In 2007, Martino Marazzi's work, Peppino il lustrascarpe, suggested a renewed interest in the Italian American writer Luigi Donato Ventura. Marazzi wrote about finding, in the public library of San Francisco, the original short novel Peppino, written in Italian. This event marked a turning point in the dating of Ventura's previous publications, given that many scholars were still wondering if there was a work prior to the two published versions of the novel: the French text dated 1885, published in William R. Jenkins's Contes Choisis, and the English version, which came to light the following year in Misfits and Remnants, written together with S. E. Shevitch. The importance of the formalization of an original work written in Italian (1882 but published in 1898) not only clarified many doubts but also deepened the analyses concerning the author, his life, and his literary works. Once in America, Ventura...

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