My project seeks to develop a structured, annotated data set of paratextual features in a small corpus of Arabic and Latin scientific manuscripts, alongside an exploratory interface for analyzing and visualizing these features. The goal is to produce a first, working prototype of a dataset and accompanying framework that captures how knowledge is materially and visually organized in manuscripts across linguistic and cultural traditions.
The central deliverable will be a structured dataset that encodes features such as marginalia (e.g., commentary, corrections, glosses), diagrammatic elements, textual divisions, and signs of reader interaction between a knowledge network that taught the same astronomical text. The data will be curated manually, drawing on digitized manuscript images, and organized using a schema informed by both codicology and digital humanities standards.
This project will enable me to to begin translating a central methodological insight of my research into digital form: that manuscripts are not just texts to be read, but systems that train readers in how to see. By building a dataset that captures these systems at the level of material and paratextual detail, I aim to create new entry points for analyzing cross-cultural knowledge transmission at scale, while remaining attentive to the limits and assumptions of digital representation. This work will lay the groundwork for more expansive digital and archival research in subsequent stages of my dissertation.