Marco Polo

Marco Polo (September 15, 1254 - January 9, 1324) was a Venetian merchant traveler whose travels are recorded in Il Milione ("The Millions", now known as "The Travels of Marco Polo"), a book which did much to introduce Europeans to Central Asia and China. He learned about trading whilst his father and uncle, Niccolo and Maffeo, travelled through Asia and apparently met Kublai Khan. In 1269, they returned to Venice to meet Marco for the first time. The three of them embarked on an epic journey to Asia, returning after 24 years to find Venice at war with Genoa; Marco was imprisoned, and dictated his stories to a cellmate. He was released in 1299, became a wealthy merchant, married and had three children. He died in 1324, and was buried in San Lorenzo.

Title: The Story of Marco Polo. Being extracts compiled and edited by N. Brooks.] With illustrations.Publisher: British Library, Historical Print EditionsThe British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. It is one of the world's largest research libraries holding over 150 million items in all known languages and formats: books, journals, newspapers, sound recordings, patents, maps, stamps, prints and much more. Its collections include around 14 million books, along with substantial additional collections of manuscripts and historical items dating back as far as 300 BC.The FICTION & PROSE LITERATURE collection includes books from the British Library digitised by Microsoft. The collection provides readers with a perspective of the world from some of the 18th and 19th century's most talented writers. Written for a range of audiences, these works are a treasure for any curious reader looking to see the world through the eyes of ages past. Beyond the main body of works the collection also includes song-books, comedy, and works of satire. ++++The below data was compiled from various identification fields in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as an additional tool in helping to insure edition identification: ++++ British Library Polo, Marco; Brooks, Noah; 1898. xiv. 247 p.; 8 . T 4824

El Mill n, conocido en castellano como Los viajes de Marco Polo o Libro de las Maravillas, fue escrito en prisi n, dictado por su autor Marco Polo a un compa ero de c rcel. Despu s de muchos a os viviendo en Asia, Marco hab a regresado a Venecia ya con 41 a os de edad, y comandaba una galera veneciana el d a en que se libr , ante los muros de Korcula, una batalla naval contra la gran rival de Venecia, la Rep blica de G nova, en 1298. Los genoveses apresaron a Marco Polo, lo llevaron a G nova y all , en la prisi n, Polo dict a un tal Rustichello de Pisa las memorias de su viaje fabuloso hasta Catai (China) y el regreso por Malaca, Ceil n, la India y Persia. Rustichello redact en un dialecto franco-v neto el libro conocido como Il Milione (El mill n o Los viajes de Marco Polo) acerca de sus viajes. El libro se llam originalmente Divisament du monde ("Descripci n del mundo"), pero se populariz como Libro de las maravillas del mundo y, m s tarde, como Il Milione. El libro se convirti de inmediato en un xito.

"The Travels of Marco Polo" is unquestionably one of the world's greatest travel books and the memoir of the West's most famous traveler. Composed in 1298, the book describes Marco Polo's travels across the entire continent of Asia and provides the only comprehensive travelogue of a European traveler in the East in the Middle Ages. In a magisterial geographical sweep, "The Travels of Marco Polo" traces Polo's epic journey to the farthest reaches of Asia. Polo guides his readers through a realm of pygmies, exotic plants and beasts, fine silks, spices, legends, ornate palaces and cannibalism. His exuberant and sometimes hyperbolic style had untold impact on the European imagination.