Mastro Bertuchello e il tesoro dei ventimiglia [Master Bertuchello and the Treasure of the 20,000]. Milano: Casa ed. "La Madonnina" di Milano, 1950.
Title
Mastro Bertuchello e il tesoro dei ventimiglia [Master Bertuchello and the Treasure of the 20,000]. Milano: Casa ed. "La Madonnina" di Milano, 1950.
Description
This is an Italian Book Company import: underneath the name of the Casa ed. "La Madonnina," the Milanese publisher on the cover, is the notice that the Italian Book Company is "the only custodian [for this work] in the United States of North America." As I note elsewhere, the Italian Book Company was extremely protective of its legal rights as the sole importer from Italy of popular works of fiction and, especially, sheet music.
"William Galt," i.e., Luigi Natoli of Palermo, was one of the then contemporary Italian novelists (like Guido Bassi, author of a long-running serial, Sangue Siciliano published both in Italy and in the U.S.) quite popular among Italian Americans, one whose works were either published in the U.S. or, as in this case, imported from Italy.
Mastro Bertuchello e il tesoro dei Ventimiglia is actually two consecutive historical novels by Luigi Natoli (Mastro Bertuchello and Il tesoro dei Ventimiglia, often published as Latini e Catalani). Set in 16th-century medieval Sicily, the plot follows a humble, bookish teacher, Mastro Bertuchello, navigating a dangerous landscape of civil war and palace conspiracies.
The story centers on the brutal, fratricidal power struggles between major Sicilian baronial factions (such as the Chiaramonte, Ventimiglia, and Palizzi families) as they attempt to wrest supreme authority away from a weakening Aragonese crown. Across the two volumes:
- Volume 1 (Mastro Bertuchello): Introduces Bertuchello, who wanders the alleyways of Palermo during these bloody aristocratic feuds. He acts as a centering, protective figure while witnessing the shifting allegiances and political turmoil.
- Volume 2 (Il tesoro dei Ventimiglia): Picks up years later with Bertuchello and others now embroiled in a hunt for a massive Ventimiglia family treasure, the existence of which has become a powerful, highly sought-after legend.
Creator
"William Galt"
[Luigi Natoli]
Publisher
Casa ed. "La Madonnina" di Milano
Date
1950
Format
25.5 x 19.5cm; 301 p.
Language
Italian
Citation
"William Galt" and [Luigi Natoli], “Mastro Bertuchello e il tesoro dei ventimiglia [Master Bertuchello and the Treasure of the 20,000]. Milano: Casa ed. "La Madonnina" di Milano, 1950.,” Italian-Language American Imprints: The Periconi Collection, accessed July 14, 2026, https://italianamericanimprints.omeka.net/items/show/225.
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