The Travels of Marco Polo

The Travels Of Marco Polo

Books of the Marvels of the World (French: Livres des merveilles du monde) or Description of the World (Divisament dou monde), in Italian Il Milione ("The Million") or Oriente Poliano and in English commonly called The Travels of Marco Polo, is a 13th-century travelogue written down by Rustichello da Pisa from stories told by Marco Polo, describing the travels of the latter through Asia, Persia, China, and Indonesia between 1271 and 1291.

It was a very famous and popular book, even in the 14th century. The text claims that Marco Polo became an important figure at the court of the Mongol leader Kublai Khan. However, modern scholars debate how much of the account is accurate and some have questioned whether or not Marco Polo ever actually traveled to the court or was just repeating stories that he had heard from other travellers. The book was written in Old French by Rustichello da Pisa, a romance author of the time, who was reportedly working from accounts which he had heard from Marco Polo when they were imprisoned in Genoa having been captured while on a ship. A 1937 book titled "The History of the United States", by Willam B Guitteau, offers the following claim, "Returning home at last, Marco Polo subsequently became a political prisoner in Genoa; and to while away the time wrote the story of his travels. This book was first printed in 1477; it was read critically by Christopher Columbus and a copy with marginal notes by the great navigator may still be seen in the Columbian Library at Seville."

Read more about The Travels Of Marco PoloHistory, Contents, Legacy, Subsequent Versions, Other Travelers

Famous quotes containing the word travels:

    It is only for a little while, only occasionally, methinks, that we want a garden. Surely a good man need not be at the labor to level a hill for the sake of a prospect, or raise fruits and flowers, and construct floating islands, for the sake of a paradise. He enjoys better prospects than lie behind any hill. Where an angel travels it will be paradise all the way, but where Satan travels it will be burning marl and cinders.
    Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)