These crafts of the book are very diverse, especially in Mediterranean countries where the tradition of manuscript production, for lack of printing, was prolonged and developed to allow a level of perfection never achieved elsewhere.

The ambition of Manumed is thus to locate these last craftsmen who work in the art of book and manuscript, to raise awareness of their work, to support their art and to preserve these ancient techniques that are being lost little by little. This effort to identifying artisans of the book and the manuscript in the Mediterranean region has never been done before; given the small number of craftsmen, it must proceed quickly to locate and document, and thus preserve, these professions and these techniques.

To give visibility to these craftsmen, the project Manumed plans to create radio and video reports on these trades in distress. Beyond the media coverage of these rare professions, Manumed will launch a certification of the best of these artisans: "Craftsmen of the Book - Living Treasures of the Mediterranean".