Writing East: The "Travels" of Sir John Mandeville (The Middle Ages Series)

"A remarkable analysis of an important medieval text. . . . This work will surely initiate new studies of the precolonial frame of mind and the role of distinct versions of medieval manuscripts in the shaping of medieval understanding."—__Sixteenth Century Journal__ "A remarkable analysis of an important medieval text. . . . This work will surely initiate new studies of the precolonial frame of mind and the role of distinct versions of medieval manuscripts in the shaping of medieval understanding."—__Sixteenth Century Journal__ No work revealed more of the mysterious East to statesmen, explorers, readers, and writers of the late Middle Ages than The Book of John Mandeville. One of the most widely circulated documents of its day, it first appeared in French between 1356 and 1371 and was soon translated into nine other European languages. Ostensibly the account of one English knight's journeys through Africa and Asia, it is, rather, a compilation of travel writings first shaped by an unknown redactor. Writing East is a study of how Mandeville came to appear in its various versions, and the series of transformations it went through as it reached new audiences in order to serve as both a response to previous writings about the East and an important voice in the medieval conversation about the nature and limits of the world. Higgins offers a palimpsestic reading of this "multi-text" that demonstrates not only how the original French author overwrote his precursors but also how subsequent translators molded the material to serve their own ideological agendas. Higgins views Mandeville not as fiction or fraud but merely as an example of the ceaseless rewriting characteristic of medieval text-making. By making Mandeville as a whole the object of sustained critical attention, he shows what its verbal world can tell us about itself, its maker and remakers, and the culture in which it was so frequently reproduced. The first book of its kind on Mandeville in any language, Writing East represents a unique experiment in literary and cultural criticism. An innovative case study of medieval text- and world-making, it makes an important contribution to the scholarly debate on the importance of literacy and printing and to our understanding of the medieval world.

a Remarkable Analysis Of An Important Medieval Text. . . . This Work Will Surely Initiate New Studies Of The Precolonial Frame Of Mind And The Role Of Distinct Versions Of Medieval Manuscripts In The Shaping Of Medieval Understanding.—sixteenth Century Journal

library Journal

higgins (swift's Politics, Cambridge Univ., 1993) Has Chosen A Significant Medieval Work And Studied Its Variant Texts With The Idea Of Understanding Medieval Society's Changing Views On The Nature And Limits Of The World. The Mandeville Book Purports To Be The Memoirs Of An English Knight, Sir John Mandeville, Who Allegedly Traveled Throughout Asia. It First Appeared In French Sometime Between 1356 And 1371 And Would Be Translated Into Nine Other Languages; In The 19th Century, However, Mandeville's Text Was Declared A Fraud. It Now Appears That The Text Is A Compilation Of The Writings Of Medieval Travelers Who Had Visited The East. Higgins Demonstrates That Medieval Texts Did Not Produce Variants By Accident. This Book Will Be Of Interest To Readers With A Strong Interest In Medieval Literature And History. Recommended For Academic Libraries With Significant Holdings In Medieval Studies.robert Andrews, Duluth P.l., Minn.

Winner of the 2001 John Nicholas Brown Prize of the Medieval Academy of America No work revealed more of the mysterious East to statesmen, explorers, readers, and writers of the late Middle Ages than the Book of John Mandeville . One of the most widely circulated documents of its day, it first appeared in French between 1356 and 1371 and was soon translated into nine other European languages. Ostensibly the account of one English knight's journeys through Africa and Asia, it is, rather, a compilation of travel writings first shaped by an unknown redactor. Writing East is a study of how Mandeville's Travels came to appear in its various versions, explaining how it went through a series of transformations as it reached new audiences in order to serve as both a response to previous writings about the East and an important voice in the medieval conversation about the nature and limits of the world. Higgins offers a palimpsestic reading of this "multi-text" that demonstrates not only how the original French author overwrote his precursors but also how subsequent translators molded the material to serve their own ideological agendas.

No work revealed more of the mysterious East to statesmen, explorers, readers, and writers of the late Middle Ages than the Book of John Mandeville. One of the most widely circulated documents of its day, it first appeared in French between 1356 and 1371 and was soon translated into nine other European languages. Ostensibly the account of one English knight's journeys through Africa and Asia, it is, rather, a compilation of travel writings first shaped by an unknown redactor.

Writing East is a study of how Mandeville's Travels came to appear in its various versions, explaining how it went through a series of transformations as it reached new audiences in order to serve as both a response to previous writings about the East and an important voice in the medieval conversation about the nature and limits of the world. Higgins offers a palimpsestic reading of this "multi-text" that demonstrates not only how the original French author overwrote his precursors but also how subsequent translators molded the material to serve their own ideological agendas.

Contents 5 Preface 7 Abbreviations 11 1. Introduction 13 2. Here Begins the Book of John Mandeville, Knight 40 3. “Chases Estranges” in Constantinople and the Eastern Mediterranean 75 4. Marvels, Miracles, and Dreams of Re-Expansion in Egypt and the Holy Land 104 5. Earthly Symmetry and the Mirror of Marvelous Diversity in and Around Ynde 136 6. Faith and Power in the Great Khan's Cathay and Prester John's Land 168 7. Personal and Pagan Piety in the Direction of Paradise 215 8. Having Come to Rest Despite Myself 251 9. Conclusion 277 Notes 281 Work Cited 313 Index 327 "A remarkable analysis of an important medieval text. . . . This work will surely initiate new studies of the precolonial frame of mind and the role of distinct versions of medieval manuscripts in the shaping of medieval understanding."— Sixteenth Century Journal "A remarkable analysis of an important medieval text. . . . This work will surely initiate new studies of the precolonial frame of mind and the role of distinct versions of medieval manuscripts in the shaping of medieval understanding."— Sixteenth Century Journal