The Marco Polo of Christopher Columbus
Francesco Pipino’s Latin Version of Il Milione

Project description

When Christopher Columbus embarked on the voyage that eventually brought the New World into the European orbit of perception, he was trying to find a new sea passage to Asia. It is therefore not surprising that Christopher Columbus equipped himself with knowledge about the Far East for his voyage to the Far West. One of the texts that Columbus used extensively was the Latin version of Marco Polo’s Travels. Marco Polo’s Il Milione was the most important source on the Far East during the late medieval and the early modern period, shaping the European image of Asia, as well as the Americas, for centuries to come.

What is most surprising is that such a central source text is not available as anything resembling an edition—let alone a reliable edition or (even less so) a critical edition. The Latin translation that the Dominican friar Francesco Pipino carried out between 1310 and 1322 has been preserved in close to 60 manuscripts, thus outnumbering all other extant Polo manuscripts. No other version of Marco Polo’s account exerted more influence in the late medieval and early modern period than the Latin Pipino translation.

Given this situation, the Marco Polo project, under the direction of Prof. Mario Klarer, will pursue three independent but interrelated goals, all of which focus on Francesco Pipino’s Latin translation in particular, while at the same time mapping out the larger ramifications of the role and position of Pipino within the entire Marco Polo tradition:

  1. The team will use all extant fourteenth-century Pipino Polo manuscripts as the basis for producing an eclectic edition and English translation of the Latin Pipino version.
  2. An intratextual analysis will take into consideration Pipino’s Chronicon, a world history in which the author utilized large sections from Polo’s Travels. Pipino’s twofold use of Polo—for his Milione translation and for parts of his world chronicle—provides a unique case study for late medieval mechanisms of translation and textual appropriation.
  3. A larger intertextual investigation compares the Dominican Pipino translation to all other Latin versions as well as the Franco-Italian version—as the most important vernacular tradition—in order to trace its specific cultural, religious, and political agendas, as well as the legacy of Pipino’s translation in the works of other late medieval authors.

These interconnected editorial and interpretive efforts should provide the long-awaited philological basis for Marco Polo’s Milione in Latin within the context of fourteenth- and fifteenth-century processes of cultural and religious appropriation and dissemination.

Funding organization: Austrian Science Fund (FWF)

Stand-Alone project: P 32723-G – €406,305.49

Project duration: 2022–2025

Principal investigator: Univ.-Prof. Dr. Mario Klarer

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Principal investigator

Univ.-Prof. Dr. Mario Klarer

University Professor (§ 98 UG) of American Literary and Cultural Studies

University of Innsbruck
Department of American Studies
Innrain 52d
6020 Innsbruck
Austria

Humanities building, 3rd floor, room 40317

Office hours: by appointment

Tel: +43 512 507-41604
E-Mail: mario.klarer@uibk.ac.at

ORCID® iD: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0712-9328

Research projects:

Project assistants

Mag. Hubert Alisade

+43 512 507-41616
Hubert.Alisade@uibk.ac.at
40824

Laurin Klocker

+43 512 507-41617
Laurin.Klocker@uibk.ac.at
40822

Francois Lallemang

Francois.Lallemang@student.uibk.ac.at
40822

Johanna Lippacher

Johanna.Lippacher@student.uibk.ac.at
40822

Former project assistants

Jonas Oberparleiter

Mag. Bernadette Rangger

Aaron Tratter

Almyria Wilhelm, BA MA

Research projects of the principal investigator

Manuscript sources and incunable edition

  • Berlin, Staatsbibliothek, Preußischer Kulturbesitz, lat. qu. 70
  • Cambridge, Gonville and Caius College Library, 162/83
  • Cambridge, University Library, Dd.1.17
  • Cambridge, University Library, Dd.8.7
  • Copenhagen, The Royal Danish Library, Acc. 2011/5
  • Firenze, Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale, C.7.1170
  • Glasgow, University Library, Hunter 458 (V.6.8)
  • Göttingen, Niedersächsische Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek, 4° hist. 61
  • Gouda 1483–85
  • Klosterneuburg, Stiftsbibliothek, 722A
  • Kórnik-Zamek, Polska Akademia Nauk Biblioteka Kórnicka, 131
  • London, British Library, Add. 19513
  • London, British Library, Arundel 13
  • London, British Library, Harley 5115
  • London, British Library, Royal 14.C.XIII
  • Lucerne, Zentralbibliothek, KB Msc 5.4
  • Modena, Biblioteca Estense Universitaria, lat. 131
  • Modena, Biblioteca Estense Universitaria, lat. 465
  • Oxford, Merton College, 312
  • Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, lat. 6244A
  • Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, lat. 17800
  • Princeton, University Library, Garrett 157
  • Stockholm, Riksarkivet, Skoklostersamlingen, In folio E 8686 N:o 67

Secondary literature

  • Barbieri, Alvaro. Marco Polo: Milione. Redazione latina del manoscritto Z. Versione italiana a fronte. Parma: Fondazione Pietro Bembo/Ugo Guanda Editore, 1998.
  • Benedetto, Luigi Foscolo. Livre de messire Marco Polo, citoyen de Venise, appelé Milion, où sont décrites les Merveilles du monde. 1: Traduzione critica secondo la carte inedite del lascito di Ernest Giddey a cura di Samuela Simion. Filologie medievali e moderne 12, Serie occidentale 11. Venice: Edizioni Ca' Foscari–Digital Publishing, 2016.
  • Benedetto, Luigi Foscolo. Marco Polo. Il Milione. First full edition. Florence: Leo S. Olschki, 1928.
  • Benedetto, Luigi Foscolo. “Varietà Marcopolitane. Di una pretese redazione latina che Marco Polo avrebbe fatta del suo libro.” Archivio Storico Italiano 88.2 (1930): 207–16.
  • Bosano, Gabriella. “La Questione Poliana.” Italica 20.3 (1943): 105–20.
  • Burgio, Eugenio. “ ‘Milione’ latino, 2. Qualche appunto sull’ipotesto del ‘Liber qui vulgari hominum dicitur El Melione’ (Epitome L).” Or vos conterons d'autre matiere. Ed. Luca Di Sabatino, Luca Gatti, and Paolo Rinoldi. Studi di filologia romanza offerti a Gabriella Ronchi. Rome: Viella, 2017. 69–86.
  • Burgio, Eugenio, ed. Giovanni Battista Ramusio ‘editor’ del ‘Milione.’ Trattamento del testo e manipolazione dei modelli. Roma-Padova: Antenore, 2011.
  • Burgio, Eugenio, and Giuseppe Mascherpa. “ ‘Milione’ latino. Note linguistiche e appunti di storia della tradizione sulle redazioni Z e L.” Plurilinguismo letterario. Ed. Renato Oniga and Sergio Vatteroni. Convegno internazionale, Udine, 9-10 Nov. 2006. Soveria Mannelli: Rubbettino, 2007. 119–58.
  • Casella, Mario. “Il libro di Marco Polo.” Archivio Storico Italiano 87.2 (1929): 193–230.
  • Conklin Akbari, Suzanne, and Amilcare A. Iannucci, eds. Marco Polo and the Encounter of East and West. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2008.
  • Dutschke, Consuelo. Francesco Pipino and the Manuscripts of Marco Polo’s “Travels.” Diss. University of California, Los Angeles, 1993.
  • Gadrat-Ouerfelli, Christine. Lire Marco Polo au Moyen Age: Traduction, diffusion et réception du Devisement du monde. Terrarum Orbis 12. Turnhout: Brepols, 2015.
  • Gaunt, Simon. Marco Polo’s Le Devisement du Monde: Narrative Voice, Language and Diversity. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 2013.
  • Haw, Stephen G. Marco Polo’s China. A Venetian in the Realm of Khubilai Khan. London, New York: Routledge, 2006.
  • Kaeppeli, Thomas. Scriptores Ordinis Praedicatorum Medii Aevi: A-F. Vol. 1. Rome: Ad S. Sabinae, 1970.
  • Kinoshita, Sharon. Marco Polo: The Description of the World. Indianapolis: Hackett Press, 2016.
  • Klarer, Mario. “America Incorporated: Kannibalismus als Utopie im frühen Amerikabild.” Amerikastudien/American Studies 44.3 (1999a): 321–41.
  • Klarer, Mario. “Cannibalism and Carnivalesque: Incorporation as Utopia in the Early Image of America.” New Literary History 30.2 (1999b): 389–410.
  • Klarer, Mario. “Frau und Arkadien: Der Einfluß antiker Utopien auf das frühe Amerikabild.” Romanistische Zeitschrift für Literaturgeschichte – Cahiers d’Histoire des Littératures Romanes 16.3–4 (1992a): 433–52.
  • Klarer, Mario. “Frau und Utopie: Zur antiken Tradition moderner Frauenutopien.” Arcadia: Zeitschrift für Vergleichende Literaturwissenschaft 26.2 (1992b): 113-40. Reprint Latein Forum 57 (2005): 1–20.
  • Klarer, Mario. “Topoi antiker und mittelalterlicher Utopievorstellungen im mittelenglischen The Isle of Ladies.” Germanisch-Romanische Monatshandschrift 42.2 (1992c): 162–77.
  • Klarer, Mario. “Woman and Arcadia: The Impact of Ancient Utopian Thought on the Early Image of America.” Journal of American Studies 27.1 (1993): 1–17.
  • Klarer, Mario, and Hubert Alisade. “Mittelalterliche ‘Kiffer’ als Vorbild für Assassin’s Creed: Marco Polos Assassinen-Episode als Beispiel für die Editionspraxis mittellateinischer Texte.” Forum Classicum, no. 2, 2020, pp. 84–94.
  • Klarer, Mario, and Hubert Alisade. “One Translator, Two Translations: Contextualizing Marco Polo’s ‘Moving Mountain’ Episode in Francesco Pipino’s Translation of Il Milione and in His Chronicon.” Digital Philology: A Journal of Medieval Cultures, vol. 11, no. 2, fall 2022, pp. 241–85.
  • Manzoni, L. “Frate Francesco Pipino da Bologna de’ PP: Predicatori geografo, storico e viaggiatore.” Atti e memorie d. R. Dep. di storia patria per le prov. di Romagna 13 (1894-95): 257–334.
  • Massèra, Aldo Francesco. “Dante e Riccobaldo da Ferrara.” Bullettino della Società Dantesca Italiana Nuova Serie 22.1 (1915): 168–200.
  • Meneghetti, Maria Luisa. “Marco Polo ad Avignone.” I Viaggo del Milione. Itinerari testuali, vettori di trasmissione e metamorfosi del Devisement du monde di Marco Polo e Rustichello da Pisa nella pluralità delle attestazioni. Ed. S. Conte. Conference proceedings, Oct. 2005, Venice. Rome: Tiellemedia Editore, 2008. 77–88.
  • Muratori, Lodovico Antonio. Rerum Italicarum Scriptores … Tomus Nonus. Mediolani: Ex Typographia Societatis Palatinae in Regia Curia. Mediolani: ex Typographia Societatis Palatinae in Regia Curia, 1726.
  • Prášek, Justin V. Marka Pavlova z Benátek Milion: Dle jediného rukopisu spolu s přislušnym základem latinskym. Prague: Česká akademie věd a umění, 1902.
  • Radecke, Gabriele, Heike Neuroth, Martin de la Iglesia, and Mathias Göbel. “Vom Nutzen digitaler Editionen — Die genetisch-kritische Hybrid-Edition von Theodor Fontanes Notizbüchern erstellt mit der Virtuellen Forschungsumgebung TextGrid.” Vom Nutzen der Editionen. Zur Bedeutung moderner Editorik für die Erforschung von Literatur- und Kulturgeschichte. Ed. Thomas Bein. Vol. 39. Berlin: De Gruyter, 2015. 277–95.
  • Reichert, Folker. “Columbus und Marco Polo — Asien in Amerika. Zur Literaturgeschichte der Entdeckungen.” Zeitschrift für Historische Forschung 15.1 (1988): 1–63.
  • Vogel, Hans Ulrich. Marco Polo Was in China. New Evidence from Currencies, Salts and Revenues. Monies, Markets, and Finance in East Asia, 1600-1900. Vol. 2. Leiden, Boston: Brill, 2013.
  • Yule, Henry, ed. The Book of Ser Marco Polo, the Venetian. 1871. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010.
  • Wehr, Barbara. “À propos de la genèse du ‘Devisement dou monde’ de Marco Polo.” Le passage à l'écrit des langues romanes. ScriptOralia. Ed. Maria Selig, Barbara Frank, and Jörg Hartmann. Vol. 46. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag, 1993. 299–326.
  • Wehr, Barbara. “Zum Reisebericht von Marco Polo in der lateinischen Fassung von Fra Pipino da Bologna.” Latin vulgaire - latin tardif V. Ed. Hubert Petersmann and Rudolf Kettemann. Actes du Ve Colloque international sur le latin vulgaire et tardif, 5-8 Sep. 1997, Heidelberg. Heidelberg: Universitätsverlag C. Winter, 1999. 117–32.
  • Zaccagnini G. “Francesco Pipino traduttore del ‘Milione’, cronista, viaggiatore in Oriente nel secolo XIV.” Atti e Memorie d. R. Dep. do st. p. per l’Emilia e la Romagna 5.1 (1935-36): 61–95.

Funding organization

Wissenschaftsfonds (FWF)
Sensengasse 1
1090 Wien, Österreich
Telefon: +43-1-505 67 40
E-Mail: office@fwf.ac.at
Website: www.fwf.ac.at

Conference Marco Polo and the European Image of Asia

November 14–16, 2024
University of Innsbruck, Austria

Marco Polo’s narrative account of Asia in his Il Milione is one of the first and major sources to shape the European image of Asia for centuries to come. The Polo universe is vast, encompassing numerous vernacular and Latin versions of the account, which differ through their emphasis of specific aspects. This conference, commemorating the 700th anniversary of Marco Polo’s death in 2024, explores some of the different descriptions, projections, and phantasies of Asia in the light of Marco Polo’s Il Milione and beyond.

The Conference Program can be downloaded here.

Invited speakers

  • Alvise Andreose (Università degli Studi di Udine, Italien)
  • Eugenio Burgio (Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia, Italien)
  • Mark Cruse (Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA)
  • Christine Gadrat-Ouerfelli (LA3M, CNRS-Aix Marseille Université, Frankreich)
  • Sharon Kinoshita (University of California, Santa Cruz, California, USA)
  • Andrea Palandri (Dublin City University, Irland)
  • Samuela Simion (Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia, Italien)
  • Hans Ulrich Vogel (Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Deutschland)

Call for Papers

Possible contributions include precursors of or influences on Marco Polo’s narrative as well as transformations of the different Polo versions and their legacies. The scope of the conference bridges literary, linguistic, philological, historical, art-historical, religious, economic, sociological, and political approaches—to mention only the most obvious ones. Contributors are invited to address novel aspects within the larger context of Marco Polo’s Il Milione, both from a diachronic as well as a synchronic perspective. General contributions on the European image of Asia, both past and present, are also welcome.

Please send the title and abstract (about 250 words) of your conference paper together with your contact details to marco-polo-2024@uibk.ac.at. The deadline for submission is September 1, 2024.

The conference language is English.

All sessions of the conference will take place in the historic rooms of the Palais Claudiana in the old town of Innsbruck (Herzog-Friedrich-Straße 3).

May 2025

December 2024

November 2024

June 2024

February 2024

November 2022

July 2020

April 2020

January 2020

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