The following Regex-Function will add 47 to any number between <sup> and </sup>. You can then use normal Regex to make any other changes that you desire.
In the Find box put "<sup>(\d+)</sup>" without the quotes.
In the Function box put "Add numbers" again without the quotes.
The code required for "Add numbers" is as follows:
Code:
import regex
from calibre import replace_entities
from calibre import prepare_string_for_xml
def replace(match, number, file_name, metadata, dictionaries, data, functions, *args, **kwargs):
return ('<sup>' + str(47 + int(match.group(1))) + '</sup>')
Also, it should be noted that 72 is not too old to learn new things.