His early interest in chemistry prompted him to purchase a 12-volume encyclopaedia of chemistry "Enciclopedia di chimica scientifica e industrial", written by Dr. Selmi, at the age of 15 in an antiquarian bookshop. The work was to cost 50 lire. In order to pay the high amount, he paid a deposit of two lire, used his savings of 42 lire, borrowed another six lire from his mother, who was rather sceptical about such a project, and thus laid another foundation stone for his later knowledge of chemistry. He then experienced the practical implementation again and again with his brother Mariano, whose business was constantly growing. He now had two workshops in Turin, one for contact photography, the other for heliography.

Giovanni de Sperati was also helped by other fortunate circumstances, as a cousin owned a paper mill in Guarcino, where he was able to work during the holidays and learn the complicated processes of papermaking and everything about manufacture and production. He was also fascinated by the warehouse, from which he took a large number of paper samples even then which he could later use for his work.

Even at a young age he had a very remarkable ability to imitate other people's handwriting almost perfectly. To the delight of his classmates, who could not believe it, he forged his teacher's signature so perfectly that the teacher himself did not recognise it as an imitation. He was then only ten years old!

In 1909, even the German specialist press published news of a Sperati forgery workshop in Pisa, where Giovanni had been working with Massimo and Mariano for more than ten months on a thriving business in fine, artistically made forgeries. At times the company also operated from Lucca as "Borsa Filatelica Tosacana", whose "director" was Giovanni. On 12 March 1909 Mariano, who was rarely in Pisa on business and had shortly before had to undergo a house search in Turin, warned the brothers by telegram of a search that was also foreseeable for them, and which actually took place a short time later; but the "birds" had already flown! In contrast to Mariano in Turin, the police in Pisa were more successful: they confiscated two truckloads of forgeries, printing and manufacturing equipment, "including printing presses, paper supplies, chemicals, photographic equipment and about a hundred photographic negatives of domestic and foreign stamps".^[1]