The story was first serialized in the Roman children's magazine, Giornale per i Bambini (July 1881 - January 1883). This original edition in book form is EXTREMELY RARE and copies in unsophisticated condition such as this one (original endpapers, no tightening of binding, etc.) are particularly hard to find on the market. The Oppenheimer copy is the only one to have come up at auction in the last two decades (1982).