The E&D Alexandria Project: Preserving the Foundations of Human Knowledge for All Generations
Project Vision
Throughout history, knowledge has been both humanity’s greatest achievement and its most fragile possession. The burning of the Library of Alexandria remains one of the most tragic losses of intellectual and cultural heritage ever recorded. Today, we have an opportunity to ensure that such a loss never happens again.
The E&D Alexandria Project is a global preservation initiative that seeks to permanently secure humanity’s foundational works of knowledge: encyclopedias, dictionaries, and other early reference works. These are the primary building blocks of how we organize, record, and transmit accumulated knowledge. The goal is simple: to capture these works in the highest fidelity possible, permanently preserve them in distributed archives, and make them freely accessible to the world — forever.
Phase 1: Encyclopedias and Dictionaries
The project will begin with the digitization and preservation of the earliest and most significant encyclopedias and dictionaries, including:
Pliny the Elder’s Naturalis Historia (~77 CE)
Encyclopaedia Britannica (1768 and 1911 editions)
Dobson’s Encyclopaedia (first American encyclopedia, 1789–1798)
Robert Cawdrey’s A Table Alphabeticall (1604)
Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary of the English Language (1755)
Noah Webster’s early American dictionaries (1806 onward)
Oxford English Dictionary (First Edition)
Technology & Preservation Methods
The E&D Alexandria Project will use state-of-the-art non-destructive digitization processes to ensure permanent preservation, including:
Robotic book scanners with gentle page-turning mechanisms
Ultra high-resolution imaging (600–1200 DPI for text and illustrations)
Color calibration and 3D imaging of page surfaces for authentic reproduction
OCR (Optical Character Recognition) with advanced AI correction for searchable text
Semantic indexing, version tracking, and metadata extraction
All content will be stored in archival-grade formats (TIFF, JPEG2000, XML, TEI, METS/MODS), following FADGI 4-Star, ISO 19264-1, and Metamorfoze standards.
Cost Model
A full preservation project for an encyclopedia such as the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica (~29 volumes, ~25,000 pages) is estimated at:
High-fidelity scanning: $50,000
Post-processing (OCR, indexing, QC): $10,000
Master file storage and replication: $5,000
Institutional packaging and distribution (500 institutions): $50,000
Total Estimated Phase 1 Cost: $115,000
Distributed Preservation & Ownership
The E&D Alexandria Project proposes a distributed ownership model:
Master archive drives will be produced and distributed to approximately 500 institutions worldwide.
Each institution will receive a fully functional, independent copy of the archive.
Archives will be housed by:
National libraries
Major universities
Public libraries
Museums
Research centers
International cultural organizations
This creates a decentralized, redundant system that guarantees that no single government, corporation, or technology failure could ever erase or alter these works.
Institutions will also have limited reproduction rights, allowing them to use the archive for:
Public fundraising initiatives
Educational programming
Digital exhibits and public engagement
Potential Partners
The project invites cooperation from:
Library of Congress
Smithsonian Institution
Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL)
National libraries worldwide
UNESCO — Memory of the World Programme
International preservation organizations
Public-private partners & private donors
Future Expansion
While the initial phase focuses on encyclopedias and dictionaries, the E&D Alexandria Project envisions expanding into:
Patent archives
Scientific treatises
First editions of philosophical works
Early medical texts
Field guides, maps, and atlases
Legal codes and historical governmental records
Early artistic works and engravings
Over time, this project could become the digital Alexandria — a truly permanent, distributed, publicly accessible record of humanity’s intellectual and creative output.
Why Now?
AI, censorship, and digital revisionism make it urgent to secure fixed, unchangeable copies.
Global conflicts threaten vulnerable cultural archives.
Technology has advanced to make full-fidelity preservation feasible at reasonable cost.
Once complete, the archive is permanent and immune to future loss.
“The burning of Alexandria must never happen again.”
Contact
The E&D Alexandria Project is seeking founding partners, technical collaborators, institutional hosts, and visionary funders to launch Phase 1.
PEACH COMMUNITY 