Marco Polos Book

Marco Polo and his book may seem to have been well served by scholars, yet the majority have been concerned to write about his travels in Asia, what he did or did not see, and how useful he is as a source on the East. John Critchleys subject, on the other hand, is the text of Polos book itself and the political and ideological context - the crusades, the Mongol missions, the French presence in Italy - in which it was put together by its author(s), and read by its audience. The homogeneity of the original Franco-Italian text and the accepted relationship between this text and the Latin recensions is tested by computer analysis. An examination of vocabulary and other textual features draws out the different attitudes and contributions of Polo himself and his various editors and translators. Critchleys book will be of interest not only to those concerned with the history of later medieval Europe but also to specialists in medieval Asia, who will find it useful to know about the background and composition of so famous and frequently cited a work. On pourrait penser que Marco Polo et son livre ont t amplement dbattus par les spcialistes en la matire, cependant la majorit a surtout crit propos de ses voyages en Asie, ce quil avait ou navait pas vu et sur son utilit en tant que source de rfrences sur lOrient. Le sujet trait par John Critchley par contre, est le texte mme du livre de Polo, ainsi que le contexte politique et ideologique - les croisades, les missions mongoles, la prsence franaise en Italie - dans lequel il a t compos par son ou ses auteurs et dans lequel ses lecteurs ont pu le lire. Lhomogenet du texte franco-italien dorigine et le rapport accept entre celui-ci et les rvisions latines ont t analyss par ordinateur. Un examen du vocabulaire et dautres caractristiques littraires fait transparatre les diffrences dattitudes et de contributions entre Polo