P.G. Molmenti: Venice, its Growth to the Fall of the Republic, vols. I and II (The Middle Ages), trans. H.F. Brown (1906); and La Vie Privée à Venise, vol. I (1895).
H.F. Brown: Studies in the History of Venice, vol. I (1907).
Mrs Oliphant: The Makers of Venice (1905) is pleasant reading and contains a chapter on Marco Polo.
2. For medieval China, the Tartars, and European intercourse with the far East see--
Sir Henry Yule's introduction to his great edition of Marco Polo (above).
Cathay and the Way Thither: Medieval Notices of China, trans. and ed. by Sir Henry Yule, 4 vols. (Hakluyt Soc., 1915-16). Contains an invaluable introduction and all the best accounts of China left by medieval European travellers. Above all, Oderic of Pordenone (d. 1331) should be read as a pendant to Marco Polo.
R. Beazley: The Dawn of Modern Geography, vols. II and III (1897-1906).
R. Grousset: Histoire de l'Asie, t. III (3rd edit., 1922), Chap. I. A short and charmingly written account of the Mongol Empires from Genghis Khan to Timour.
H. Howarth: History of the Mongols (1876).
3. For medieval trade with the East the best book is--