PREFACE
There is no need of a long Preface to this small book. When the third edition of the Book of Ser Marco Polo was published in 1903, criticism was lenient to the Editor of Yule’s grand work, and it was highly satisfactory to me that such competent judges as Sir Aurel Stein and Sven Hedin gave their approval to the remarks I made on the itineraries followed in Central Asia by the celebrated Venetian Traveller.
Nevertheless occasional remarks having been made by some of the reviewers, proper notice was taken of them; moreover, it was impossible to avoid some mistakes and omissions in a work including several hundreds of pages. As years went on, extensive voyages were undertaken by travellers like Sir Aurel Stein, Sven Hedin, Pelliot, Kozlov, and others, who brought fresh and important information. I had myself collected material from new works as they were issued and from old works which had been neglected. In the mean time I had given a second edition of Cathay and the Way Thither, having thus an opportunity to explore old ground again and add new commentaries to the book.
All this material is embodied in the present volume which is to be considered but as a supplementary volume of “Addenda” and “Corrigenda” to the Book itself. I have gathered matter for a younger editor when a fourth edition of the Book of Ser Marco Polo is undertaken, age preventing the present editor to entertain the hope to be able to do the work himself.
To many who lent their aid have I to give my thanks: all are named in the following pages, but I have special obligation to Sir Aurel Stein, to Dr. B. Laufer, of Chicago, to Sir Richard Temple, and to Prof. Paul Pelliot, of the College de France, Paris, who furnished me with some of the more important notes. A paper by Prof. E. H. Parker in the Asiatic Quarterly Review proved also of considerable help.
HENRI CORDIER.
Paris, 8, rue de Siam,
11th of November, 1919.
A BIBLIOGRAPHY OF SIR HENRY
YULE’S WRITINGS.
—— Notes [miscellaneous] by H. Yule, Palermo, August 28th, 1872. (Indian Antiquary, I. 1872, pp. 320–321.)
—— “Discovery of Sanskrit.” By H. Yule, Palermo, Dec. 26th, 1872. (Indian Antiquary, II. 1873, p. 96.)
—— “Sopeithes, King of the Κηκεοί.” By H. Yule. (Indian Antiquary, II. 1873, p. 370.)
—— The Geography of Ibn Batuta’s Travels in India. By Col. H. Yule, Palermo. (Indian Antiquary, III. 1874, pp. 114–117, 209–212.)
—— The Geography of Ibn Batuta’s Travels. By Col. H. Yule, C.B. (Ibid. pp. 242–244.)
—— Mediæval Ports of Western and Southern India, etc., named in the Tohfat-al-Majâhidîn. By Col. H. Yule, C.B., Palermo. (Indian Antiquary, III. 1874, pp. 212–214.)
—— Malifattan. By Col. H. Yule, C.B., Palermo. (Indian Antiquary, IV. 1875, pp. 8–10.)
—— Champa. By H. Yule. (Indian Antiquary, VI. 1877, pp. 228–230.) From the Geog. Mag., March, 1877, IV. pp. 66–67. Written for the Encyclopædia Britannica, but omitted.
—— Specimen of a Discursive Glossary of Anglo-Indian Terms. By H. Y. and A. C. B. (Indian Antiquary, VIII. 1879, pp. 52–54, 83–86, 173–176, 201–204, 231–233.)