The Travels of Marco Polo Volume 1 | Page 9

matter in an edition of Marco Polo; by which
however it is by no means intended that all such matter is claimed by
the editor as his own.[5]
From the commencement of the work it was felt that the task was one
which no man, though he were far better equipped and much more
conveniently situated than the present writer, could satisfactorily
accomplish from his own resources, and help was sought on special
points wherever it seemed likely to be found. In scarcely any quarter
was the application made in vain. Some who have aided most
materially are indeed very old and valued friends; but to many others
who have done the same the applicant was unknown; and some of these
again, with whom the editor began correspondence on this subject as a
stranger, he is happy to think that he may now call friends.
To none am I more indebted than to the Comm. GUGLIELMO
BERCHET, of Venice, for his ample, accurate, and generous assistance
in furnishing me with Venetian documents, and in many other ways.
Especial thanks are also due to Dr. WILLIAM LOCKHART, who has
supplied the materials for some of the most valuable illustrations; to
Lieutenant FRANCIS GARNIER, of the French Navy. the gallant and
accomplished leader (after the death of Captain Doudart de la Grée) of
the memorable expedition up the Mekong to Yun-nan; to the Rev. Dr.
CALDWELL, of the S.P.G. Mission in Tinnevelly, for copious and
valuable notes on Southern India; to my friends Colonel ROBERT
MACLAGAN, R.E., Sir ARTHUR PHAYRE, and Colonel HENRY
MAN, for very valuable notes and other aid; to Professor A.
SCHIEFNER, of St. Petersburg, for his courteous communication of
very interesting illustrations not otherwise accessible; to Major-General
ALEXANDER CUNNINGHAM, of my own corps, for several
valuable letters; to my friends Dr. THOMAS OLDHAM, Director of

the Geological Survey of India, Mr. DANIEL HANBURY, F.R.S., Mr.
EDWARD THOMAS, Mr. JAMES FERGUSSON, F.R.S., Sir
BARTLE FRERE, and Dr. HUGH CLEGHORN, for constant interest
in the work and readiness to assist its progress; to Mr. A. WYLIE, the
learned Agent of the B. and F. Bible Society at Shang-hai, for valuable
help; to the Hon. G. P. MARSH, U.S. Minister at the Court of Italy, for
untiring kindness in the communication of his ample stores of
knowledge, and of books. I have also to express my obligations to
Comm. NICOLÒ BAROZZI, Director of the City Museum at Venice,
and to Professor A. S. MINOTTO, of the same city; to Professor
ARMINIUS VÁMBÉRY, the eminent traveller; to Professor
FLÜCKIGER of Bern; to the Rev. H. A. JAESCHKE, of the Moravian
Mission in British Tibet; to Colonel LEWIS PELLY, British Resident
in the Persian Gulf; to Pandit MANPHUL, C.S.I. (for a most interesting
communication on Badakhshan); to my brother officer, Major T. G.
MONTGOMERIE, R.E., of the Indian Trigonometrical Survey; to
Commendatore NEGRI the indefatigable President of the Italian
Geographical Society; to Dr. ZOTENBERG, of the Great Paris Library,
and to M. CH. MAUNOIR, Secretary-General of the Société de
Géographie; to Professor HENRY GIGLIOI, at Florence; to my old
friend Major-General ALBERT FYTCHE, Chief Commissioner of
British Burma; to DR. ROST and DR. FORBES-WATSON, of the
India Office Library and Museum; to Mr. R. H. MAJOR, and Mr. R. K.
DOUGLAS, of the British Museum; to Mr. N. B. DENNYS, of
Hong-kong; and to Mr. C. GARDNER, of the Consular Establishment
in China. There are not a few others to whom my thanks are equally
due; but it is feared that the number of names already mentioned may
seem ridiculous, compared with the result, to those who do not
appreciate from how many quarters the facts needful for a work which
in its course intersects so many fields required to be collected, one by
one. I must not, however, omit acknowledgments to the present Earl of
DERBY for his courteous permission, when at the head of the Foreign
Office, to inspect Mr. Abbott's valuable unpublished Report upon some
of the Interior Provinces of Persia; and to Mr. T. T. COOPER, one of
the most adventurous travellers of modern times, for leave to quote
some passages from his unpublished diary.
PALERMO, _31st December, 1870_.

[_Original Dedication._]
TO HER ROYAL HIGHNESS, MARGHERITA, _Princess of
Piedmont_, THIS ENDEAVOUR TO ILLUSTRATE THE LIFE AND
WORK OF A RENOWNED ITALIAN IS BY HER ROYAL
HIGHNESS'S GRACIOUS PERMISSION Dedicated WITH THE
DEEPEST RESPECT BY
H. YULE.
[1] _Cathay and The Way Thither, being a Collection of Minor
Medieval Notices of China_. London, 1866. The necessities of the case
have required the repetition in the present work of the substance of
some notes already printed (but hardly published) in the other.
[2] Viz. Mr. Hugh Murray's. I mean no disrespect to Mr. T. Wright's
edition, but it is, and professes to be,