Since 2018, I have been working with my colleagues in Halle and Beer Sheva on the correspondence of R. Moses Zacuto (ca. 1610–1697). The goal is create both a digital edition and a printed edition of the entire corpus of R. Moses Zacuto’s Correspondence, including newly discovered letters and responsa. I have compiled exhaustive inventories that serve as an essential guide to understanding the context and content of Zacuto’s correspondence and activities e.g. in kabbalah, hostage ransoming, and donations to communities in need.
As well as the edition itself, I have developed a platform for critical editions, based on TEI Publisher, and this stands as a significant contribution to the field of digital humanities, particularly Judaic studies. This platform will offer a synoptic view of different textual witnesses, and features enhanced markup capabilities, which provides users with robust search options. An interactive map feature allows users to explore the places mentioned in the texts, adding a spatial dimension to the study and enriching the understanding of historical and cultural contexts. The platform integrates with linked open data (LOD) from data providers, ensuring that it is not only content-rich but also connected to a broader network of scholarly resources. Importantly, both the TEI-XML data and the platform’s infrastructure will be available for future projects under a Creative Commons license once the current edition is complete and all transcriptions of the Hebrew texts have been proofread.