Medieval France
(1254–1324). Italian-born author of the Devisement du monde, a Franco-Italian prose description of his voyages to the East, which included Persia, Armenia, Turkestan, China, Indochina, India, and the Middle East. Between 1270 and 1295, Marco followed the lead of his father and uncle, who in the 1260s had journeyed as far as the court of Kublai Khan on the border of Cathay. The first westerner to traverse the whole of Asia, he spent much time at the court of Kublai and in his service as ambassador. The Devisement, essentially a travel account based on personal observations, is nevertheless filled with fabulous descriptions and legends garnered on his voyages. Marco aimed to instruct and entertain an aristocratic audience, which explains why his work has been given little credence by scholars. However, it can still be profitably consulted for its geographical descriptions, and more especially for its accounts of oriental religions and politics.
William W.Kibler
[See also: MANDEVILLE, JEAN DE; OUTREMEUSE, JEAN D’]
Marco Polo. Le devisement du monde, Le livre des merveilles, ed.
A.-C.Moule and Paul Pelliot, trans. Louis Hambis. 2 vols. Paris: Maspero, 1980.
——. Il Milione, prima edizione integrale, ed. Luigi Foscolo Benedetto. Florence: Olschki, 1928.
Hérisson, Jean-Luc. Le devisement du monde. Paris: Flammarion, 1990.
Olschki, Leo. Marco Polo’s Asia: An Introduction to His “Description of the World” Called “Il Milione.” Berkeley: University of California Press, 1960.
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