I am reading my slow, marvellous way through the Yule-Cordier edition of The Travels of Marco Polo, armed with Google Maps, Google Images, Wikipedia and the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica. It is stirring up an insatiable storm of Wanderlust, and so to expiate my guilt at not PhD-ing, I am sharing my vicarious armchair travelling. Marker by annotated marker, I’m filling in a map of Marco Polo’s cities and travels —
(I am having truly debased amounts of fun hunting down sites, pictures and forgotten names of ancient cities. And the Travels themselves are, of course, terrific reading. The map will be updated as I read).
[edit] You can keep up by subscribing to the map’s RSS, which shows the associated photos in all their full-resolution glory.
a historian's craft 
September 1st, 2008 at 3:53 am
Wow… coolest map ever! Great idea!
September 1st, 2008 at 4:11 am
There have always been two great moments for me in Marco Polo’s travels.
1) The account of the Khan’s fiat paper currency, which he exchanges for all the gold and silver and jewels in his kingdom, and which everyone honors on pain of death;
2) The Khan’s network of recruiters and inspectors who likewise gather the most attractive maidens of every kingdom conquered by the Khan, who then keeps them as sexual and body servants before marrying them off to other nobles (usually his relatives). There’s a single Y chromosome signature that is overrepresented throughout most of Asia, suggesting a single common ancestor. Scientists believe that ancestor may be Genghis Khan.
September 2nd, 2008 at 3:34 pm
This is really cool! Is there a way to link different placemarks to give the map a temporal element, or let the viewer “follow” MP’s various journeys/periods of time? Keep it up!
September 3rd, 2008 at 7:26 am
it’s a little difficult to do that, because marco polo himself doesn’t describe them in fully linear order — he is full of diversions and musings and tangential ruminations, and in part I suppose that’s to do with the way the Travels were compiled — by dictating to someone else. but the RSS feed will feature the cities more or less as they appear in the book, so that should provide some indication :~)
January 22nd, 2010 at 7:26 pm
Dear Rachel, good job!
Some of my findings and conclusions regarding Marco Polo, as one also interested in the Historian’s Craft.
http://sites.google.com/site/hgtjoa/marcopolo
January 25th, 2010 at 1:33 pm
brilliant! thanks very much for the link, and for your meticulous work on the issue.
September 4th, 2008 at 6:48 pm
Rachel, this is fabulous! I’m hooked; I may have to drag out my copy and re-read it so I can ‘travel’ along behind you (and Marco).
September 5th, 2008 at 2:34 am
[…] The Travels of Marco Polo, The Travels of William Bartram, Marco Polo, William Bartram Over at A Historian’s Craft, rachel leow has a really neat little project going on, mapping out and annotating the travels of […]
September 9th, 2008 at 5:02 am
This is super neat!
September 11th, 2008 at 9:31 pm
[…] [From indulgence & sin « a historian’s craft] […]
September 12th, 2008 at 4:57 am
[…] Leow has put together an excellent Google Maps mashup based on the Yule-Cordier edition of The Travels of Marco Polo. (via […]
September 13th, 2008 at 9:08 am
Great job, it’s my son’s dream to follow the trails of Marco Polo. Although i don’t like it at all 🙂
September 13th, 2008 at 10:19 am
[…] Comments marin on indulgence & sinMapped: ‘The Trave… on indulgence & sinToo many topics, too… on indulgence […]
September 13th, 2008 at 11:45 am
[…] medida que lee Los viajes de Marco Polo, la historiadora Rachel Leow va actualizando un Google Maps con el itinerario. Acá está la versión ampliada del mapa (con fotos y notas al […]
September 16th, 2008 at 7:51 pm
[…] – lights low, relaxing to 40s music on the couch, reading a book while curled up with BHK. Google Maps map annotated with all the places Marco Polo visited during his travels to China and bac…. Larger map here. (via short schrift) Saturday: Mostly cloudy, with a high near […]
September 18th, 2008 at 4:36 pm
[…] Leow, Indulgence and Sin A Historian’s Craft “I am reading my slow, marvellous way through the Yule-Cordier […]
September 20th, 2008 at 3:23 am
[…] Blog de Rachel Leow […]
October 2nd, 2008 at 10:18 pm
am totally amazed at how much this has gotten around — thank you & I’m so happy people have enjoyed my indulgence & sin & outright geekery. I am bound to inform you all that since a) the Yule-Cordier edition comes in two very large volumes, b) I have only been able to procure the first volume, and c) I have now finished the first volume, map updates will desist until such a time as the Book Gods see fit to bestow upon me an affordable copy of the second volume. Hang on to that RSS feed — it might spasm into action any day 🙂
October 3rd, 2008 at 7:20 pm
[…] – lights low, relaxing to 40s music on the couch, reading a book while curled up with BHK. Google Maps map annotated with all the places Marco Polo visited during his travels to China and bac…. Larger map here. (via short schrift) Saturday: Mostly cloudy, with a high near […]
November 28th, 2008 at 12:54 am
Your “Marco Polo” Google map is brilliant (and the RSS feed an excellent feature.
Is this map “public”….. Can I save it or view it away from your blog?
Colin
November 28th, 2008 at 2:17 am
Hi Colin – yes, you can access the map publicly at http://www.tinyurl.com/marcopolomap – enjoy!
January 19th, 2009 at 5:53 am
I had read this book back in *mumblemumble* and decided to do it again. I just finished up the audio book so I suppose that’s the inspiration. Having ordered the Yule-Cordier edition to actually READ the words I then stumbled on your blog while Googling. Imagine my delight!
I’m going to use your map, if you don’t mind (as you’ve saved me time – hmmm, retired librarian and fledgling historian minds think alike! XD).
I am getting excited about this book all over again. 🙂
January 19th, 2009 at 5:55 am
[…] Literature. Geotagging and virtual geocaching can be used to create annotated maps and real- world locations related to works of literature, enhancing the experience of reading the story. For instance, out of personal interest, one reader created a map of the course described in The Travels of Marco Polo, including passages from the text, photographs of the places mentioned (historical and contemporary), annotations and links, and other information (https://idlethink.wordpress.com/2008/08/31/indulgence-sin/). […]
March 14th, 2009 at 10:29 pm
[…] at different locations and information provided under each tag either as text, visual or sound(https://idlethink.wordpress.com/2008/08/31/indulgence-sin/). The potential for experiential learning through these technologies and those that facilitate […]
March 15th, 2009 at 6:17 pm
[…] Les outils permettant de déterminer et de stoker les coordonnées géospatiales d’un objet sont de plus en plus d’usage courant. On cite le cas d’un appareil Nikon capable d’établir automatiquement via GPS le lieu de la prise d’une photo et d’enregistrer ces coordonnées avec le fichier résultant. Mobile Fotos est une application iPhone qui géo-référence les photos avant de les charger automatiquement dans Flickr. D’ailleurs, des sites comme Flickr Maps ou Google Maps permettent de consulter des images associées à des portions de cartes. L’acquisition et le stockage automatique de données géo-référencées offre un terreau particulièrement propice au développement d’outils de recherche dans plusieurs domaines: la sociologie, les sciences de la santé, l’environnement, etc. C’est ainsi que les chercheurs peuvent, par ce biais, étudier la migration des animaux ou la progression d’épidémies. Dans le domaine des arts et de la littérature, de telles technologies permettent de représenter le parcours d’une oeuvre. Un site propose ainsi une catre géographique sur laquelle se retrouvent des photos de lieux évoqués dans les Voyages de Marco Polo. […]
April 24th, 2009 at 6:44 pm
I just found your Marco Polo map and I have to tell you–you are a rock star! I love this! Thanks for your “indulgence and sin”.
June 22nd, 2009 at 3:38 pm
Great post, make more 😉
August 14th, 2009 at 2:35 pm
Rachel,
I too am rereading the MP Travels. I can’t tell you how often I have pulled out a map of Asia to find out “where in the world is MP?” I have often wondered what parts were fanciful and which actually were witnessed. With the exception of the Odyssey, the travels of MP is most astounding tale ever spun.
Your map is nothing short of brilliant. Thank you.
The implications of your project are boundless. I am also a huge fan of Sir Frances Drake. If imitation is the highest form of flattery, I may be complimenting you in the future.
I am curious is there is a way to sequence chronologically the points of destination?
October 9th, 2009 at 11:37 pm
That is a cool map, and a great idea. Thank you very much for sharing it with all of us!
October 13th, 2009 at 6:51 pm
Great post thanks. Wanna go the same places 🙂
October 20th, 2009 at 3:02 pm
Excellent endevour. I will have a closer look at the map. Great work!
December 16th, 2009 at 8:58 pm
[…] https://idlethink.wordpress.com/2008/08/31/indulgence-sin/ The Travels of Marco Polo contains text, photographos of the places, annotation, and […]
January 12th, 2010 at 2:26 am
[…] me yet. I’m going to keep an eye on it as they add more. Also: It reminded me of Rachel Leow’s wonderful Google Map charting the Travels of […]
April 18th, 2011 at 6:09 am
Hmm it appears like your site ate my first comment (it was super long) so I guess I’ll just sum it up what I had written and say, I’m thoroughly enjoying your blog. I too am an aspiring blog writer but I’m still new to the whole thing. Do you have any tips and hints for novice blog writers? I’d definitely appreciate it.
April 25th, 2011 at 4:12 am
Rachel will you ever come to australia? want your email address
November 9th, 2011 at 6:59 am
Sorry for the naïve question, but.. Have you been able to get your copy of the book at last so that you could finish your map? =)
Very nice work, Rachel, and thank you very much for making it public!
November 11th, 2011 at 12:11 am
[…] quiero dejar aquí un enlace a unas fotografías que muestran cómo es hoy Hotan (Khotan) y a otra maravilla en Google Maps, en la que las etapas del viaje de Marco Polo aparecen sobre un mapa actual del continente […]
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