[1] Giovanni Cecchetti, in the introduction to his translation of the 1979 edition, writes that it "is generally regarded as a masterpiece".

[2] This work belongs to the Ciclo dei vinti, together with I Malavoglia, La Duchessa di Leyra, L'Onorevole Scipioni and L'uomo di lusso, works which deal with the problem of social and economical advancement.

La Duchessa de Leyra remained only a draft, while the last two novels planned for the Ciclo, L'Onorevole Scipioni and L'Uomo di Lusso, were not even started.

D. H. Lawrence also wrote an introduction to Mastro-don Gesualdo, published in Phoenix II.

[6] Lawrence also wrote an essay on Mastro-don Gesualdo, published in Phoenix[7] and in Selected Literary Criticism.