Edoardo Sonzogno

Galli sought to establish an editorial line distinct from those of Casa Ricordi and Francesco Lucca [it], Sonzogno's closest competitors,[1][2] by publishing monthly series of, in Galli's words, "a collection of economically priced masterworks by the great maestri".

The competition had two winners: Luigi Mapelli [it]'s Anna e Gualberto and Guglielmo Zuelli's La fata del nord.

Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana won first prize against seventy-two other operas, including Niccola Spinelli's Labilia and Vincenzo Ferroni [it]'s Rudello.

He was also one of the first publishers in Italy to launch pocket-book editions of a huge range of classical authors from all over the world, a collection he called Biblioteca Universale.

The price of these minibooks (11.5 × 17.5 cm) was so low, from 1 to 3.5 lire, that anybody could easily afford a personal library of classics, fiction and non-fiction.