Ramusio, An
Early Editor Of Voyages And Travels, Published These Travels In An Italian
Translation From The Latin, Which He
Erroneously supposed to have been the
original dictation of Marco to Rustigielo; and many other editions have
been published in
The various languages of Europe, but all from one or
other of these corrupted transcripts or translations.
A manuscript of the travels of Marco polo, in the Venetian dialect, was
long preserved by the Soranza family at Venice, but whether this now
exists, or has ever been published, is unknown. Mr Pinkerton informs us
[3], that a genuine edition of these travels, probably from the original
MS. either of Marco himself, after his return from Genoa, or from that of
his amanuensis Rustigielo, was published at Trevigi in 1590, in the dialect
of Venice, which has hitherto escaped the attention of all editors and
commentators. This curious publication is often worded in the names of all
the three travellers, father, uncle, and son; but when the peculiar travels
of Marco are indicated, his name only is employed. In the former case, the
language runs thus, "We, Nicolo, Maffei, and Marco, have heard, seen, and
know, &c.:" In the latter, "I Marco was in that place, and saw, &c." In
this Venetian edition, the names of places and persons are often widely
different from those in the other editions, and probably more genuine and
correct. But that publication being at present inaccessible, we are under
the necessity of being contented with the edition of Harris, in which he
professes to have carefully collated the edition of Ramusio with most of
the other translations, and with an original MS. in the royal library of
Prussia. This latter labour, however, he seems to have taken entirely upon
trust from Muller, a German editor and translator, probably through the
intermediation of Bergeron, an early French editor of voyages and travels.
The only freedom which has been assumed in the present edition is, by
dividing it into sections for more ready consultation and reference, and by
the addition of explanatory notes from various sources.
Marco Polo is the chief of all the early modern discoverers; having been
the first who communicated to Europe any distinct ideas of the immense
regions of Asia, from the Euxine eastwards, through the vast extent of
Tartary to China and Japan; and the very first author who has made any
mention of that distant insular sovereignty. Even Columbus is supposed,
with some considerable probability, to have been prompted to his
enterprize, which ended in the discovery of America, by the study of these
travels; believing, that by a western course through the unexplored
Atlantic, he should find a comparatively short passage to those eastern
regions of the Indies, which Polo had visited, described, or indicated. In
this view he was, however, so far misled in his estimation of the distance,
by the erroneously spread-out longitudes of Ptolomy, bringing these regions
much farther towards the east, and consequently nearer by the west, than
their actual situation; and was stopped in his western course, by the
important and unexpected discovery of many islands, and a vast interposed
continent; which, from preconceived theory, he named the West Indies.
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