Il Milione/Origin

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Origin
Book of the Marvels of the World or Description of the World, in Italian Il Milione ("The Million") or Oriente Poliano and in English 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 Polo's travels through Asia, Persia, China, and Indonesia between 1276 and 1291 and his experiences at the court of the Mongol leader Kublai Khan. The book was written in Old French by Rustichello da Pisa, a romance who worked from accounts which he had heard from Marco Polo when they were imprisoned together in Genoa. There has been incredulity over Polo's sometimes fabulous stories from the beginning and scholarly debate in recent times. Some questioned whether Marco had actually traveled to China or was just repeating stories that he had heard from other travelers. Supporters of the book's basic accuracy have replied in even greater force. Economic historian Mark Elvin concludes that recent work "demonstrates by specific example after specific example the ultimately overwhelming probability of the broad authenticity" of Polo's account. The book is, "in essence, authentic, and, when used with care, in broad terms to be trusted as a serious though obviously not always final, witness."