A previously unknown piece of juvenilia by great 19th century Italian poet Giacomo Leopardi has been found in Naples and published for the first time. The eight-page exercise book on which a 16-year-old Leopardi wroted his observations on poetry, philosophy, politics and society also contains a list of 160 favourite authors both ancient and modern.

The authors are cross-references by over 550 numerical codes by the precocious youth, whose learning at a young age was prodigious. The text was found in the Fondo Leopardiano in the National Library in Naples by Marcello Andria and Paola Zito, who have edited a version for publication by Le Monnier Università.