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Marco Polo
2 free books by Marco Polo. 2 you can read right here.
Born 1254 in Venice · Died 1324 in Venice
writer · Republic of Venice
Notable works: The book of Ser Marco Polo the Venetian concerning the kingdoms and marvels of the East
Facts from Wikidata (Q6101), retrieved 2026-09-26.
- The Travels of Marco Polo — Volume 1
- The Travels of Marco Polo — Volume 2
Quotes from Marco Polo’s books
Verified word for word in the text: each quote is copied exactly from the book’s text in this site’s reader (the Project Gutenberg e-text named under each book) and links to its passage; when this page was built, every quote was checked word for word against that text. How RedLectern is built.
The Travels of Marco Polo — Volume 1
From Project Gutenberg e-text #10636 (public domain in the USA).
And we shall set down things seen as seen, and things heard as heard only, so that no jot of falsehood may mar the truth of our Book, and that all who shall read it or hear it read may put full faith in the truth of all its contents.
For ye shall find therein all kinds of wonderful things, and the divers histories of the Great Hermenia, and of Persia, and of the Land of the Tartars, and of India, and of many another country of which our Book doth speak, particularly and in regular succession, according to the description of Messer Marco Polo, a wise and noble citizen of Venice, as he saw them with his own eyes.
The Travels of Marco Polo — Volume 2
From Project Gutenberg e-text #12410 (public domain in the USA).
And you must know that in this Island there are the best enchanters in the world. It is true that their Archbishop forbids the practice to the best of his ability; but ’tis all to no purpose, for they insist that their forefathers followed it, and so must they also.
The inhabitants are all Idolaters. And I may as well remind you again that all the people of Cathay are Idolaters.