Chapter XI of 'Margherita Pusterla'

The serialized publication of European and North American literary works translated into Spanish was very frequent in the Philippine press at the end of the 19th century. Generally, they were often novels written by nineteenth-century authors such as Alexandre Dumas, the Flemish author Henri Conscience, or Italian Cesare Cantù (1804-1895).

Cantù wrote Margherita Pusterla in Italian in a prison and published it in two volumes in 1838. It is a historical drama based on the life of a 14th-century noblewoman.

The novels used to be published in facsimile format at the bottom of the gigantic newspaper page, preserving their usual numbering, so that it was like a collectible that could be cut out and then put together to make the complete book.

Cesare Cantù. 1838. Margherita Pusterla Vol. 1. Milano: Truffi.
Cesare Cantù. 1838. Margherita Pusterla Vol. 2. Milano: Truffi.

Jurilla Patricia May Bantug. 2010. Bibliography of Filipino Novels 1901-2000. Diliman: Quezon City : University of the Philippines Press.
---. 2008. Tagalog Bestsellers of the Twentieth Century : A History of the Book in the Philippines. Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press.