    gutenberg_id subject_type subject                                            
#>           <int> <fct>        <chr>                                              
#>  1            1 lcsh         United States -- History -- Revolution, 1775-1783 …
#>  2            1 lcsh         United States. Declaration of Independence         
#>  3            1 lcc          E201                                               
#>  4            1 lcc          JK                                                 
#>  5            2 lcsh         Civil rights -- United States -- Sources           
#>  6            2 lcsh         United States. Constitution. 1st-10th Amendments   
#>  7            2 lcc          JK                                                 
#>  8            2 lcc          KF                                                 
#>  9            3 lcsh         United States -- Foreign relations -- 1961-1963    
#> 10            3 lcsh         Presidents -- United States -- Inaugural addresses 
#> # ℹ 262,656 more rows

This is useful for finding works by genre or topic:

# Find detective stories
gutenberg_subjects |>
  filter(subject == "Detective and mystery stories")
#> # A tibble: 986 × 3
#>    gutenberg_id subject_type subject                      
#>           <int> <fct>        <chr>                        
#>  1          170 lcsh         Detective and mystery stories
#>  2          173 lcsh         Detective and mystery stories
#>  3          244 lcsh         Detective and mystery stories
#>  4          305 lcsh         Detective and mystery stories
#>  5          330 lcsh         Detective and mystery stories
#>  6          481 lcsh         Detective and mystery stories
#>  7          547 lcsh         Detective and mystery stories
#>  8          863 lcsh         Detective and mystery stories
#>  9          905 lcsh         Detective and mystery stories
#> 10         1155 lcsh         Detective and mystery stories
#> # ℹ 976 more rows
# Find Sherlock Holmes stories
gutenberg_subjects |>
  filter(grepl("Holmes, Sherlock", subject))
#> # A tibble: 59 × 3
#>    gutenberg_id subject_type subject                                           
#>           <int> <fct>        <chr>                                             
#>  1          108 lcsh         Holmes, Sherlock (Fictitious character) -- Fiction
#>  2          221 lcsh         Holmes, Sherlock (Fictitious character) -- Fiction
#>  3          244 lcsh         Holmes, Sherlock (Fictitious character) -- Fiction
#>  4          834 lcsh         Holmes, Sherlock (Fictitious character) -- Fiction
#>  5         1661 lcsh         Holmes, Sherlock (Fictitious character) -- Fiction
#>  6         2097 lcsh         Holmes, Sherlock (Fictitious character) -- Fiction
#>  7         2343 lcsh         Holmes, Sherlock (Fictitious character) -- Fiction
#>  8         2344 lcsh         Holmes, Sherlock (Fictitious character) -- Fiction
#>  9         2345 lcsh         Holmes, Sherlock (Fictitious character) -- Fiction
#> 10         2346 lcsh         Holmes, Sherlock (Fictitious character) -- Fiction
#> # ℹ 49 more rows

You can join this with gutenberg_works() to download books by subject:

# Get IDs of detective stories
detective_ids <- gutenberg_subjects |>
  filter(subject == "Detective and mystery stories") |>
  inner_join(gutenberg_works(), by = "gutenberg_id") |>
  pull(gutenberg_id)

# Download a sample
detective_stories <- gutenberg_download(
  detective_ids[1:5],
  meta_fields = c("title", "author")
)

gutenberg_authors

The gutenberg_authors dataset contains author information including aliases and birth/death years:

gutenberg_authors
#> # A tibble: 26,714 × 7
#>    gutenberg_author_id author        alias birthdate deathdate wikipedia aliases
#>                  <int> <chr>         <chr>     <int>     <int> <chr>     <chr>  
#>  1                   1 United States U.S.…        NA        NA https://… U.S.A. 
#>  2                   3 Lincoln, Abr… <NA>       1809      1865 https://… United…
#>  3                   4 Henry, Patri… <NA>       1736      1799 https://… <NA>   
#>  4                   5 Adam, Paul    <NA>       1849      1931 https://… <NA>   
#>  5                   7 Carroll, Lew… Dodg…      1832      1898 https://… Dodgso…
#>  6                   8 United State… <NA>         NA        NA https://… Agency…
#>  7                   9 Melville, He… Melv…      1819      1891 https://… Melvil…
#>  8                  10 Barrie, J. M… <NA>       1860      1937 https://… Barrie…
#>  9                  11 Church of Je… <NA>         NA        NA https://… <NA>   
#> 10                  12 Smith, Josep… Smit…      1805      1844 https://… Smith,…
#> # ℹ 26,704 more rows

This can be useful for filtering by author characteristics:

# Find works by 19th century authors
nineteenth_century_gutenberg_authors <- gutenberg_authors |>
  filter(birthdate >= 1800, birthdate < 1900) |>
  inner_join(gutenberg_works(), by = "gutenberg_author_id")

Downloading Books

Single Book

Download a book using its Gutenberg ID with gutenberg_download():

persuasion <- gutenberg_download(105, meta_fields = c("title", "author"))
persuasion
#> # A tibble: 8,357 × 4
#>    gutenberg_id text             title      author      
#>           <int> <chr>            <chr>      <chr>       
#>  1          105 "Persuasion"     Persuasion Austen, Jane
#>  2          105 ""               Persuasion Austen, Jane
#>  3          105 ""               Persuasion Austen, Jane
#>  4          105 "by Jane Austen" Persuasion Austen, Jane
#>  5          105 ""               Persuasion Austen, Jane
#>  6          105 "(1818)"         Persuasion Austen, Jane
#>  7          105 ""               Persuasion Austen, Jane
#>  8          105 ""               Persuasion Austen, Jane
#>  9          105 ""               Persuasion Austen, Jane
#> 10          105 ""               Persuasion Austen, Jane
#> # ℹ 8,347 more rows

The result is a tibble with:

Multiple Books

Download multiple books by providing a vector of Gutenberg IDs:

books <- gutenberg_download(c(105, 109))
books
#> # A tibble: 9,579 × 4
#>    gutenberg_id text                         title                       author 
#>           <int> <chr>                        <chr>                       <chr>  
#>  1          109 "Renascence and Other Poems" Renascence, and Other Poems Millay…
#>  2          109 ""                           Renascence, and Other Poems Millay…
#>  3          109 ""                           Renascence, and Other Poems Millay…
#>  4          109 "by"                         Renascence, and Other Poems Millay…
#>  5          109 ""                           Renascence, and Other Poems Millay…
#>  6          109 "Edna St. Vincent Millay"    Renascence, and Other Poems Millay…
#>  7          109 ""                           Renascence, and Other Poems Millay…
#>  8          109 ""                           Renascence, and Other Poems Millay…
#>  9          109 ""                           Renascence, and Other Poems Millay…
#> 10          109 ""                           Renascence, and Other Poems Millay…
#> # ℹ 9,569 more rows

Adding Metadata

Use the meta_fields argument to include additional information:

books <- gutenberg_download(c(105, 109), meta_fields = c("title", "author"))
books |>
  count(title)
#> # A tibble: 2 × 2
#>   title                           n
#>   <chr>                       <int>
#> 1 Persuasion                   8357
#> 2 Renascence, and Other Poems  1222

Downloading from gutenberg_works()

You can pipe the output of gutenberg_works() directly into gutenberg_download():

# Download all of Aristotle's works with titles
aristotle_books <- gutenberg_works(author == "Aristotle") |>
  gutenberg_download(meta_fields = "title")

What’s Next?

Now that you have book texts as tibbles, you can:

Additional Resources

These binaries (installable software) and packages are in development.
They may not be fully stable and should be used with caution. We make no claims about them.
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