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Composition of The Travels of Marco Polo

Type Event Region Europe Time 1298–1299

Around 1298–1299, while imprisoned in Genoa, Marco Polo dictated his Eastern experiences to Rustichello of Pisa, who compiled them as the Description…

Timeline

  1. 1298–1299Genoa · LiguriaMarco Polo dictated to Rustichello his accounts of serving in Kublai Khan's court, traveling throughout China, and his journeys to and fro. Rustichello arranged them in the chivalric romance style then popular, forming the initial manuscript.
  2. 1299–1300Genoa · LiguriaThe Description of the World was finalized around the time of his release and circulated in multiple transcribed copies in Venice, Genoa, and elsewhere. Its descriptions of Yuan administration, cities, products, and customs profoundly reshaped European perceptions of East Asia.

Sources