In 1270, a scholarly Jewish merchant named Jacob d'Ancona set out on a voyage from Italy. A year later, he arrived in China at the coastal metropolis of Zaitun, the "City of Light" (now known as Quanzhou), four years before Marco Polo arrived in Xanadu in 1275. Nothing was known of this epochal journey until 1990, when David Selbourne found a remarkable manuscript that had been hidden from the public view for seven centuries. The City of Light, this account of Ancona's travels, provides an unparalleled insight into life in the medieval world.
Originally published to great controversy...
In 1270, a scholarly Jewish merchant named Jacob d'Ancona set out on a voyage from Italy. A year later, he arrived in China at the coastal metropolis ...
