Mandervile, Sir John, Knight, The Voyages and Travels, London, 1704.
The author of this book is uncertain and it is thought to be a collection of travellers' tales combined and dramatized in the one volume under the probably fictitious name Sir John Mandervile.
The book first appeared in 1356-1357 written in French with the English version published in 1375. It was very popular and has been re-printed many times. Modern scholarship has concluded the actual author may have been Jan de Langhe a Flemish writer who wrote in Latin as Johannes Longus. But there have been many other theories as to the real author as well.
There are many highly imaginative and fanciful illustrations in the book one of the most bizarre shows tiny lambs growing on trees supposedly representing the white cotton balls on the cotton plant.
In spite of these questionable aspects apparently it was used as a reference book by Christopher Columbus and Marco Polo.