First published by Ashgate Publishing
Published 2016 by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Notice:
Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
Founded in 1846, the Hakluyt Society seeks to advance knowledge and education by the publication of scholarly editions of primary records of voyages, travels and other geographical material. In partnership with Ashgate, and using print-on-demand and e-book technology, the Society has made re-available all 290 volumes comprised in Series I and Series II of its publications in both print and digital editions. For information about the Hakluyt Society visit www.hakluyt.com .
ISBN 13: 978-1-4094-1467-4 (hbk)
WORKS ISSUED BY
THE HAKLUYT SOCIETY
MANDEVILLES
TRAVELS
I
SECOND SERIES
NO. CI
ISSUED FOR 1950
COUNCIL AND OFFICERS
OF THE
HAKLUYT SOCIETY
1952
PRESIDENT
MALCOLM LETTS, ESQ., F.S.A.
VICE-PRESIDENTS
PROFESSOR E. G. R. TAYLOR, D.SC.
JAMES A. WILLIAMSON, ESQ., D.LITT.
COUNCIL
{with date of election)
MARCEL AUROUSSEAU, ESQ. (1948)
PROFESSOR C. R. BOXER (1948)
SIR ALAN BURNS, G.C.M.G. (1949)
REAR-ADMIRAL A. DAY, C.B.E. (1951)
ESMOND S. DE BEER, ESQ. (1950)
E. W. GILBERT, ESQ., M.A., B.LITT. (1952)
C. C. LLOYD, ESQ. (1951)
F. B. MAGGS, ESQ. (1951)
J. V. MILLS, ESQ. (1949)
GEORGE P. B. NAISH, ESQ. (1950)
G. NICHOLSON, ESQ., M.P. (1951)
J. PACKMAN, ESQ. (1951)
N. M. PENZER, ESQ., LITT.D., F.S.A. (1947)
TRACY PHILIPPS, ESQ., M.C, HON. D.C.L. (1947)
PROFESSOR D. B. QUINN (1952)
ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY (G. R. CRONE, ESQ.) (1949)
TRUSTEES
E. W. BOVILL, ESQ.MALCOLM LETTS, ESQ., F.S.A.
J. N. L. BAKER, ESQ., M.A., B.LITT.
TREASURER
J. N. L. BAKER, ESQ., M.A., B.LITT.
HON. SECRETARIES
(Publications) R. A. SKELTON, ESQ., B.A., F.S.A.
(Administration) J. V. MILLS, ESQ., M.A.
HON. SECRETARIES FOR OVERSEAS
Australia: PROFESSOR R. M. CRAWFORD
British West Indies : PROFESSOR C. Y. SHEPHARD
Canada: PROFESSOR G. H. T. KIMBLE
India: DR. N. P. CHAKRAVARTI
New Zealand : C. R. H. TAYLOR, ESQ., M.A.
South Africa : DOUGLAS VARLEY, ESQ.
US.A. : W. M. WHITEHILL, ESQ., PH.D., F.S.A.
Copied from Brit. Mus. MS. Harley 2259
I N my earlier book Sir John Mandeville (1949) I pointed out that there was a sad lack of Mandeville texts available for English readers. In this work I have tried to fill the gaps. I have printed a modernized version of what is known as the Egerton text, together with an independent and shorter version in the Bodleian Library (Rawl. D. 99). I have also printed the earliest known text from a MS. in the Bibliothque Nationale, Paris. This is in French and is dated 1371, so that it must have been written during the authors lifetime. The other texts are fifteenth-century versions. In an appendix I have added extracts from a MS. in the Bibliothque Royale, Brussels, together with translations of passages relating to the Frankish hero, Ogier the Dane, who in some versions German, French and Latinalmost supplants Mandeville as the hero of the travels; and in my introduction I have tried to explain how this rather dreary individual came to be fathered on Mandeville. I have also added translations of those parts of the forged Letter of Prester John, from which the author of the Travels took his account of that interesting but elusive potentate.
I have tried to do for the Egerton version what A. W. Pollard did for the Cotton version in 1900, that is to provide an easily readable text of an old book without sacrificing the spirit and flavour of the original. When Pollard published his book, which is now out of print, no satisfactory edition of the Cotton text had been printed, and he had a difficult task. Mine has been less exacting, because the Egerton text has long been available to students in the scholarly edition printed by Sir George Warner for the Roxburghe Club in 1889. So far as this version is concerned, I have followed Pollards example in retaining old and obsolete words, but where necessary I have added modern equivalents in square brackets. Where words or names of persons or places have survived I have adopted the modern forms :thus Nebuchadnezzar is used for Nabugodonosor, sultan for sowdan, Genoa for Geen, Armenia for Ermony, Corsica for Choos, Acre for Acon, and so on. I have at times corrected the scribes grammar, omitting a final es or ez and printing came for come where the past tense is clearly indicated. Otherwise the text has been followed closely. The Paris and Bodleian texts have been printed as they stand.
My grateful thanks are due to the President of the Roxburghe Club, for permission to make full use of Warners edition, and to the Vice-Presidents and Council of the Hakluyt Society, without whose encouragement and help this book would never have seen the light of day; to Professor E. G. R. Taylor for kindly writing the note on Mandeville as geographer; to Mr. Hugh Stanford London, F.S.A., for drawing the coat of arms which forms the frontispiece to Volume I; and to our honorary secretary, Mr. R. A. Skelton, F.S.A., for his unfailing interest and encouragement. Mr. George Painter, also of the British Museum, has helped me once again to an extent which he probably does not realize. The Paris text has been transcribed by Mr. Andreas Mayor, and the Bodleian text by Mr. L. J. Gorton, both of the British Museum. My acknowledgements are also due to the following institutions and scholars :the Bibliothque Nationale, Paris, for permission to print the Paris text; the Bodleian Library, for permission to print MS. Rawlinson D. 99; the Bibliothque of the University of Liege, the Library of Congress, Washington, the Bibliothque Royale, Brussels, the Fitzwilliam Museum and the University Library, Cambridge, for supplying photostats and answering inquiries; Dr. L. D. Barnett, Mr. Basil Dowling, Professor Eve Edwards, Dr. Robert Fazy of Lausanne, Mr. Boies Penrose, Dr. N. M. Penzer, Dr. and Mrs. Charles Singer, Mr. T. C. S. Morrison-Scott, and Miss Vera Ledger. Mr. W. S. Shears of the Batchworth Press has kindly allowed me to make full use of my earlier book published by that firm, and Miss Pamela B. Baldwin has drawn the maps. My wife has helped me in many ways, particularly with translations and proof-reading.
