Static Links

Sometimes linking to a search for an author or title on Book Search isn't enough—you may want to link to a specific title or even a specific edition of a book. To help you with this, Google Books provides URL patterns that let you link to a book from its International Standard Book Number (ISBN), Library of Congress Control Number (LCCN), or Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) record number. Most books published today have ISBNs, and these numbers are usually visible on the "About the Book" page. Linking to older books, however, typically involves using an LCCN or OCLC record.

Links can be formatted to link to a book's About This Book page, Front Cover, Title Page, Copyright Page, Table of Contents, or Back Cover.

Examples

For example, perhaps you want to link to Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions by Edwin Abbot. While the book was originally published in 1884, the edition you want to link to was printed in 1984 and has an ISBN of 0451522907. The following table shows your options for linking to specific portions of books.


Destination URL Pattern and Example
Book
  • https://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN{ISBN Number}
  • Example: https://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0451522907
  • Front cover
  • https://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN{ISBN Number}&printsec=frontcover
  • Example: https://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0451522907&printsec=frontcover
  • Title page
  • https://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN{ISBN Number}&printsec=titlepage
  • Example: https://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0451522907&printsec=titlepage
  • Copyright page
  • https://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN{ISBN Number}&printsec=copyright
  • Example: https://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0451522907&printsec=copyright
  • Table of contents
  • https://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN{ISBN Number}&printsec=toc
  • Example: https://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0451522907&printsec=toc
  • Index
  • https://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN{ISBN Number}&printsec=index
  • Example: https://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0451522907&printsec=index
  • Back cover
  • https://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN{ISBN Number}&printsec=backcover
  • Example: https://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0451522907&printsec=backcover