1. mandeville, sir john English adventurer, named of St. Albans, who from his own account travelled overthirtyyears in the East, and wrote a narrative of the marvels he experienced in a book of voyages and travels published in 1356; the authorship of this book has been questioned, but on this pointthere is no doubt that, as Professor Saintsbury says, "it is the firstbook of belles-lottres in English prose."