In cui si tratta le meravigliose cose del mondo per lui vedute

Woodcut device to title, collation A-G8, a few marginal markings, modern vellum, yapp edges, preserved in a fleece-lined blue calf box, 8vo (149 x 96mm), Venice, [Matteo Pagano], [1555]

Rare early edition of the travels of Marco Polo, the first rich, vibrant picture of Asia to pervade and inspire the Western world. Its descriptions governed the majority of the Western world’s perceptions of the Middle East and Asia until quite modern times. This copy is one of surprisingly few early versions published in his native tongue.

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) .

‘As a story of adventure, an account of the experiences of one of the greatest travellers who ever lived, the book has remained alive’ (PMM). This milestone of travel writing circulated widely throughout the fourteenth century in manuscript form, captivating readers across Europe: ‘Marco Polo was the first to give anything approaching a correct and detailed account of China and the Far East’ (PMM), and his text was reliable enough to constitute the basis for much of the portolani and maps produced until the seventeenth century – Columbus having been among the notable readers and annotators of this extraordinary account.

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 in commerce. 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. E; Sinica; Western Travellers in China 6]