Regarding the opinion of Professor Skeat of Chaucer’s indebtedness to Marco Polo, cf. _Marco Polo and the Squire’s Tale_, by Professor John Matthews Manly, vol. xi. of the _Publications of the Modern Language Association of America_, 1896, pp. 349–362. Mr. Manly says (p. 360): “It seems clear, upon reviewing the whole problem, that if Chaucer used Marco Polo’s narrative, he either carelessly or intentionally confused all the features of the setting that could possibly be confused, and retained not a single really characteristic trait of any person, place or event. It is only by twisting everything that any part of Chaucer’s story can be brought into relation with any part of Polo’s. To do this might be allowable, if any rational explanation could be given for Chaucer’s supposed treatment of his ‘author,’ or if there were any scarcity of sources from which Chaucer might have obtained as much information about Tartary as he seems really to have possessed; but such an explanation would be difficult to devise, and there is no such scarcity. Any one of half a dozen accessible accounts could be distorted into almost if not quite as great resemblance to the _Squire’s Tale_ as Marco Polo’s can.” Mr. A. W. Pollard, in his edition of _The Squire’s Tale_ (Lond., 1899) writes: “A very able paper, by Prof. J. M. Manly, demonstrates the needlessness of Prof. Skeat’s theory, which has introduced fresh complications into an already complicated story. My own belief is that, though we may illustrate the Squire’s Tale from these old accounts of Tartary, and especially from Marco Polo, because he has been so well edited by Colonel Yule, there is very little probability that Chaucer consulted any of them. It is much more likely that he found these details where he found more important parts of his story, _i.e._ in some lost romance. But if we must suppose that he provided his own local colour, we have no right to pin him down to using Marco Polo to the exclusion of other accessible authorities.” Mr. Pollard adds in a note (p. xiii.): “There are some features in these narratives, _e.g._ the account of the gorgeous dresses worn at the Kaan’s feast, which Chaucer with his love of colour could hardly have helped reproducing if he had known them.”—H. C.] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [1] See _Ferrazzi, Manuele Dantesca_, Bassano, 1865, p. 729. [2] In Quaritch’s catalogue for Nov. 1870 there is only one old edition of Polo; there are _nine_ of Maundevile. In 1839 there were nineteen MSS. of the latter author _catalogued_ in the British Museum Library. There are _now_ only six of Marco Polo. At least twenty-five editions of Maundevile and only five of Polo were printed in the 15th century.