The M.A.R.E project (Manuscripts and Books from Asia Reaching Europe), funded under the PRIN 2022 program, aims to explore the cultural interconnections between East and West by analyzing the circulation of manuscripts and books that, between the 7th and 18th centuries, traveled along the Maritime Silk Routes to Europe. These routes, less known compared to the land routes, have been crucial not only for trade but also for the exchange of knowledge, ideas, and practices between distant civilizations, contributing to the formation of a rich network of diplomatic, cultural, and religious relations.

The M.A.R.E project aims to create an innovative digital platform that maps the circulation of these books, highlighting historical paths, connections between different cultures, and the transformations that texts underwent in their journey, from the original writing to their dissemination through translations and adaptations. The project seeks to enhance lesser-known texts, often difficult to access, using advanced digital technologies to map the historical and cultural trajectories of the books and the contexts in which they were transformed through translations and adaptations.

Objectives

The M.A.R.E project aims to trace the flows of knowledge between East and West through the analysis of books and manuscripts from Asia and Europe. Thanks to digitization and semantic mapping, the project intends to visually reconstruct the maritime routes followed by the texts, highlighting the interconnections between different cultures. The digital platform will allow these routes to be visualized interactively, emphasizing the transformation of the texts in their journey and the various historical and cultural contexts through which they passed.

In particular, the platform will offer a geographical and temporal mapping that connects the places of origin of the texts to their European destinations, visualizing the maritime routes followed by these books. A key objective is also the creation of a semantic search engine that allows users to explore the texts not only by keywords but also by concepts and semantic relationships.

Another goal of the project is to foster collaboration among various disciplines, such as history, philology, linguistics, and computer science. This multidisciplinary approach will allow the theme of maritime routes and the circulation of books to be tackled from an innovative perspective, with the aim of stimulating new lines of research. Moreover, M.A.R.E aims to make the project accessible to a wider audience, including students, history and culture enthusiasts, and not just specialists. Creating a usable and easily consultable resource will help improve the understanding of intercultural exchanges between East and West.

Partners

The M.A.R.E project involves numerous academic and institutional partners, enriching its interdisciplinary approach and strengthening its international scope. Among the main partners are:

• University of Salerno: Responsible for the development of the semantic ontology to describe books and commercial routes.
• Kore University of Enna: Focuses on the digitization of texts and the creation of a user interface for the geo-spatial visualization of resources.
• University of Pisa: Contributes its expertise in the history of maritime routes and the management of geographical and historical sources.

The project also benefits from the collaboration with institutes and research centers, including:

• Laboratory of Maritime and Naval History (NavLab) at the University of Genoa: Provides a solid foundation for the historical analysis of maritime routes.
• Prospero Intorcetta Foundation: Supports the management of bibliographic and documentary heritage.
• University Library of Genoa (BUGE): Contributes bibliographic resources and materials for research.
• Confucius Institute of Enna "Kore" University: Provides expertise for the study of Asian texts, particularly Chinese ones.
• ICCU - ICCU - Istituto Centrale per il Catalogo Unico delle Biblioteche Italiane e per le informazioni bibliografiche: Contributes its support in cataloging and managing bibliographic data, as well as in the enhancement and dissemination of Italian bibliographic heritage.