Jacob of Ancona
Encyclopedia
"Jacob of Ancona" is the name that has been given to the supposed author of a book of travels, purportedly made by a scholarly Jewish merchant who wrote in vernacular Italian, an account of a trading venture he made, in which he reached China
in 1271, four years before Marco Polo
. The narrative contains political debates about the future of the city in which he engaged with the aid of a translator of mixed Italian and Chinese ancestry.
, an Englishman residing in Italy, professed to have made his translation, published as The City of Light: The Hidden Journal of the Man Who Entered China Four Years Before Marco Polo, has not come to light, even in photocopies; its possessor still remains anonymous. Selbourne asserts that "provenance and rights of ownership over it are unclear," motivating its owner's desire for anonymity.
was prepared to publish the diary, under the title The City of Light in the United States. The house had just published the book in the UK when word spread that China scholar Jonathan Spence
, the Sterling Professor of History at Yale, had written a book review for the New York Times that questioned the book's authenticity. Despite growing pressure, David Selbourne has continued to refuse to make the original manuscript available for public scrutiny. At the last minute, in September 1997, Little, Brown and Co. pulled the diary from US publication, scheduled for 3 November.
T. H. Barrett, School of Oriental and African Studies, in The London Review of Books
, 30 October 1997, described the text as a forgery; he noted that the garbled name Baiciu for a famous rebel "was only known to the narrator of the account in a form which derived from an 18th-century misreading of an Arabic manuscript— as good a proof as any that something is badly amiss." Roz Kaveny, reviewing the book in New Statesman noted that "By coincidence, much of what Jacob d'Ancona dislikes in 13th-century China is what David Selbourne dislikes in late-20th century Britain" and thought that she recognized in the dialectical principles with which d'Ancona controverts his ideological opponents close parallels with Selbourne's own rhetorical techniques. She concluded that one might prefer "to suppose that the dilemma, and the document, are mirages, that his book is a postmodernist literary device
."
In December 2007 a University of London professor read a public lecture '"The Faking of 'The City of Light", to which he neglected to invite Selbourne. Bernard Wasserstein
, president of the Oxford Center for Hebrew and Jewish Studies, and his brother, David, professor of Islamic history at Tel Aviv University publicly called attention to an anachronism, "Jacob"'s arrival at a mellah
in the Persian Gulf
, a descriptive for a ghetto
based on the root for "salt", that was not used until the fifteenth century, in Morocco;
The first writer to come forward to support the text's authenticity in public was Melanie Phillips
, who took issue with Barrett in the Sunday Times, 8 October 1998, and who responded, as did Selbourne, to Barrett's letter to LRB Selbourne further responded with a "Preface to the American Edition" (Lightning Source, 2003) when the Kensington imprint
Citadel Press published The City of Light: the Hidden Journal of the Man Who Entered China Four Years Before Marco Polo in 2000. A Chinese translation was published in Shanghai, December 1999, under the direction of Prof. Li Xue Qin, Academy of Social Sciences, Selbourne reported.
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
in 1271, four years before Marco Polo
Marco Polo
Marco Polo was a Venetian merchant traveler from the Venetian Republic whose travels are recorded in Il Milione, a book which did much to introduce Europeans to Central Asia and China. He learned about trading whilst his father and uncle, Niccolò and Maffeo, travelled through Asia and apparently...
. The narrative contains political debates about the future of the city in which he engaged with the aid of a translator of mixed Italian and Chinese ancestry.
Missing manuscript
The Italian manuscript from which David SelbourneDavid Selbourne
David Selbourne is a British political philosopher, social commentator and historian of ideas. He was educated at Manchester Grammar School, and Balliol College, Oxford, where he studied Jurisprudence, held the Winter Williams Law Scholarship, and was awarded a Paton Studentship and the Jenkins...
, an Englishman residing in Italy, professed to have made his translation, published as The City of Light: The Hidden Journal of the Man Who Entered China Four Years Before Marco Polo, has not come to light, even in photocopies; its possessor still remains anonymous. Selbourne asserts that "provenance and rights of ownership over it are unclear," motivating its owner's desire for anonymity.
Doubts
In 1997, Little, Brown and CompanyLittle, Brown and Company
Little, Brown and Company is a publishing house established by Charles Coffin Little and his partner, James Brown. Since 2006 it has been a constituent unit of Hachette Book Group USA.-19th century:...
was prepared to publish the diary, under the title The City of Light in the United States. The house had just published the book in the UK when word spread that China scholar Jonathan Spence
Jonathan Spence
Jonathan D. Spence is a British-born historian and public intellectual specializing in Chinese history. He was Sterling Professor of History at Yale University from 1993 to 2008. His most famous book is The Search for Modern China, which has become one of the standard texts on the last several...
, the Sterling Professor of History at Yale, had written a book review for the New York Times that questioned the book's authenticity. Despite growing pressure, David Selbourne has continued to refuse to make the original manuscript available for public scrutiny. At the last minute, in September 1997, Little, Brown and Co. pulled the diary from US publication, scheduled for 3 November.
T. H. Barrett, School of Oriental and African Studies, in The London Review of Books
London Review of Books
The London Review of Books is a fortnightly British magazine of literary and intellectual essays.-History:The LRB was founded in 1979, during the year-long lock-out at The Times, by publisher A...
, 30 October 1997, described the text as a forgery; he noted that the garbled name Baiciu for a famous rebel "was only known to the narrator of the account in a form which derived from an 18th-century misreading of an Arabic manuscript— as good a proof as any that something is badly amiss." Roz Kaveny, reviewing the book in New Statesman noted that "By coincidence, much of what Jacob d'Ancona dislikes in 13th-century China is what David Selbourne dislikes in late-20th century Britain" and thought that she recognized in the dialectical principles with which d'Ancona controverts his ideological opponents close parallels with Selbourne's own rhetorical techniques. She concluded that one might prefer "to suppose that the dilemma, and the document, are mirages, that his book is a postmodernist literary device
Postmodernism
Postmodernism is a philosophical movement evolved in reaction to modernism, the tendency in contemporary culture to accept only objective truth and to be inherently suspicious towards a global cultural narrative or meta-narrative. Postmodernist thought is an intentional departure from the...
."
In December 2007 a University of London professor read a public lecture '"The Faking of 'The City of Light", to which he neglected to invite Selbourne. Bernard Wasserstein
Bernard Wasserstein
Bernard Wasserstein is a professor of history. Wasserstein was born in London, and educated at the High School of Glasgow and at Wyggeston Boys' Grammar School, Leicester. He gained a BA in Modern History at Balliol College, Oxford University in 1969.Wasserstein's main area of interest is Jewish...
, president of the Oxford Center for Hebrew and Jewish Studies, and his brother, David, professor of Islamic history at Tel Aviv University publicly called attention to an anachronism, "Jacob"'s arrival at a mellah
Mellah
A mellah is a walled Jewish quarter of a city in Morocco, an analogue of the European ghetto...
in the Persian Gulf
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf, in Southwest Asia, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.The Persian Gulf was the focus of the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers...
, a descriptive for a ghetto
Ghetto
A ghetto is a section of a city predominantly occupied by a group who live there, especially because of social, economic, or legal issues.The term was originally used in Venice to describe the area where Jews were compelled to live. The term now refers to an overcrowded urban area often associated...
based on the root for "salt", that was not used until the fifteenth century, in Morocco;
The first writer to come forward to support the text's authenticity in public was Melanie Phillips
Melanie Phillips
Melanie Phillips is a British journalist and author. She began her career on the left of the political spectrum, writing for such publications as The Guardian and New Statesman. In the 1990s she moved to the right, and she now writes for the Daily Mail newspaper, covering political and social...
, who took issue with Barrett in the Sunday Times, 8 October 1998, and who responded, as did Selbourne, to Barrett's letter to LRB Selbourne further responded with a "Preface to the American Edition" (Lightning Source, 2003) when the Kensington imprint
Kensington Books
Kensington Publishing Corp. is an American book publisher.- Overview :Kensington was founded in 1974 by Walter Zacharius, formerly of Lancer Books. Steven Zacharius became president and CEO in 2005. Vice president Michael Rosamilia has been the CFO since 1989. Laurie Parkin is the vice president...
Citadel Press published The City of Light: the Hidden Journal of the Man Who Entered China Four Years Before Marco Polo in 2000. A Chinese translation was published in Shanghai, December 1999, under the direction of Prof. Li Xue Qin, Academy of Social Sciences, Selbourne reported.
Further reading
- Halkin, Hillel, "The Strange Adventures of Jacob d'Ancona: Is a memoir of China purportedly written by a 13th-century Jewish merchant authentic? And if not, what then?" in Commentary Magazine, 111.4 (April 2001)