Exhibition "In the Forests of Borneo"
Emilio Salgari and Sandokan
Detail from a photographic portrait of Emilio Salgari (vintage photo, early 20th century)
From the reality of the scientist to the imagination of the writer
Emilio Salgari (Verona, 1862 – Turin, 1911), one of the greatest adventure novelists, is best remembered for creating the legendary character Sandokan and the thrilling saga of the Pirates of Malaysia.
From a young age, he was captivated by the spirit of adventure and the lure of the sea. He enrolled at the Royal Technical and Nautical Institute "P. Sarpi" in Venice, though he never completed his diploma. His “maritime” experiences were limited to a few training voyages on school ships and a three-month journey across the Adriatic aboard a merchant vessel. Everything he wrote in his novels came from his vivid imagination and careful bibliographic research.
In 1883, Salgari began publishing the famous Sandokan series, for which the setting appears to have been inspired by the accounts of Odoardo Beccari. It is not certain, however, that the writer ever met the explorer in person, who was 19 years older. He may have encountered him in Venice during the Third International Geographical Congress in 1881, which both attended.
The popular novels of the Sandokan saga were published before Nelle foreste di Borneo, but Beccari had often published or spoken publicly about his adventures (such as in his Cenno di un viaggio a Borneo of 1868), and various hints suggest that Salgari may also have drawn inspiration from these experiences when setting his stories.
These plants, first discovered by the Italian Odoardo Beccari in 1878, on the slopes of Mount Singaleg in the province of Padang, Sumatra, produce a single, gigantic leaf, over ten meters high and two or three meters wide, from the center of which rises the enormous flower of a reddish hue, but dotted with white.
Emilio Salgari, 1896
Cover of the 1906 edition of Le tigri di Mompracem by Emilio Salgari, published by Antonio Donath, Genoa. Alberto Della Valle (1851–1928), Public domain, from Wikimedia Commons