For a shared history of vernacular cosmopolitanism through the salvage of endangered archives: the VERNACOSM project and the enhancement of the fonds of Cairo and Alexandria Consulates (1864-1937)

!is article aims at showcasing the scienti$c contents and archival technical objectives of the PRIN (Research Project of National Interest) 2022 project VERNACOSM, acronym for “Vernacular Cosmopolitanism: History and Archives of Italian Subalterns in Colonial Egypt (1864-1937)”, a two-year research project conducted by the University of Bologna and the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia and funded by the Italian Ministry of Research trough the EU Next Generation scheme. !e project revolves around the retrieval and enhancement of the archives of the post-unitary Italian Consulates of Alexandria of Egypt and Cairo, as key sources for a subaltern history of the Italian colony of Egypt as well as a contribution to a broad revision of the conventional elitism of most historiography of the Egyptian cosmopolitan period. After an initial elaboration on the importance of this collection for the study of an entangled Egyptian-Italian history bringing together Italian migratory politics and Egyptian nation and state building, the article will deal with the project’s archival preservation and dissemination objectives, particularly with the scope and importance of source digitization. Lastly, it will elaborate on the contemporary relevance of restoring and publicly disseminating the shared knowledge of such an everyday history of Mediterranean cosmopolitanism in between Italy and Egypt.