Le livre de Marco Polo, ou Le devisement du monde

Le livre de Marco Polo, or The Travels of Marco Polo, originated from the Venetian merchant's accounts of his journeys across Asia in the 13th century. Transcribed by Rustichello da Pisa while the two were imprisoned together in Genoa, the text was intended to chronicle the wonders and customs of the Mongol Empire. It served as one of the most influential travelogues of the Middle Ages, shaping European perceptions of the East for centuries despite contemporary skepticism regarding the accuracy of Polo's claims.

The 1960 edition published by Le livre de poche brought this classic narrative to a broader 20th-century audience. As part of the publisher's mission to provide affordable, accessible literature in a compact paperback format, this edition stripped away much of the scholarly apparatus found in academic volumes to focus on the readability of the travelogue. It reflects the post-war French interest in making foundational historical and literary texts widely available to the general public, presented in a format that emphasized portability and narrative flow.