The Òbook of Travelsó by John Mandeville and Its English Critics of the 17th Century

The article is devoted to John MandevilleÕs ÒBook of TravelsÓ, one of the most popular medieval travelogues, and to the peculiarities of its existence in early Modern England. Based on the analysis of the works of Joseph Hall and Richard Brom, who are considered the first critics of Mandeville in historiography, the author of the article comes to the conclusion that the truthfulness of the facts presented in the ÒBook of TravelsÓ worried the English writers of the early 17th century least of all. Both HallÕs ÒMundus alter et idemÓ and BromÕs ÒAntipodesÓ represented a parody of the existing political order in Western Europe and, in particular, in England. References to Mandeville were thus intended to enhance the satirical component of these works, and at the same time the didactic orientation of the ÒBook of TravelsÓ itself.