The book' of Travels: Genre, Ethnology, and Pilgrimage, 1250-1700 (Studies in MEdieval and Reformation Traditions, 140)

The early modern era is often envisioned as one in which European genres, both narrative and visual, diverged indelibly from those of medieval times. This collection examines a disparate set of travel texts, dating from the thirteenth to the seventeenth centuries, to question that divergence and to assess the modes, themes, and ethnologies of travel writing. It demonstrates the enduring nature of the itinerary, the variant forms of witnessing (including imaginary maps), the crafting of sacred space as a cautionary tale, and the use of the travel narrative to represent the transformation of the authorial self. Focusing on European travelers to the expansive East, from the soft architecture of Timur's tent palaces in Samarqand to the ambiguities of sexual identity at the Mughul court, these essays reveal the possibilities for cultural translation as travelers of varying experience and attitude confront remote and foreign (or not so foreign) space. Contents ......Page 8 Acknowledgments......Page 10 List of Illustrations......Page 12 A Note on Transliteration......Page 14 Notes on Contributors......Page 16 Colour Plates......Page 18 I. Introduction: Genre, Witness, and Time in the 'Book' of Travels (Palmira Brummett)......Page 38 II. Late Medieval Ambassadors and the Practice of Cross-Cultural Encounters, 1250–1450 (Joan-Pau Rubiés)......Page 74 III. Ruy González de Clavijo's Narrative of Courtly Life and Ceremony in Timur's Samarqand, 1404 (David J. Roxburgh)......Page 150 IV. Copying Maps by Matthew Paris: Itineraries Fit for a King (Daniel K. Connolly)......Page 196 V. 'A mirrour of mis-haps,/ A Mappe of Miserie': Dangers, Strangers, and Friends in Renaissance Pilgrimage (Wes Williams)......Page 242 VI. Postcards from the Harem: The Cultural Translation of Niccolao Manucci's Book of Travels (Pompa Banerjee)......Page 278 Afterword: One Reader Reading (Mary Baine Campbell)......Page 320 Bibliography......Page 330 Index......Page 348 Introduction: Genre, witness, and time in the "book" of travels / Palmira Brummett -- Late medieval ambassadors and the practice of cross-cultural encounters, 1250-1450 / Joan-Pau Rubies -- Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo's Narrative of courtly life and ceremony in Timur's Samarqand, 1404 / David J. Roxburgh -- Copying maps by Matthew Paris : itineraries fit for a king / Daniel K. Connolly -- "A mirrour of mis-haps, a mappe of miserie" : dangers, strangers, and friends in Renaissance pilgrimage / Wes Williams -- Postcards from the harem : the cultural translation of Niccolao Manucci's Book of travels / Pompa Banerjee -- Afterword: One reader reading / Mary Baine Campbell This collection assesses genre, ethnology, and pilgrimage in a set of disparate travel narratives spanning the medieval to early modern eras. It assesses the possibilities for cultural translation as travelers witness, craft, and imagine desired, fearful, and sacred lands.