In publishing the narrative of Friar William of Rubruck, a work which should rank as high in the literature of travel as that of Marco Polo, his better-known successor in the field of Asiatic exploration, the Hakluyt Society, I think, not only renders a service to students, but performs an act of justice long due to a great, though much neglected, traveller, who for six hundred and fifty years has remained imperfectly known and appreciated.<br><br>It must be a source of lasting regret to all members of the Society that our great geographer and lamented President, Sir Henry Yule, was not able to undertake the preparation of an edition of William of Rubruck's Itinerariuni, as he had long contemplated doing; but his high opinion of the narrative, expressed in several of his works, has already greatly contributed towards establishing the travellers unquestionable right to pre-eminence among the earliest European explorers of Asia, It is sincerely hoped that the present volume will further aid in showing the equity of Friar Williams claim to the highest recognition.