That is the way to get started, just start.
I have (**somewhere**) Sargon, both the manual and the source.
Also, I am pretty sure I have seen an x86 emulator (for ARM) that can run PC-DOS (well, FreeDOS).
Just if you want to run the original binaries on the Kindle.
Small audience?
You can't get much smaller than the "Mainframe in a zipper case" thread (system-s (360, 370, 390) emulator for the Kindles).
I think there have been about 10 downloads of that in four years.

And that is probably just WebBots that are lost.