Early in his career, he began signing his tales as "Captain Salgari", a title he once defended in a duel when his claim to it was questioned. His first stories were serialized in newspapers. He turned his passion for exploration and discovery to writing. Salgari had actually never ventured farther than the Adriatic Sea. His early biographies were filled with adventurous tales set in the Far East, events which he claimed were the basis for much of his work. He claimed to have explored the Sudan desert, met Buffalo Bill in Nebraska (he had actually met him during his "Wild West Show" tour of Italy), and sailed the Seven Seas. As his powers of narration grew, so did his reputation for having lived a life of adventure.
He began his writing career as a reporter on the daily La Nuova Arena, which published some of his work as serials. From a young age, he had a desire to explore the seas and studied seamanship at a nautical technical institution in Venice, but his academic performance was too poor, and he never graduated. 8.11 Adventures set during times of war and revolutionĮmilio Salgari was born in Verona to a family of modest merchants.8.7 Adventures set in the lands of ice and snow.8.4 Tales of lost cities and great treasures.
8.3 Adventures set in the desert and the Middle East.