The Christian Faith,
and by Divine Aid to carry the Name of Our Lord Jesus Christ, forgotten
among so vast multitudes, to those blinded nations, among whom the harvest
is indeed so great, and the labourers so few.
"But lest the inexperienced Reader should regard as beyond belief the many
strange and unheard of things that are related in sundry passages of this
Book, let all know MESSER MARCO POLO, the narrator of these marvels, to be
a most respectable, veracious, and devout person, of most honourable
character, and receiving such good testimony from all his acquaintance,
that his many virtues claim entire belief for that which he relates. His
Father, Messer Nicolo, a man of the highest respectability, used to relate
all these things in the same manner. And his uncle, Messer Maffeo, who is
spoken of in the Book, a man of ripe wisdom and piety, in familiar
conversation with his Confessor when on his death-bed, maintained
unflinchingly that the whole of the contents of this Book were true.
"Wherefore I have, with a safer conscience, undertaken the labour of this
Translation, for the entertainment of my Readers, and to the praise of Our
Lord Jesus Christ, the Creator of all things visible and invisible."
APPENDIX F. - Note of MSS. of Marco Polo so far as they are known.
GENERAL DISTRIBUTION OF MSS.
Latin French Italian German Irish Total
GREAT BRITAIN
and IRELAND . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Cambridge 3 ... ... ... ...
Dublin 1 ... ... ... ...
Lismore Castle ... ... ... ... 1
Glasgow 2 ... ... ... ...
London 4 2 1 ... ...
Oxford 1 1 ... ... ...
FRANCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Paris 4 7 1 ... ...
LUXEMBOURG . . 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
BELGIUM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Brussels ... 1 ... ... ...
ITALY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Venice 4 ... 2 ... ...
Ferrara ... ... 1 ... ...
Milan 1 ... ... ... ...
Modena 1 ... ... ... ...
Florence 1 ... 8 ... ...
Lucca .... ... 1 ... ...
Siena ... ... 1 ... ...
Rome 4 1 4 ... ...
SPAIN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Escurial 1 ... ... ... ...
Toledo 1 ... 1 ... ...
SWITZERLAND . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Bern ... 1 1 ... ...
Vevey ... 1 ... ... ...
GERMANY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Munich 4 ... ... 4 ...
Wolfenbuettel 2 ... ... ... ...
Berlin 1 ... ... 1 ...
Wuerzburg 1 ... ... ... ...
Giessen 1 ... ... ... ...
Jena 1 ... ... ... ...
Mentz 1 ... ... ... ...
AUSTRIA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Prague 1 ... ... ... ...
Vienna ... ... ... 1 ...
SWEDEN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Stockholm ... 2 ... ... ...
41 16 21 6 1 85
I add Lists of the Miniatures in two of the finer MSS. as noted from
examination.
LIST OF MINIATURES IN THE GREAT VOLUME OF THE FRENCH NATIONAL LIBRARY,
COMMONLY KNOWN AS 'LE LIVRE DES MERVEILLES' (Fr. 2810) WHICH BELONG TO THE
BOOK OF MARCO POLO.
1. Frontispiece. "Comment les deux freres se partirent de Constantinople
pour cherchier du monde."
2. Conversation with the Ambassadors at Bokhara (fol. 2).
3. The Brothers before the G. Kaan (f. 2 v.).
4. The Kaan giving them Letters (f. 3).
5. " " " " a Golden Tablet (f. 3 v.).
6. The Second Departure from Venice (f. 4).
7.
