He began working as an illustrator in the 1890s, primarily for the publishing houses of Adriano Salani Editore, R. Bemporad & figlio [it] and Casa Editrice Nerbini.
His designs for Ciondolino (1896) by Vamba, were made into etchings which were then "restituiti all'eleganza e alla grazia dell'originale" (returned to the elegance and grace of the original).
He also created drawings for Les Misérables by Victor Hugo,[1] and the complete works of Tommaso Catani, a priest and friend of Carlo Collodi, who wrote children's books and elementary school readers.
The Journey of a Lead Soldier, written by Anna Franchi and published by Salani in 1901, met with considerable success.
[2] In 1910, he wrote Il falco e la colomba: melanconie d'un Gatto bigio (The Falcon and the Dove: Melancholy of a Gray Cat).