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Introduction The Book Marco's World The Crusades The Mongols The Merchants of Venice The Travels Kublai Khan The Voyage Home Man of a Million Lies? Timeline Bibliography A Note on Religion A Note on the Texts Map of Marco's Journey Links |
The Book of Marco Polo Marco Polo's fame today derives from a book about his travels, told to and written by a writer from Pisa named Rustichello. The book is not so much a diary of his travels as it is a book of observations about his journey, a gazetteer of all that he saw. In Marco's day, the book was translated and copied by hand into several languages. Christopher Columbus often consulted a copy during his own voyages. It has been published many times, in many countries, and under many names. It has been called The Book of Travels, The Travels of Marco Polo, The Book of Ser Marco Polo, A Description of the World, and even, Il Milione. This last was a nick-name given to Marco by critics of his million stories. Some eminent historians still refute his claims to have travelled through China, though Chinese historians have found obscure names and facts in his account that could only have been known to someone intimate with the land. Casting further doubt upon his stories, Marco's ghost writer, Rustichello, a favourite of the English monarchy at the time, was renowned for his works of fiction, fables and romantic tales of the legendary King Arthur. A traveller and a writer of fiction, it is little wonder that few believed Marco's wild stories. And yet on his death bed, when asked to confess his lies and tell the truth, Marco is said to have replied, "I have not told half of what I saw." |