Tipografia Elvetica

The Tipografia e Libreria Elvetica of Capolago was a nineteenth-century Swiss publishing house, which operated in Canton Ticino from 1830 to 1853 and acquired a particular importance as a clandestine press of the patriots of the Italian Risorgimento.

The Tipografia Elvetica was founded in 1830 by the Genoese exile Alessandro Repetti and directed by Gino Daelli. Thanks to its location on Swiss territory, close to the border with the Austrian-controlled Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia, it rapidly became an important point of reference for the publication of patriotic works circulated clandestinely in Italy.

The press enjoyed the collaboration of the Mazzinian Luigi Dottesio, who gave a notable impulse to the printing of books, periodicals and proclamations of Risorgimental patriots and exiles. The main authors published included Vincenzo Gioberti, Francesco Domenico Guerrazzi, Giuseppe La Farina, Niccolò Tommaseo, Jean Charles Leonard Simonde de Sismondi, Pietro Colletta, Cesare Balbo and Massimo d'Azeglio.

In 1851, Dottessio was arrested and executed by the Austrians. The growing attentions of the Swiss authorities, under Austrian pressure, forced Repetti to close down the Tipografia Elvetica in 1853.