Asia.- Polo (Marco) In cui si tratta le meravigliose cose del mondo per lui vedute, collation: A-G⁸, woodcut device to title, a few minor marginal brown crayon markings, some light marginal staining, modern vellum, yapp edges, preserved in fleece-lined blue calf drop-back box, box a little scratched, 8vo (149 x 96mm.), Venice, [Matteo Pagano], [1555].

⁂ Rare edition of Marco Polo's great travel account, one of surprisingly few early versions published in his native tongue and in his native city. Marco Polo's book is undoubtedly the single greatest travel account of the medieval world. Its descriptions governed the majority of the Western world's perceptions of the Middle East and Asia until quite modern times.

Marco Polo (c.1254-1324) joined his father and uncle on a journey to China, travelling along the Silk Road and reaching the court of Kublai Khan c.1274. The Polos remained in China for about 17 years, and the Mongol emperor sent Marco on several fact-finding missions to distant lands. Marco may also have governed the city of Yangzhou (1282-87). The Polos returned to Venice in 1295 after sailing from eastern China to Persia and then journeying overland through Turkey. Captured by the Genoese soon after his return, Marco Polo was imprisoned along with a writer, Rusticiano (or Rustichello) da Pisa, to whom he dictated the story of his travels, describing places he had visited and heard of and recounting the local customs. He covers much of Asia, including the Arab world, Persia, Japan, Sumatra, and the Andaman Islands, and also East Africa as far south as Zanzibar. He describes paper currency, asbestos, coal, and other phenomena virtually unknown in Europe as well as the precious stones of Asia. "The travels of Marco Polo in the East claim a place in an American collection in consequence of the remarks of distinguished geographers that they were perused by Columbus, and that the revelations made by him of the wonders of Cathay and Zipanga stimulated the great navigator to accomplish through the sea, what the Venetian traveller had by land" (Sabin).

This is one of two issues or editions printed by Matteo Pagano, this containing the imprint with date in the colophon: 'In Venetia per Matthio Pagan, in Frezaria, al segno della Fede, 1555'. This is the fifth edition in the Italian (Venetian) vernacular, preceding editions appeared 1496, 1500, 1508 and 1533. All these editions, including the present and the undated edition by Matteo Pagano, are extremely rare, each surviving in only a few copies and seldom appearing on the antiquarian market. According to Worldcat, there are only 8 copies of this edition in European and American Public Libraries.

Literature: Adams P1792; Sabin 44498; Cordier, Bibliotheca Sinica, online, Second edition, vol. III, col. 1970; Yule-Cordier, 18; PMM 39. EDIT 16 CNCE 66667.