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Stanford University Press; Humphrey Milford: Oxford University Press, Published 1942. Hardcover, xiv, 284 pp.; 26 cm; illustrated with a folded facsimile frontispiece of the will of Marco Polo, black-and-white photographic plates, reproductions of medieval manuscript illuminations, Renaissance maps including the Ruysch world map of 1508, and a photograph of the Calle del Millione, Venice from the author's collection; designed by Arthur Lites.
In Very Good condition, no dust jacket. Brick red cloth covered boards with blue lettering and decorative blue panel along front edge; front cover with blue inset panel reading "Marco Polo" over a sailing ship illustration; mild scuffing and shelf wear to covers with a hint of color loss along edges; binding tight. Previous owner's name and date (2/20/1942) in pencil on front free endpaper; pages mildly toned but otherwise unmarked. Rear pastedown bears the original bookseller's ticket of Paul Elder & Co., San Francisco.Hart's full-length biographical study of Marco Polo, presenting the entire life of the Venetian traveler in relation to his times and his book, as distinguished from the outlines and sketches found in prefaces and introductions to the various editions of the text of The Description of the World. The author draws upon documents and manuscripts of the Polo text unearthed since Sir Henry Yule's earlier scholarly essay, incorporating findings from explorations in Europe and Asia to present the story of Messer Marco in the light of modern scholarship. Includes bibliography and index.