Marco Polo - Laurence Bergreen [213]
By way of illustrating the similarity to Marco’s account, it is worth quoting the opening of Rustichello’s earlier work, Meliadus: “Lords, emperors and princes, dukes and counts, barons and knights and vavasours [feudal tenants who ranked just below barons] and townsfolk and all the worldly men of this world who are accustomed to taking pleasure in romances, if you take this book and have it read from end to end, you will hear all the great adventures that befell the knight errants of the time of King Uther Pendragon….”
For another summary of Marco’s long and lively posthumous reputation, see Yule and Cordier, volume 1, page 116 and following. Harry Hart, in his Marco Polo, page 212, traces Ramusio’s account of Marco’s father’s second family, but remains skeptical. Ramusio was prone to error, and may have mistaken other relatives for supposed offspring of Niccolò Polo. It is possible that Niccolò did not actually remarry.
Details of Marco’s return come from Hart’s Marco Polo, page 209, and Marco’s new home is described by Larner in Marco Polo and the Discovery of the World, page 44.
Throughout his account, Marco evinces little curiosity about his father’s earlier experiences among the Mongols, and loses track of him for years on end. Marco never appears to worry about his father’s whereabouts or well-being, or, for that matter, his uncle’s. Nor does he offer details about their trading activities. Marco concerns himself with his own experiences; it is as though his father and uncle exist for the sole purpose of transporting him to China and bringing him to Kublai Khan; thereafter, they cease to play an active role in his life.
Ramusio’s remarks about Marco’s reassuring gestures of filial piety are quoted in Hart, Marco Polo, page 215. Hart also discusses the Venetian mint (page 179).
Regarding the presentation copy given to Monseigneur Thiebault, Hart (page 219) suggests that the flattery of Charles of Valois contained in the inscription casts doubt on the document’s authenticity. Nevertheless, the inscription demonstrates that Marco’s work was held in high regard by important people.
Giuseppi Castellani notes that Marco’s will referred to two kinds of coins, lire consisting of Venetian dinars and lire of Venetian dinar grossi. For further discussion of Venetian coins in the will, see “I valori delle monete espresse nel testamento di Marco Polo,” Rivista mensile della Città di Venezia 3, no. 9 (September 1924): 257–258. It is generally considered to be futile to try to estimate the value of these coins in today’s money.
The original Latin text of the will can be found in The Travels of Marco Polo: The Complete Yule-Cordier Edition, volume 1, beginning on page 70. Concerning the feminine headdress found among Marco’s possessions, see Olschki, Marco Polo’s Asia, pages 104–108. And Hart discusses Marco’s death in Marco Polo, page 230, note.
For more on Marco’s estate and the legal actions undertaken by his heirs, see Rolfo Gallo’s “Nuovi documenti riguardanti Marco Polo e la sua familiglia.” This is a useful survey, but details of these long-ago transactions may not be accurate, or accurately translated. Gallo surmises that on their return from China, Marco and his father and uncle devoted their riches to enlarging their home or buying a new one. Moneta’s will is quoted by Hart in Marco Polo, page 61.
EPILOGUE / The Storyteller
Bonaguisi is quoted by Hart in Marco Polo, page 259; on page 248 Hart mentions Fantina’s legal actions.
Moule and Pelliot discuss the dissemination of Marco Polo’s account in The Description of the World on page 40 of volume 1. For an interesting analysis of its flaws and inconsistencies, see John Critchley, Marco Polo’s Book, especially pages 1–11. Critchley can be rigorous to a fault, but he has a wonderful eye for contradictions and instances of illogic. For a comparison of various early Marco Polo texts, see Moule and Pelliot’s version, The Description of the World, volume 1, beginning on page 499. And for a complete list of early Marco Polo books and manuscripts, see the same