Being a Description, by that Early Traveller, of Remarkable Places and Things, in the Eastern Parts of the World.

By Polo, Marco — Marsden, William, translator.

London: Printed for the Author by Cox and Baylis. Sold by Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1818. First Edition. Translated from the Italian with notes by William Marsden. Quarto –large 4to – 31.7 cm. , half-title, title, (lxxx), 781 [incl. Index], [1] errata, [1] advertisement. Fold-out engraved map. 19th Century smooth calf, re-backed in the 20th century with the original back-strip and label laid down, double gilt fillet border on covers, raised bands, spine in heavily gilt compartments with many bright gilt decorative stamps, marbled page edges and endpapers, hinges neatly reinforced with cloth – most likely done at the time of re-backing. Lovely ornate bookplate of Charles Benjamin Caldwell, New Grange, County Meathe. Interior is remarkably clean, text very fresh, binding solid and strong with custom slipcase. The First Printing of the First complete edition in English. Rare.—Cox I, 321; Lowndes III, 1907.

In the closing years of the13th century, Marco Polo (125401324) dictated this famous account of his travels to a fellow inmate in a Genoese prison, having been captured in a naval skirmish between Genoa and Venice, Polo’s hometown. His descriptions of the marvels of China were frequently dismissed as fables by his contemporaries, but they proved to contain much genuine information about the Far East, including first mention of the island of Japan.

Polo had set out in 1271 at the age of 17 in the company of his father and uncle, already veteran travellers, and was not to return to Venice for 24 years. After an arduous journey, the men reach Beijing, then the capital of Mongol ruler Kublai Khan. Marco Polo loved the city and the land, describing as marvels the use of paper money and the efficient postal system. He was sent on missions by the khan to India and Burma, as well as to parts of China. Replete with adventure, his account provides a fascinating and colorful picture of the Orient in Medieval times.

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