February 2012, 456 pages
A fascinating plunge into the exotic universe of the Asia of the great
Khans presented by Marco Polo in his THE DESCRIPTION OF THE WORLD, the work
that strongly influenced the West’s knowledge and perception of the world opening
up to the East.
We know
very little about Marco Polo, but his book, THE DESCRIPTION OF THE WORLD,
reveals how a simple Venitian merchant transformed himself into an explorer.
Most important, this text was the determining element that shaped the West’s knowledge
of Asia at the time.
Pierre
Racine, the great specialist of the 13th century, has taken on the ambitious
task of deciphering this text that first appeared in 1298. Attributed to Marco
Polo, it was actually the fruit of a collaborative effort with a man named
Rustichello. THE DESCRIPTION, also entitled IL MILIONE OR THE BOOK OF WONDERS,
told the story of Marco Polo’s voyages with his father and his uncle to Asia,
where he stayed for seventeen years. The highlight of these oriental adventures
was his entry into the court of the great Kubla Khan and his role as ambassador
from the Asian potentate to Pope Gregory X.
Basing his
interpretations on the original text as well as all of the versions,
translations, writings and commentaries it inspired, Pierre Racine
distinguishes between the wonder of the traveller at the discovery of an exotic
and unknown world and the places and events he chose to enrich this great
descriptive panorama. In conclusion, Racine
Pierre
Racine is a professor emeritus of medieval history at the Université Marc-Bloch
of Strasbourg
