The Travels of Marco Polo · Character
Ferdinand Verbiest
Also known as Father Verbiest, Verbiest
- Minor
- First seen · Book 1 · Ch. 126
Father Verbiest is associated with the observatory and the careful remaking of instruments for reading the heavens. He feels like a figure at the meeting point of patient scholarship and sweeping change, though the text tells us little of the man behind the work.
- Gender
- male
- Age
- Adult
- First appears
- Book 1 · Ch. 126
- Books
- 1
Ferdinand Verbiest was a Jesuit whose work at the Peking Observatory displaced older Mongol instruments and introduced new ones, in either 1668 or 1673 according to the account. His legacy here is one of scientific rebuilding and the reshaping of an institution devoted to observing the sky. No personal relationships or further transformation are described.
Description
The text gives no physical description of Ferdinand Verbiest. His height, build, skin tone, hair, eyes, facial features, age markers, and distinguishing features are unspecified. His Jesuit role suggests clerical attire as a broad visual convention, but no particular garments or accessories are described.
Story so far
BOOK 1The Travels of Marco Polo — Volume 1
Appearances
Meet Ferdinand Verbiest in Bookworm
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