Library Research Guides: History 161: World History 1 (Marco Polo): Home

Introduction

History 161: Library Research Guide

"Marco Polo's Caravan from the Catalan Atlas, 1375." Abraham Cresques, Atlas catalan, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Travels of Marco Polo

Description:

"Books of the Marvels of the World" or "Description of the World" (Divisament dou monde), also nicknamed "Il Milione" ("The Million") or "Oriente Poliano", but commonly called "The Travels of Marco Polo", is a 13th-century travelogue written down by Rustichello da Pisa from stories told by Marco Polo, describing the travels of the latter through Asia, Persia, China, and Indonesia between 1271 and 1291. It's been a very famous and popular book since the 14th century, creating the image of Marco Polo as the icon of the bold traveler. Presenting Marco Polo as an important figure at the court of the Mongol leader Kublai Khan, the book was written in Old French by Rustichello da Pisa, a romance author of the time, who was reportedly working from accounts which he had heard from Marco Polo when they were imprisoned in Genoa, having been captured while on a ship. Description from Librivox Audiobook link below.

eBooks from Project Gutenberg

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The Book of Ser Marco Polo, the Venetian, Concerning the Kingdoms and Marvels of the East, Volumes 1 & 2

Selected Books available at the GWC Library

Reference Books:

Located on the 2nd Floor of LRC, these books stay in the library.

Atlas of Exploration by Gary B. Nash
Call Number: REFERENCE - 2nd Floor G1036.S12 R6 1997
ISBN: 9780195213539
Publication Date: 1997
Covering more than three thousand years, an authoritative, visually stunning reference to the history of exploration contains more than one hundred specially drawn maps, three hundred photographs, and biographical details about the explorers.
Encyclopedia of World History by Ackermann, Marsha E. (Editor)
Call Number: REFERENCE - 2nd Floor D21 .E5775 2008, Vol. 1-7
ISBN: 9780816063864
Publication Date: 2008
Alphabetically arranged entries explore the significant events, figures, and themes in world history.

eBooks:

Click "PDF Full-text" to view the contents of the ebook.
Most are 1 view at a time - if you get a message that the title is "in use," retry the link later.
"Unlimited Views" means that multiple students may access and view the title at the same time.

Daily Life Through World History in Primary Documents by Morris, Lawrence (Editor)
Call Number: eBook (click to access)
ISBN: 9780313338984
Publication Date: 2009
V.2. The Middle Ages and Renaissance / Lawrence Morris, volume editor. Part I. Historical overview. The early middle ages (410-1066) -- The later middle ages (c. 1066-1492) -- The Renaissance and early modern era (1492-1660) -- Part II. Domestic life. Life cycles -- Women's roles -- Children -- Part III. Economic life. Urban life -- Rural life -- Trade and monetary systems -- Slavery -- Part IV. Intellectual life. Education -- Science and medicine -- Language and literature -- Part V. Material life. Food and drink -- Housing and furniture -- Clothing and personal appearance -- Part VI. Political life. Government and hierarchy -- Legal systems -- Warfare -- Part VII. Recreational life. Games and sports -- Performing arts -- Visual arts -- Part VIII. Religious life. Deities and doctrines -- Priests and rituals -- Death and the afterlife.
The Silk Road in World History by Xinru Liu
Call Number: eBook (click to access)
ISBN: 9780199713721
Publication Date: 2010
Using supply and demand as the framework for analyzing the formation and development of the Silk Road, the book examines the dynamics of the interactions of the nomadic pastoralists with sedentary agriculturalists, and the spread of new ideas, religions, and values into the world of commerce, thus illustrating the cultural forces underlying material transactions. This effort at tracing the interconnections of the diverse participants in the transcontinental Silk Road exchange will demonstrate that the world had been linked through economic and ideological forces long before the modern era"--Provided by publisher.
** 2 simultaneous copies available to view **
The Travels of Marco Polo by L. F. Benedetto
Call Number: eBook (click to access)
ISBN: 9780415344876
Publication Date: 2004
First published in 1931. None of the manuscripts which have come down to us represent the original form of Marco Polo's narrative, but it is clear that certain texts are closer to the lost original than others. Entrusted with the task of preparing a new Italian edition of Marco Polo, Benedetto discovered many unknown manuscripts. He carefully edited the most famous of the manuscripts (the Geographic text) and collated it with the other best known ones.

General Collection Books:

These books are located on the 3rd floor of the LRC and are available to check out for 3 weeks at a time. Show your GWC Student ID at the Public Services Desk (2nd Floor) to take them out of the library.

In the Footsteps of Marco Polo by Denis Belliveau; Francis O'Donnell
Call Number: General Collection - 3rd Floor DS10 .B38 2008
ISBN: 9780742556843
Publication Date: 2008
Recounts the authors' journey along Marco Polo's route from Venice through Central Asia, Afghanistan, and China over the course of two years, using only ground and sea travel, with over two hundred color photographs.
The Travels of Marco Polo, the Venetian by Marco Polo; Peter Harris (Editor); Colin Thubron (Introduction by); William Marsden (Translator)
Call Number: General Collection - 3rd Floor G370 .P72 2008
ISBN: 9780307269133
Publication Date: 2008
This extraordinary travelogue has enthralled readers for more than seven centuries. Marco Polo's vivid descriptions of the splendid cities and people he encountered on his journey along the Silk Road through the Middle East, South Asia, and China opened a window for his Western readers onto the fascinations of the East and continued to grow in popularity over the succeeding centuries. To a contemporary audience, his colorful stories--and above all, his breathtaking description of the court of the great Kublai Khan, Mongol emperor of China--offer dazzling portraits of worlds long gone.

This is **NOT** the same recommended reading title. See the box "History 161 Textbook / Reserves" on this page.

The Atlas of Medieval Man by Colin Platt
Call Number: General Collection - 3rd Floor CB351 .P55 1980
ISBN: 9780312059934
Publication Date: 1980
What was happening in the Americas when the Sung dynasty was at its height in China? What was being built in India when the great cathedrals were rising in France? What were the conflicts of the West when Genghis Khan and the Mongols were sweeping the East? What point of Progress had been reached in Africa when the Renaissance was first flowing in Italy?
By Steppe, Desert, and Ocean: The birth of Eurasia by Barry Cunliffe
Call Number: General Collection - 3rd Floor DS328.2 .C87 2015
ISBN: 9780199689170
Publication Date: 2015
By Steppe, Desert, and Ocean is nothing less than the story of how humans first started building the globalized world we know today. Set on a huge continental stage, from Europe to China, it is a tale covering over 10,000 years, from the origins of farming around 9000 BC to the expansion of the Mongols in the thirteenth century AD. An unashamedly 'big history', it charts the development of European, Near Eastern, and Chinese civilizations and the growing links between them by way of the Indian Ocean, the silk Roads, and the great steppe corridor (which crucially allowed horse riders to travel from Mongolia to the Great Hungarian Plain within a year). Along the way, it is also the story of the rise and fall of empires, the development of maritime trade, and the shattering impact of predatory nomads on their urban neighbors.
Chan's Great Continent: China in Western Minds by Jonathan D. Spence
Call Number: General Collection - 3rd Floor DS706 .S62 1998
ISBN: 9780393319897
Publication Date: 1998
Jonathan Spence, our foremost historian of Chinese politics and culture, tells us in his new book how the West has understood China over seven centuries. Ranging from Marco Polo's own depiction of China and the mighty Khan, Kublai, in the 1270s to the China sightings of three twentieth-century writers of acknowledged genius - Kafka, Borges, and Calvino - Spence explores Western thought on China through a remarkable array of expression.

eBooks from the GWC Library

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Most titles are different than our print collection. They may be accessed 24/7.

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Find information: Library Databases

Search article databases to find scholarly articles:

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This comprehensive scholarly and multi-disciplinary full-text database includes more than 8,500 full-text periodicals, including more than 7,300 peer-reviewed journals.
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Video: Scholarly and Popular Sources

Find Information: Websites

Abeydeera, A. "The Travels of Marco Polo in the Land of Buddism" Silk Roads Programme, UNESCO
Full-text article description: Marco Polo’s expedition to the east between 1271 and 1295 was written up on his return in his book The Travels of Marco Polo. It was looked upon as being a collection of fables as much as facts, but did much to shape European perceptions of Asia. His accounts of Buddhism in Sri Lanka are particularly interesting for religious and cultural history, both in what he found to be note-worthy, and in what he omitted. He was clearly fascinated by Buddhism and the life of the Buddha, and described certain religious rites in detail.
Imagining Medieval Narrative: The Travels of Marco Polo
In order to facilitate and enrich your experience of Polo’s voyage, this site provides abbreviated samplings of his descriptions of individual places in French and English alongside the original Franco-Italian text. It is their hope that these maps will help to provide an immersive environment where students, instructors, and arm-chair travellers can navigate in order to visualize. From Vanderbilt University's Department of French and Italian.
The Mongols in World History, Timeline Period: 1000-1500 CE
This website, published by Columbia University's Asia for Educators, contains public domain information on Mongol history. There are pages on key figures in this history, including Marco Polo and Khubilai Khan.
Silk Roads Programme: UNESCO
Since 1988, UNESCO has sought to better understand the rich history and shared legacy of the historic Silk Roads, and the ways in which cultures have mutually influenced each other. In light of the enduring legacy of the Silk Roads in connecting civilizations throughout history, the UNESCO Silk Roads Programme revives and extends these historic networks in a digital space, bringing people together in an ongoing dialogue and fostering a mutual understanding of the diverse and often inter-related cultures that have sprung up around these routes.
"Travelers on the Silk Road" from the Silk Road Foundation
The primary goal of The Silkroad Foundation is to establish and maintain vital links to the Silk Road communities here in the United States and abroad in order to educate and inform people about the latest Inner Asia and Silk Road research and discoveries.
more...less...
To access the specific article referenced above, click on 'Studies' from the left menu, then 'Travelers.'

History 161: World History 1 (Marco Polo)

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Library Hours: Spring 2025

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Mon - Thurs: 8 am - 5 pm

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History 161 Textbook / Reserves

One of the books on reserve: