Marco Polo
Il Milione

Numbered first edition (154 of 600)
$2000

(NOTE: If you are looking for the Thomas Nuckols Family Bible, which was sold on this site January 2008, you can still view the description and photos at this location.)

Edited by Luigi Foscolo Benedetto
Published in Firenze, 1928, by Leo S. Olschki
Also known as Il Milione di Marco Polo

PROVENANCE: This is a large, impressive and important work. I have never seen a copy for sale on the Internet. It is my belief that virtually all 600 copies are in the libraries of institutions and thus will never be available on the market. For example, the Library of Congress and the University of Michigan Library each have one copy.

I inherited this book from my father, who was an historian and medieval scholar. He owned the book from at least 1950 onwards. I remember seeing it as early as 1950, when I was 6, and that my father took great care with his book collection.

CONDITION: The leather-and-cloth cover is a bit worn but the pages are all in fine condition, with no dog-ears, musty smell or splotchiness. The back cover has begun to split from the binding for the top 2 inches. Otherwise the book is very sound. All pages and plates are present. The only marks in the book are evidence of a an earlier seller's or owner's pencilled marks on the blank last page (now illegible).

PHOTOGRAPHS: I have photographed the binding from all 6 sides. In addition I have photographed representative pages, including ALL plates, both color and monochrome. You will find these 32 photos, IN ORDER, at the bottom of this description. In addition, I have created an Adobe Acrobat (PDF) file of 8mb containing these 32 photos at twice the resolution of those on the web page. If you wish to examine the photos carefully (or keep a copy in a handy format on your computer) I recommend that you download this document and then view it at up to 300%. The photos have a resolution of 300dpi with medium compression. Click here to download the file.

Because there is virtually no information about this book on the Internet, and photos of the contents are absent altogether, I will leave the contents of this web page up even after the book has been sold.

Copyright Notice: You may use the photos on this web page for any purpose provided you credit Weblackey.com.

BACKGROUND: I am not a Marco Polo scholar. If this is your field then you already know more than I do about the significance of this book. But for the record, here is what I know. . . .

There have been many manuscripts of Il Milione over the centuries, but the original manuscript is lost. Various scholars have sought to reconcile differences in the manuscripts to arrive at the most likely text for the original. This particular volume seems to be the Holy Grail for Polo students. Here is what the Encyclopedia Britannica says,

"A Franco-Italian text of Marco Polo's book, generally considered very near to the lost original, has been edited, collated with many other early manuscripts, and published by L.F. Benedetto, Il Milione, prima edizione integrale (1928). This work is fundamental; a long and detailed introduction (in Italian) deals with the complex problems related to the text and its tradition."

THE PUBLISHER: The venerable publishing house of Olschki is still in business after all these years, and this edition is still in their catalog at www.Olschki.it. Here it is:

Author: Polo, Marco
Title: Il Milione.
Prima edizione integrale a cura di L. F. Benedetto. Characteristics: cm. 25,5 x 35,5, ccxxi-281 pp. con 2 cc. e 11 tavv. di cui 3 a col. e oro. Edizione su carta a mano, tirata in 600 esemplari numerati.
Year: 1928 Price (Euro): ISBN:
Series: Subseries: Out of print

DESCRIPTION: The size in inches is 10 x 14 x 1.8. Weight is 7.5 lbs (3.4 kg). The first section of the book, 221 pages, is the scholarly treatment, in Italian. The second section, 285 pages, contains the manuscript, in French, followed by indexes. I know some French and can follow the manuscript, but modern French it is not. See the sample pages.

PLATES: As stated above, there are some color and monochrome plates and all have been photographed. An examination of the PDF document should give you an idea of the quality of these plates.

PAYMENT, SHIPPING, ETC.: This is an expensive item and I must be cautious about payment methods. I apologize in advance for this but it would be a blow to my lifestyle if I lost the book to a fraudulent purchase. But I will work with you to assure you that your payment is safe and that I can be trusted.
I am in the phone book and have been at the same address for 27 years.
I am retired from the Smithsonian Institution (US National Museum).
I have 100% positive ebay feedback (check user ID 'MARUSHOLILAC').
You (or your representative) are free to visit my house and inspect the book.

If you are in North America I will include shipping and $2000 insurance at no additional cost. As you may know, shipping insurance gives you, as the buyer, no protection at all. Only the shipper can collect. If the book never arrives, or is damaged, I will see that you lose no money.

For overseas shipping you must pay the cost. To use a class of mail which allows full-value insurance, such as Global Express Guaranteed, will cost about $105 to Europe (as of April 2008). I will also check with private shippers such as UPS and DHL and explain your options.

Payment by PayPal: No matter how you pay me, I want to receive a net payment of $2000 after I pay my fees. If you use PayPal I will compute the gross amount of the payment required in order for me to receive $2000 after commissions, cross-border fees, currency conversion and whatever new fees they impose between now and the sale. At this writing a US resident would have to remit $2060.04. For a purchase with PayPal outside the US, assuming a postage cost of $100 and a total of $2100, one would have to remit US$2185.54.

PayPal is expensive but has the advantage to me of being absolutely safe and allows you to use your credit or debit card. You also have the assurance that I am a 'verified' user (big deal), meaning that I live where I say I live.

Payment by US Postal Service Money Order: If you are in the US, and do not intend to pick up the book at my house, this and PayPal are your only two payment options. You can purchase two $1000 Postal Money Orders for a total of $3 in fees. I have no interest in personal checks, corporate checks, cashiers checks, Western Union payments, certified checks, or other brands of money orders. Sorry but $2000 is just too much money to risk for me as an individual.

Currency: If you pick up the book I will expect you to pay me in currency (folding money), so please arrive with cash. I'm sorry to say this but I have made this condition in the past only to have buyers show up with no cash, or partial cash, expecting me to acquiesce. There is no earthly reason not to exchange your cash for my book. You can inspect the book but you will not leave with it unless I have the $$$.

Overseas Payments: If you are a European, and there is a good chance that you are, you may be used to making wire transfers. Such transfers are nearly unknown in the US, and incur fees. (Within the US we use EFT (electronic funds transfer) which is free.) We will have to discuss how payment is to be made. I DO want your money. If you do not wish to use PayPal the payment can probably be wired or made with International Postal Money Orders. If you are a business purchasing the book for a client, or for resale, you may expect me to accept your corporate check as if I were also a business. Please do not make that assumption.

Packaging: I will place the book in a plastic bag and cushion it adequately, with 2 inches of padding on all sides. The package should survive being thrown as far as a postal worker can throw a 10 pound parcel. I will e-mail photos of the parcel to you when I mail it. Your address will also be placed inside the parcel. In addition to $2000 of insurance, I will purchase other services, such as Delivery Confirmation and Restricted Delivery (to you personally) if you agree to this.

Contact Information:

I am Ralph Walker
I live at 1542 North Jefferson Street, Arlington, Virginia 22205, USA
My phone is 703-237-0859
You can send me e-mail by clicking this line.

I spend several long weekends a month at my cabin where there is no computer. In addition I do take vacations. Most of the time you will have an immediate reply to your e-mail, but if you do not receive that be assured that I will reply to you as soon as I return to my house. After all, I do want your money.

Thank you for your interest in Il Milione.

Click here to contact me by e-mail.

The visitor counter below was installed August 1, 2007. The copy of IL MILIONE was described here on April 26, 2008.

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Schau.Biz: Swiss shooting medals, beer coasters, etc. for sale.
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