ulrico hoepli the insightful ideas of a bookselling publisher...manuale dell'ingegnere civile e...

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the insightful ideas of a

booksellingp u b l i s h e r

Ulrico Hoepli

by Pier Carlo Della Ferrerainterview with Ulrico Carlo Hoepli

texts by Tindaro Gatani, Ada Gigli Marchetti and Joseph Jung

What memories do you have of Ulrico Hoepli?What aspects of his character and of hisbusiness activities do you regard most inter-esting and do you feel merit attention?My memories of Ulrico Hoepli, the founderof the bookshop and of our publishinghouse, are those that my family has handeddown by word of mouth, as I was born a fewmonths after his death, in January 1935. Mymother and father married in 34 when hewas still alive, shown by a lovely picture Ihave of the occasion; my grandfather Carloand my uncle Gianni spent a lot of time withhim and knew him very well. Therefore I hadthe good fortune to hear stories about hislife, affairs, anecdotes about this man, who inour family was known and is still known asAvo, which means Forefather. He was a greatuncle to my father, an uncle to my grandfa-ther, a great great uncle to me and so callinghim “Forefather” seemed perfectly normal. After a period of apprenticeship in Zurich,Wroclaw and Leipzig, Ulrico Hoepli moved toTrieste, (this city is very important to mebecause my mother is from Trieste) where heworked at a bookshop that is now called“Italo Svevo”. Here he had the great foresightto understand that the future of publishingwas in Milan. This fact has always impressedme because in 1865-1870 Trieste was at theheight of its development, as an outpost toAustria and Central Europe, it was a leadingcultural centre, a city that was soon to bethat of Joyce, Weiss and of the school ofFreud, of Ettore Schmitz, namely Italo Svevo.However, despite this he understood that, tobe successful in the book trade, you had to goto Milan.Ulrico Hoepli also demonstrated this sense ofthe future, this great intelligence when heasked his nephew to continue running hisbusiness. Ulrico Hoepli, who married ElisaHäberlin, had no children. However, he hadsuch an extraordinary sense of the future thathe literally forced his nephew, my grandfa-ther Carlo – that I knew very well because hepassed away in 1972 and I worked with him –to join him in Milan. My grandfather oftencomplained to me about this: “You know myuncle forced me to come to Milan, he forcedme to take the German school-leaving certifi-

cate in Frauenfeld, because he said that if youdidn’t speak German you couldn’t make it inthe book trade, because the printed book hadoriginated in Germany, with Gutenberg. Andthen my uncle forced me to come here to runthe business”. He was so determined, almost violently so, that the business should remainin the family, that he took his nephew, torehim away from Lyon, the city where he livedand was happy, and nominated him his successor. So right from the beginning, hisdesire to do something long-lasting, that

stood the test of time, was apparent.

What were the origins of Ulrico Hoepli’sfamily?Ulrico was the youngest of four children, fiveif you count a brother that died when he wasyoung. As my father and my grandfatheralways said, he belonged to a family ofwohlhabender Bauern, of well-off, but notparticularly wealthy farmers. I have a docu-ment that dates back to the sixteenth cen-tury that shows how the Hoeplis had alwaysbeen a family of farmers from the Canton ofThurgau, a region that was rather poor inthe past, that made its living from the culti-vation of vineyards and above all of fruittrees, so much so that it was known as the“apple factory”. He actually came fromWängi, a small village that we are still citi-zens of. The young Ulrico “emigrated”, hewent to be an apprentice in Zurich, in abookshop called Schabelitz. He was a veryintelligent boy who had a sense of adventureand innovation. The relationship between the young Ulrichand his mother, Regina Gamper, is well-

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The intuitive ideas of a bookselling publisher

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On page I:

A portrait of Ulrico

Hoepli, 1935

On the left:

The publisher in the

eyes of Tullio Pericoli

(2005).

On the right:

Hoepli (in the front)

with his nephew Carlo

in 1910.

Ulrico Hoepli and the Hoeplis, Swiss Milanese Pier Carlo Della Ferrera* meets Ulrico Carlo Hoepli**

known. As Joseph Jung wrote in one of hisbooks, she was the one that acknowledgedher son’s inclination towards intellectualactivities. Little is known, on the otherhand, of his relationship with his father,Mathias.I remember the relationships that UlricoHoepli had with his brothers very well, espe-cially that with Johann Heinrich, or JeanHenri, the brother from Lyon, who – I say itrather paradoxically – gave him his nephewCarlo Hoepli. My family didn’t talk about hisfather and mother very much, so we have totrust what our friend and historian Jungsays. Perhaps, due to a certain male chau-vinism, the mother was never acknowledgedwith the great merit she deserved. However, it is important to mention thatindividual and personal events – as so oftenhappens – played a fundamental role in all ofthis. The opportunities provided by a citylike Zurich, where a certain intellectualvivacity was present, working in a largebookshop combined with this young man’sintelligence as well as his later work experi-ence in Leipzig, Wroclaw, Trieste and Cairoundoubtedly enabled him to develop his planto buy the Laengner bookshop in Milan. Thiswas really small, and he was able to expandit, partly thanks to the good relations he hadwith the local Protestant community. Ibelieve that his great intuition played animportant role, as I mentioned before. Thereis no doubt that his mother was a veryimportant figure; but then all mothers are.

What difficulties did he have to face at thestart of his career, on his arrival in Milan?The first obstacle – although it might seembanal – was the language. Ulrico Hoepli,Swiss, was raised speaking Thurgauerdütsch;he lived in Trieste for a while, but the city,although geographically Italian, belonged tothe Habsburg Empire and at that timeGerman was the dominant language.My father and my grandfather, as well as myuncle Gianni, who is still alive and overninety years old, or even my aunt Bianca,who has just turned ninety, have always jo-kingly told me that the Avo spoke Italianrather badly. His intelligence enabled him tounderstand it well, but he always kept astrong German accent and initially encoun-tered the odd difficulty, especially in thewritten form. To overcome this problem, he surroundedhimself with an excellent team of co-workers,such as Giovanni Piazza, who wrote his letters for him and acted as his intermediary.

Despite these difficulties, you could say thathe enjoyed success right from the start.Evidently Ulrico Hoepli had innate businessskills; he was “daring” and “shrewd”, asEnrico Decleva wrote, so much so that hesucceeded in becoming the publisher of theItalian royal family, although he was Swissand a Republican, and the publisher for theVatican, although he was Protestant. Yes, he was “daring” and “shrewd”, but alsovery courageous, because at the beginningof his career he often came close to bank-

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Ulrico Hoepli

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Ulrico Hoepli's

birthplace in Tuttwil.

ruptcy and had to face incredible failures.In 1873 he decided to publish a book thatentailed considerable expense, the Codex

diplomaticus Cavensis, an ancient code pre-served in a Benedictine abbey. The monks didnot honour their commitment and the initia-tive, which could have been of considerableinterest, was a failure from a business per-spective. He was brave, but the business didnot generate the expected results. One anec-dote which has become famous in our familyis that of the decisive role played by his broth-er in Lyon, Jean Henri, who gave him a “leg-endary” loan of 20,000 Swiss francs. Withoutthis money he would probably have had toclose the business.Being a Republican and publisher of theroyal family, Protestant and publisher of theVatican was a skill that Ulrico Hoepli hadbecause he was Swiss. The Swiss are worldcitizens, considered such because of theiropen-mindedness, their tolerance and theircosmopolitanism. So naturally being Swiss,for all of these reasons, is a great advantage.An advantage that the Avo knew how toexploit in the best way possible, but notbecause his sole objective was money andbusiness, as demonstrated by a number ofincidents.My family still recounts everybody’s sense ofdesperation when, in 1930, Hoepli decidedto donate the Planetarium to the city ofMilan, because – he said – “I have found for-tune in my life and my work in this city, andI want to give what I have earned back to thecity”. The documents still preserved in theZeiss Ikon archives in Jena demonstrate thathe paid for the building that Piero Portaluppidesigned for the planetarium bar bezahlt, i.e.in cash, and donated it to the city. And he didthe same with the library in Zurich. InZurich’s Central Library there is a plate withthe name of all of the institution’s benefactors;Ulrico Hoepli’s name appears among thesebecause in 1903 he made a generous contri-bution of 25,000 Swiss francs to the library,which was a lot of money in those days.However, his actions were not for profit orpersonal gain. Later, my father and my grand-father had to change their opinions about thedonation of the Planetarium, so much so thatthey often repeated: “You know, in reality, weshould be grateful to the Avo, because if ithadn’t been for the Planetarium, there would

never have been a via Hoepli in Milan”, a greathonour for us. Ulrico Hoepli had both business and socialskills. This enabled him to approach the pope,the king, anyone, and to be a good mediatorbetween the Protestants and the Catholics. Ithink that he displayed “ecumenical” skills.

What relationships did Hoepli manage toforge with newly-established cultural andacademic institutions or those that werealready an established part of the Milaneseor Italian cultural life?Ulrico Hoepli possessed innate skills inhuman relations, he was likable, perhapsdue to his directness or to that distant Swissaccent that you could pick up in conversa-tion and he immediately managed to estab-lish strong ties with figures from the oldPolitecnico [Polytechnic], which at thattime was called the Istituto TecnicoSuperiore [Technical High School]. In particular, he forged an extraordinary rela-tionship with the great Giuseppe Colombo,author of one of Hoepli’s bestsellers, theManuale dell’ingegnere [Engineer’s hand-

book]. Giuseppe Colombo, lecturer in

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Title page of the first

edition (1877-78) of the

Manuale dell'Ingegnere

civile e industriale

[The civil and industrial

engineer's handbook]

by Giuseppe Colombo.

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Ulrico Hoepli

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Mechanics and Machine Construction, wasthe man who in that period, between theeighteen seventies and the first decade of thetwentieth century, gave electricity to Milan.Close to the Rinascente there is a beautifulplate that reads: “Here Giuseppe Colombofor the first time illuminated piazza delDuomo”. He was a fine character who was nodoubt a great source of inspiration to UlricoHoepli and gave him a lot of suggestions,also as a friend and not just as someone thatworked with the publishing house. As alwaysthings are created from great minds.The case of the Manuale dell’ingegnere is alsorather representative because it has alwaysbeen the heart, the symbol of Hoepli publishing, which favours scientific-technicalsubject areas. Being on excellent terms withthe Politecnico was fundamental and eventoday the Manuale dell’ingegnere still provides guidelines for all of us.Ulrico Hoepli was extraordinarily apt indeveloping this network of contacts; he wasa sort of midwife, an obstetrician, capable ofbringing a book, written by others with bet-ter knowledge of the subject and who knewhow to express themselves in Italian betterthan him, into the world.Other than with the Politecnico, he was onexcellent terms with the BibliotecaBraidense, with the Ambrosiana, as he was agreat friend of the then Prefect Achille Ratti,who later became Pope Pio XI, with theScuola Superiore di Agricoltura [AgriculturalHigh School] and with all of the vocationalschools, with the SIAM, with the Umanitaria,with the Accademia Scientifico-Letteraria[Academy of Science and Literature] and theOsservatorio Astronomico di Brera [Astro-nomic Observatory of Brera].

Do you remember any particularly unusualpublication or any curious facts about a pub-lication?Today’s catalogue contains about 1,000 titles.Over the years more than 12,000 titles havebeen published, so it is quite normal thatthere have been some strange books. Myfather and grandfather often laughed aboutthe yucca handbook. I can hardly evenremember what a yucca is, maybe it’s a fruit ora tropical African plant. That was the era inwhich Italy possessed the African colonies ofLibya, Somalia and Eritrea, and therefore the

yucca handbook had its usefulness, its raisond’être. A scientific-technical publisher likeHoepli had to move in a number of differentdirections, even if that meant publishingbooks that nowadays might seem strange orunusual. I don’t know where the yucca hand-book ended up, or how many copies were sold.Similarly, today it seems strange that for a cer-tain period, the Hoepli catalogue includedmore than one magazine, a series and a con-siderable number of books for children andyoung people as well as a women’s magazine,with features on fashion, embroidery andcooking. This happened in the period at theturn of the nineteenth century and lasted upuntil the First World War. Then this directionwas practically abandoned and the publishinghouse started specialising in other sectors. It is curious, interesting and in a certainrespect moving, when reading some of the

Manuali [Handbooks] from one hundredyears ago, to see that the time it took to trav-el between Milan and Chiasso by train was 5or 6 minutes faster than it is today.

You could say that, in the first few decades ofhis business enterprise, Ulrico Hoepli tried anumber of different avenues, until he identi-fied a particular field, a main direction andgave the publishing house a precise image,which was to last over time: that of a scien-tific-technical publisher.Yes, probably these were the first steps andas such were naturally characterised bysome degree of uncertainty.

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On the left:

A letter written by

Achille Ratti to Ulrico

Hoepli on 23rd April

1921, when the future

Pope Pio XI was Papal

Nuncio in Poland.

Advertisement for the

magazines for women

and young people

published by Hoepli

between the end of the

nineteenth century and

the first few years of

the twentieth century.

The insertion from

1910 is taken from

“Il Natale del libro”

[“A book for

Christmas”],

a catalogue that pro-

posed Christmas gifts

and the latest books

available from the pub-

lisher and bookseller.

It is remarkable and important to note how,despite the fact that he was a native Germanspeaker, Ulrico Hoepli used English, andparticularly Anglo-American handbooks ashis models rather than those of German ori-gin. Nowadays it seems normal to considerthe United States as a forerunner in terms oftechnology, but in 1870 this was not the case,especially for those that were culturally andlinguistically linked to the German-speakingworld. Hoepli, on the other hand, drew stronginspiration from the example that came fromacross the Atlantic, from the United States, somuch so that he travelled to America for whatwe would now call a professional trip torefresh his skills on the occasion of theUniversal Exhibition of Chicago in 1893, fromwhich we still have his notebook. He hadcome up with the idea of the handbooks sometime previously so it was not inspired by thattrip, the manuali project was already clear,but he wanted to perfect his publications; heknew that Anglo-American production in thissector was highly innovative and in continu-ous evolution. Once again he showed great intuition; heunderstood that scientific-technical publish-ing was something that was lacking in Italy,and therefore represented an open field,which still had to be ploughed, and anattractive niche in which he could movewith the utmost flexibility and in which hecould dominate.

Hoepli placed considerable focus on theantique book market, publishing prestigiouseditions such as the Codex Atlanticus andCodex Vergilianus of Petrarca preserved atthe Ambrosiana.Yes, some time ago Hoepli had a well-developed antique book sector. At a certain point in his business activities,together with one of his nephews, namelymy grandfather Carlo, he concentratedmainly on the publishing house and on thebookshop, which were later run by my fatherand my uncle Gianni. In what you couldnowadays call a reorganisation of the com-pany structure, another of his nephews,Erardo Aeschlimann, a native of Winterthurand son of Amalia Häberlin, sister of his wifeElisa, was placed in charge of the antiquebook sector. The latter continued the workthat Hoepli had started at the end of the

nineteenth century with great ability andsuccess, and which, in the first few decadesof the twentieth century was considerablyboosted by the contribution of the renownedantiquarian and bibliophile, Mario Armanni.In the Thirties and Forties, but also after thewar, up until the Fifties, the Hoepli AntiqueBookshop was very active in all world auc-tions. I could recount some anecdotes onthe subject that are very moving for me. The most recent happened just a few daysago. I was at the publisher’s, Franco MariaRicci, and while leafing through a Bodonithat they had recently purchased fromSotheby’s, I noticed that before arriving atSotheby’s the book had been sold at an auc-tion of the Hoepli Antique Bookshop, held inLucerne in 42, in the midst of the SecondWorld War.When Aeschlimann passed away, no memberof the family was able to run the antiquebook sector with the same skill, and so allthat is left is a small antique and modernantique section in the bookshop; but we areno longer at the level we once were, or at thelevel of the great Milanese antique book-shops like Vigevani or Pozzi.

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Ulrico Hoepli

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Catalogue of antique

and modern, rare

and curious editions

of French literature

on sale at the Hoepli

Antique Bookshop in

1895.

Even though he wanted to give his publishinghouse a scientific-technical image and to pri-oritise this area, Hoepli founded the antiquebookshop because he had a universal idea ofthe book that had no boundaries, whichstemmed from his being a bookseller. A goodbook called Il libraio di Amsterdam [The

bookseller from Amsterdam] has recentlybeen published, which would be useful to readto understand how, for a bookseller, it is nat-ural to be open-minded and to switch almostautomatically from the Manuale dell’inge-

gnere to the works of Jung or Heidegger.

What was Ulrico Hoepli like in his personaland professional relationships with his co-workers, with his nephew Carlo, withGiovanni Piazza, Cesarino Branduani andthe others?I believe he was very generous and extraor-dinary. He hired Branduani as an assistant inhis bookshop when he was still very youngand at a certain point the boy had to beadmitted to a sanatorium due to a seriouspulmonary condition – at that time tubercu-losis was fairly widespread. Ulrico Hoeplifollowed the case personally and ensuredthat he continued to receive his salary forthe entire duration of the illness. A companyis made up of people and no doubt Hoeplihad the great ability to put the right peoplein the right place and to treat them well andvery generously.There are no stories in my family of clashesor arguments with co-workers.He only had the occasional difficulty withhis nephew Carlo, given the close family tieand the degree of familiarity between them.

My grandfather has recounted to me, com-plaining, that ever so often uncle Ulrico wasstrict or hard. While one has infinite pa-tience and understanding with a son, onetends to be stricter with a nephew.

... what about with the authors?I remember that my grandfather often said:“Look, uncle always said that the authorsshould be paid immediately, just like the sup-pliers, the paper manufacturers, the printers,that the relationship with the authors is fun-damental, and that the authors are ourstrength”.And then there are curious and amusing sto-ries about these relationships. For example,that Ulrico Hoepli, when he received sup-pliers, customers or authors, always stoodand never even gave them a seat; in this wayhe managed to see them quickly and succeeded in concluding a lot of businessmatters over the course of one day, alsobecause he started working and receivingvisitors from very early in the morning.

Treves, Sonzogno, Dumolard and Vallardiare some of the publishers that Hoepli hadto share the market with. What sort of rela-tions did Hoepli have with his competitors?Ulrico Hoepli was one of the founders of theSocietà degli Autori [Authors’ Society],which has today become the SIAE, SocietàItaliana degli Autori e degli Editori [ItalianSociety of Authors and Publishers]. At thattime – around 1880 – there were practicallyno associations between those that soldbooks and those that published them, withthe exception of the Associazione Libraria

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Ulrico Hoepli's main

co-workers pose in

front of the bronze

bust of the publisher

commissioned in 1896

on the occasion of the

celebrations of 25 years

of business activities.

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Ulrico Hoepli

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Italiana [Italian Booksellers’ Association],founded in 1869 by another great pioneer ofthe Italian book industry, Giuseppe Pomba,whose business activities developed intotoday’s UTET. There was an old copyrightlaw in force, inadequate for the times, as itwas the dawn of the industry and so it wasimportant to establish new rules that clari-fied relations between authors and publish-ers, the publishing contract. There was a lotto do and Ulrico Hoepli was an active participant. Moreover, he immediatelyunderstood what we are more than aware oftoday, namely that fostering relations withassociations provides considerable enrich-ment from a personal, intellectual and pro-fessional perspective. It is not by chance thatthe focus on relations with other publishersand direct participation in the SIAE havebecome a family tradition.Therefore relations with competitors werevery friendly, certainly not in order to stealtheir market share, but rather towards amutual understanding of what sectors weremore economically viable and productive.Not forgetting that Hoepli, as a bookseller,sold the books of all of the contemporarypublishers.

How did Hoepli see the two business activi-ties, that of bookseller and that of publisher?Bookselling is commercial, whereas publish-ing is more linked to production. The sameapplies to the business today as to that of acentury ago. Even though they are very dif-ferent, Hoepli saw a close link between thetwo activities, almost to the point of notbeing able to separate them. The bookshop“provided the antennae” to understand themarket. Seeing every day how many and whatsort of people came into the bookshop andwhat books were most popular and sold pro-vided him with important information on thedirection of his publishing activities. It was agreat privilege and a great advantage forHoepli the publisher to also be a bookseller. Moreover, the bookshop, along with life’sups and downs, could offset the lack of pro-fit of the publishing house during the moredifficult periods. For example, during thewars – both the First and Second WorldWars – there was a shortage of paper and rawmaterials and therefore no printing was per-mitted. Fortunately there was the bookshop;

at least there was one customer a day, evenin times of crisis. This is almost certainly why he had a softspot for the bookshop, just like we still donow. Knowing what value continuity andtradition held for Ulrico Hoepli, he couldn’thelp thinking that the publishing house andthe bookshop were founded together andthat before him Laengner and others hadpractised the same business activity in thatsame place as far back as 1840.

The historic era in which Ulrico Hoepli livedwas a time of great change, which in Italy,through various stages, led to the passagefrom historic Right wing to Fascism and inEurope saw the end of the empires, the riseof national identities, the breakout of a worldwar and the beginning of dictatorships. Itwas a time of great social unrest, often withviolent episodes, even in Milan, a period inwhich, even without taking sides or playingan active role in politics, you couldn’t helpbut have a political opinion. How did UlricoHoepli stand in terms of politics?He played the part of the Swiss national. Hestayed neutral and never took a specificstance, he did his duty. Publishers like ushave to rise above taking sides.In any event, he had great social sense. Not only, as I mentioned earlier, did he donatethe Planetarium to the city of Milan, he alsocontributed to the establishment of librariesand schools, such as that in Wängi, his nativevillage. He also founded a Stiftung, the HoepliFoundation, in Zurich, which supports cul-tural activities and looks after the needs of theelderly. I would say that his actions weremore social than political. Naturally he alsohad the opportunity to forge excellent rela-tions with personalities of the political worldand with various governments.He also had relations with the Fascist gov-ernment, having published the works ofMussolini, which represented a rather iso-lated case for Hoepli’s publishing business.But it was the Duce who chose Hoepli andnot the other way round. He preferredHoepli over other publishers due to his neutrality, his independence and because hetrusted him more than the others. Hoepligave him 10%, much less than his competi-tors would have offered; Mussolini obviouslythought that the other publishers were

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cheating him. It was essentially a businesstransaction that had nothing to do with pol-itics; and it was, amongst other things, anexcellent business transaction.Ulrico Hoepli believed in individual ability andprojects, and paid considerable and genuineattention to activities that supported socialcauses. In this he reflected the best Protestanttradition and was no doubt influenced by hiseducation and roots. Examples of philanthropywere fairly frequent in Switzerland at thattime; take Dunant and the Red Cross for exam-ple, or Pestalozzi and his teaching institutes.However, he never took an active role in poli-tics, nor showed sympathy with extremistcauses and this was certainly not a short-coming. He had great common sense, wasdedicated above all to his work and was in thehabit of repeating to his relatives and co-workers: “Ihr sollt schaffen” “You have towork, you have a good company, what moredo you want from life?”. And it was a goodthing he did so, because you have to lead byexample.

Contrasting descriptions have been writtenabout Ulrico Hoepli’s character. It seems hewas melancholy, often absorbed in histhoughts, not very cheerful, but also jovialand light-hearted; sometimes he is describedas being gruff and brusque, other times ascordial and friendly. Can you recall anyepisodes that shed light on the differentsides of his character?A good film has just been released, Un’ora

sola ti vorrei [For one more hour with you],written and directed by my niece AlinaMarazzi, which, by recounting the story ofher mother – my sister – in reality alsorecounts the story of our family. It is a filmthat has been made through the editing ofold film clips taken with a 16 millimetre cinecamera, one of which was taken on myfather’s wedding day. There, there is a beau-tiful, extraordinary image of Ulrico Hoepli,who limps slightly and walks with a cane.The film clip dates back to April 1934 andthe Avo passed away in January 1935, so itwas in the last eight months of his life. I seethis Ulrico Hoepli walking along… and look-ing… with a slightly melancholy, butresilient smile, that portrayed hope. I believe– but this is my impression – that he wasvery happy to think that his nephews, Carlo

in particular, were continuing the familybusiness.Then, naturally there were also the sides tohis character that you have described. Iwould add that, like all good Swiss, he wasalso very punctual and very precise, unlikethose of us who over time have becomerather “Italianised”. No doubt there were also moments of sad-ness, such as not having children and thedepression that his wife Elisa suffered from,a rather taboo subject, that until onlyrecently my family have spoken about withsome difficulty and that my father men-tioned only in the last years of his life.

We know that he loved travelling, the moun-tains, billiards and Swiss skittles …He had a real passion for travelling. Like hispassion for aeroplanes, which he passed onto his nephews. The Avo was one of the firstto fly over the Alps with a Swiss pilot, myfather had a pilot’s licence and my uncleGianni was one of the first helicopter pilots.Then, fortunately, the vocation for publish-ing and the family business prevailed; toeveryone’s great relief, because in those daysnot only did helicopters often crash, theywere also very expensive.Ulrico Hoepli was a member of the ItalianAlpine Club and of the Swiss Alpenclub, heliked trekking in the fresh air, especially inthe mountains, where he even tried his handat climbing. He was a keen billiard or Swiss skittle player,similar to bowling, when his businessengagements allowed: at his house, theHoepli villa, where he had a special roomand track, or at the Swiss Society of Milan, ofwhich he was a founder member.

Ulrico Hoepli was familiar with the Valtellinaarea, did he ever make any trips there?I believe so because the Valtellina, for vari-ous reasons, was always fairly present in ourfamily’s lives.My paternal grandmother, Maddalena Porro,Carlo’s wife, studied in a girl’s college in theValtellina, I seem to remember in Madonnadi Tirano. My father had problems with hiseyesight and spent one or two summers inTeglio, because in those days the treatmentfor people with eyesight problems was tolook at the green countryside. No doubt

[XII]

Ulrico Hoepli

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Hoepli went to the Valtellina to assist him.Lastly, Ulrico Hoepli had professional rela-tions with the two Rajna brothers, Pio andMichele. He published Le corti d’amore [The

courts of love] by the former, a philologist,in 1890 and L’ora esatta dappertutto, ossia

Modo semplice di regolare gli orologi sul

tempo medio dell’Europa centrale in

qualunque luogo d’Italia [The exact time

everywhere, namely The simple way to set

clocks to the average time of central Europe

at any place in Italy] by the latter, anastronomer, in 1897.

You mentioned that Ulrico Hoepli’s socialideas were shaped by his Protestant stand-ing. Can you provide some more detail onHoepli’s religious beliefs?The Avo got in touch with the Protestantcommunity in Milan immediately, becauseLaengner, the owner of the bookshop until1870, was one of their most important rep-resentatives. Laengner was German and assuch belonged to the Lutheran church,whereas Hoepli, Swiss, followed the schoolof thought of Zwingli and belonged to a dif-ferent community, the Reformist one.

Nevertheless, he was also on good termswith the German Protestant community andplayed a very active role in the church in viaMarco De Marchi.Besides, in those days there was oneProtestant school in Milan, which thenbecame the Swiss school – it was called theScuola Internazionale [International School]– attended by all of the members of my family,up to my father.As regards his religious sentiment morespecifically, Ulrico Hoepli was a good anddecent supporter of the Protestant churchand had a rather non-denominational rela-tionship with the faith, with all the differ-ences that the concept of non-denomina-tional has in the Protestant church withrespect to the Catholic one. Probably whathe believed in most was respect for traditionand teaching family values.

What legacy has Ulrico Hoepli imparted tothe philosophy of the publishing house andthe bookshop?He has no doubt left a very important legacythat we seek to preserve and pay tribute to inthe best way possible. The influence of thefounder on the publishing business is stillclearly visible in today’s publications.However, there are other aspects I would liketo draw attention to.First of all, that the bookshop and the pub-lishing house were rebuilt after the SecondWorld War by a second Ulrico Hoepli, asgreat as the first for me, namely my father.The war completely destroyed the bookshop;only a few books were left. After the war itseemed impossible to start up again.However, my father had the same determina-tion, the same faith in the future that the orig-inal Ulrico Hoepli had and built this magnifi-cent bookshop that we are standing in now. My father inherited the sense of the futureand of continuity that were very marked inthe Avo, and that are very common in fami-ly businesses, more visionary than others,and with healthier and more sound financialprospects.Following in the footsteps of a traditiondevelops and consolidates an identity thathas very positive effects on the entire com-pany. The Foundation established in 1911 inZurich on an idea of Ulrico Hoepli hasalways promoted the study of the history of

Ulrico Hoepli

(1906-2003), great

nephew of the publish-

ing house's founder,

in the Fifties.

[XIII]


.....................................................................................................................................................................................................................

publishing, very developed in Zurich, just asin the entire German, French and Anglo-American speaking worlds. This rather Swissapproach of understanding and studyingone’s past provides great encouragement forthe future. As our founder did at the time,today we also express our gratitude and sup-port to those who are involved in studyingthe history of our business such as EnricoDecleva, Tullio De Mauro and all of thosewho, also in Italy, have contributed to thefruition of studies about our publishinghouse and its founder for some time now.We are not doing it to look back with nostal-gia at times gone by, in a laudator temporis

acti sense, but because studying the pasthelps understand the path that has beentaken, one’s own identity, and thereforebuilds company strength. Ulrico Hoepli came from a village in the smallSwiss canton of Thurgau, known more for itsproduction of cider than for its propensity forcultural exchanges. Nevertheless, he dis-played a vocation for international publishing– we mentioned the inspiration he took fromAnglo-Saxon handbooks - and immediatelyset up business relations throughout Italy (in

1873 he opened a branch in Naples, threeyears later in Pisa). In the wake of this tradi-tion, even today we seek to be present every-where, from Chiasso to Porto Empedocle, wepay considerable attention to our relationswith our native country and we aim to beEuropean publishers. It is no coincidence,

for this reason and probably due to theadvantage of being Swiss, neutral and worldcitizens, that up until two years ago I wasthe Chairman of the Federation of EuropeanEditors.Mentioning this role brings me to anotheraspect that stems from the legacy of theteachings of our founder, namely the focusand close links between our work and therelevant associations: Ulrico Hoepli was oneof the promoters of the Società degli Autori,for many years my father and I were boardmembers of the SIAE, a position held todayby my son Giovanni.Just like a century ago, the bookshop, whichwe are particularly fond of, represents some-thing more than a simple bookshop forMilan. For various reasons we sell books thatothers don’t and therefore it’s a bit like alibrary, almost a cultural beacon for the city. Moreover, in 1958 my father commissionedtwo great architects of that time, LuigiFigini and Gino Pollini to design it, payingclose attention, just like its founder, to thecultural Milanese ambience. Even though he didn’t come from Milan,Ulrico Hoepli wanted and succeeded in cre-ating such strong ties with the city that he isconsidered Milanese. This identity, whichwas well-rooted in the life of the city, hasalways been cultivated and pursued by all ofhis successors right up to us.In 1896, on dedicating the magnificentDizionario milanese-italiano [Milanese-

Italian Dictionary] to the people of Milan,Ulrico Hoepli wrote: “After twenty-five yearsof residence and hard work, this beautiful andgenerous city that has been my home hasnow become my city; bonds of affection, rec-iprocity in relations and daily events give methe impression that I am its legitimate son”.Like him, we also like to think of ourselvesas “Swiss Milanese”.

* Advisor to the Banca Popolare di Sondrio on

cultural activities

** Chairman of the Ulrico Hoepli Publishing

House

Advertising postcard

produced in 1958

for the opening of the

headquarters of the

Hoepli International

Bookshop in the street

of the same name in the

centre of Milan.


.....................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Hoepli, the “new man” of Italian publishing

by Ada Gigli Marchetti*

Photographic portrait

of Ulrico Hoepli in 1897.

[XVI]

Ulrico Hoepli

.....................................................................................................................................................................................................................

The Italy of the second half of the nineteenthcentury must have seemed rather attractiveto a foreigner, brimming with prospects andopportunities. Indeed, even though the coun-try originated from an ancient civilization, itwas actually “new” and recently formed.Established in 1861, it was lacking in every-thing and so everything had to be built: polit-ical and administrative structures as well aseconomic and cultural activities. In particular, the potential of the Italian bookmarket was equally attractive to foreignentrepreneurs. A few years after the forma-tion of the new State, once the numerousobstacles that appeared to be getting in theway of its development (especially the short-age of a public of book readers) had beenremoved, the Italian printing-publishingindustry represented a very strong magnet formany foreign operators active in the sector.This was how the various Le Monniers,Loeschers and Dumolards – amongst others– , after relocating to Italy and opening theirbookshops, managed to rapidly transformthemselves into established publishers.Lombardy, but above all Milan, was particu-larly attractive, the latter immediately estab-lishing itself as the most dynamic locationfor the industry in the whole country. Andthis was true especially for those who camefrom Switzerland, a country that despiteseveral ups and downs, had always had verystrong ties with Lombardy. In the recentRisorgimento era, hadn’t the Swiss Confe-deration been the “land of exile” for manyItalian patriots? And was it not the land fromwhere the émigrés – through printed matter,books and newspapers – were able to freelyexpress their opinions and their causes tothe rest of the world?And it was precisely in Milan that, in 1870,Ulrico Hoepli, the most representativeexample of foreign immigration to Italy,chose to establish his publishing business, abusiness whose fortunes have survived tothe present day.After having arrived in the Lombard capitalfrom his native Switzerland and after havingpurchased a bookshop through written cor-respondence, without any assistance andwithout in-depth knowledge of Italian cul-ture and literature, not to mention of thelanguage, Hoepli succeeded in rapidlybecoming an established point of reference

for the educated Milanese bourgeoisie. Hisshop, located in the heart of the city, as wellas offering a huge quantity of literature, sci-ence and fine arts books in all languages,especially German, English and French,began to be frequented by an increasingnumber of literary and cultured men, aboveall technicians and scientists.Right from the start Hoepli combined hisprofession as a bookseller, which he consid-ered the intermediary between art and thepublic, with that of publisher. His first titlewas the reprint in 1871 of a small grammarbook, I primi elementi di lingua francese

[The first elements of the French language],by Martin, followed a year later by a success-ful prestigious periodical, the “Guida per leArti e Mestieri” [“Arts and Crafts Guide”],which changed its title in 1878 to “L’arte el’industria” [“Art and industry”].The publishing business of the young entre-preneur acquired strength and prominenceas it gradually put down roots in the city andin Milanese society.In 1873 Hoepli was designated bookseller-publisher of the prestigious Osservatorio

The Galleria De

Cristoforis with

the Hoepli Bookshop

in a photograph

dated 1930.

[XVII]


.....................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Astronomico di Brera and in the same yearacquired the works of two renownedastronomers: the essay by Giovanni CeloriaSul grande commovimento atmosferico

avvenuto il 1° di agosto 1862 nella bassa

Lombardia e nella Lomellina [On the great

atmospheric disturbance that took place on

1st August 1862 in lower Lombardy and in

Lomellina] and the Osservazioni astro-

nomiche e fisiche sulla grande cometa del

1862 [Astronomic and physical observations

on the great comet of 1862] by GiovanniVirginio Schiaparelli, who was in charge ofthe same Observatory from 1860. Also in1873 he published the work of the juristErcole Vidari Dei principali provvedimenti

legislative chiesti dal commercio italiano

[On the main legislative requirements of

Italian commerce] and the following yearbecame bookseller-publisher of the IstitutoLombardo di Scienze e Lettere [LombardInstitute of Science and Literature], themost important Milanese cultural institu-tion in this field.Hoepli rapidly gained notoriety at nationallevel and, from the single book published in1871, in the space of three years was print-ing more than twenty titles per year.In the early stages of his business and for thewhole of the nineteenth century, the choiceof titles was guided by an underlying eclecti-cism. In a sort of “hotchpotch”, scientificand technical specialist works, which wereeasily the most numerous, (ranging fromfields such as mathematics, physics, chem-istry, astronomy, geography and geology toareas such as medicine, veterinary medicineand botany), stood alongside books frommany other genres. He published booksfrom old and new literature from a largenumber of very different European and nonEuropean countries (such as Greek andRoman literature, Italian, French, English,German, Slavic, Persian and American lite-rature, …), in actual fact there was a widerange of old and modern grammar books:from Greek, Latin and Hebrew grammar toFrench, English, and German grammar. Thepublication of grammar books was alwayscombined with the publication of the rela-tive dictionary. And that still wasn’t enough.Legal and economic books (some of whichwere important and long-lasting such as thePrimi elementi di economia politica [An

introduction to the study of political econ-

omy] and the Primi elementi di scienza delle

finanze [Finance, its principles and meth-

ods], both by Cossa and both dated 1875 orthe Elementi di diritto civile e commerciale

[Elements of civil and business law] byTriaca dated 1880) were published alongsidehistory books (for example the Storia ge-

nerale delle storie [General History of histo-

ries] by Rosa dated 1873), philosophy (La

pena di morte e la sua abolizione secondo la

filosofia hegeliana [The death penalty and

its abolition according to Hegelian philoso-

phy] by D’Ercole dated 1875 or La filosofia

positiva e gli ultimi economisti inglesi

[Positive philosophy and the latest English

economists] by Schiattarella dated 1876)and art (for example the Scritti d’arte [Art

Writings] by Francesco Dall’Ongaro dated1873 or Arte Greca [Greek Art] by IginioGentile dated 1883). They also publishedworks by great authors: Goethe’s Hermann

and Dorothea dated 1884, Oedipus the king

by Sophocles and Das Buch der Lieder [The

Song Book] by Heine in the same year, Les

Comédies [The One-Act Comedies] byMolière in 1888, Jerusalem delivered byTasso in 1895, not to mention many others.All of these works were edited, sometimestranslated, by distinguished scholars, as wellas being illustrated by talented artists. Thefirst publication of Dante’s The Divine

Comedy, for example, was edited byScartazzini, later by Scherillo. La Vita

Nuova [New Life] once by Scartazzini, onceby Barbi. The De vulgari eloquentia wasedited by Pio Rajna. The Works of

Shakespeare, published from 1875 onwards,were translated by Giulio Carcano, theIphigenia in Tauris in 1885 by Maffei. Lastly,The betrothed was illustrated by the painterCampi, and several years later, in 1897, byGaetano Previati.There was also no lack of excursions intocontemporary literature, even though theexamples are more sporadic. It is sufficientto mention Giacomo l’idealista [Giacomo

the idealist] by Emilio De Marchi dated 1897or Le veglie di Neri [Neri’s soirée tales] byRenato Fucini in the same year.Hoepli’s publishing business was not limited– as we have mentioned thus far – to techni-cal-scientific books (or even periodicals)alone, or to tout court cultural books, but

[XVIII]

Ulrico Hoepli

.....................................................................................................................................................................................................................

[XIX]


.....................................................................................................................................................................................................................

ventured, often successfully, into the “greatworks” of children’s literature, as well as, toa lesser extent, into women’s publications.And it also ventured – although it would bemore correct to say enjoyed venturing – intothose which we are accustomed to callingSaturday afternoon hobby or Sunday books,books whose content was so disparate andobscure that not only did they not sell, buthad little or nothing to do with the range ofsubjects, although varied, published. Of the very high level works, whose transac-tions were often conducted at a pure loss infinancial terms, but as such they represent-ed important milestones in the history ofculture, there was the publishing, for exam-ple, in 1890, of the Monumenti antichi

[Ancient monuments] edited by theAccademia dei Lincei [Lincean Academy], ofthe Codex Atlanticus by Leonardo da Vinciin 1894 and, in 1898, of the Divina

Commedia illustrata nei luoghi e nelle per-

sone [The Divine Comedy with illustrations

of the places and the people] edited byCorrado Ricci.Works that were certainly of lesser culturalimpact, but that generated better economicreturns, were those published for children.With his usual business intuition, Hoepliunderstood right from the last twenty yearsof the nineteenth century how promisingthe “market” offered by the younger publicwas, whose increasing literacy stimulatedtheir interest in reading. The publisherknew how to offer this public the best in spe-cialised literature available at that time inItaly and across Europe. In this way, along-side works written by renowned Italianauthors, from Anna Vertua Gentile to mar-quise Colombi and Ida Baccini, the Hoeplicatalogue acquired a wealth of authors(imported from abroad) that were soon tobecome the classics of children’s literature.Following the very famous Pierino

Porcospino, based on the on the 123rd edi-tion of Hoffmann’s Struwwelpeter [Shock-

headed Peter], translated into verse byGaetano Negri, the works of the BrothersGrimm, Jonathan Swift, Hans ChristianAndersen, Daniel Defoe and many otherswere also published.While considerable attention was paid to theyounger public, a lot less interest was shownin the female one, even though at that time

women were showing increasing interest inthe world of reading. Apart from a couple ofshort works, I diritti della donna [Women’s

rights] by Dohm in 1877 and Svaghi artisti-

ci femmili. Ricami, pizzi, gioielli, ventagli,

specchi e vetri di Murano [Female artistic

pastimes. Embroidery, laces, jewellery, fans,

mirrors and Murano glassware] dated 1891by Melani, the publisher dedicated only one,extremely conservative magazine entitled“La stagione” [“The season”] to the femalepublic. Published between 1882 and 1915,this magazine, in the true European spiritthat permeated Hoepli’s publications, wasprinted in fourteen languages and in twoeditions, the “large” luxury one and the“small” more economical one, and reachedan overall circulation of 750,000 copies perissue. The periodical was dedicated exclu-sively to fashion and women’s pastimes; itsystematically avoided anything – regardlessof whether novels or short stories – thatcould be considered a channel for subversivemoral or artistic tendencies.However, Hoepli’s most successful idea, theone that made him “unique” and “innova-tive” in the publishing world not only inMilan but in Italy as a whole, was the publi-cation, based on the example of what wasalready being published in England, of aseries of Manuali. It was actually UlricoHoepli himself who “invented” the term“manuale” deriving it from the English wordhandbook. Through the sober little books ofthis collection, the young editor launchedone of the most successful and importantcultural operations of that time; with excel-lent timing, the series fulfilled the pressingdemands of a society, especially that inLombardy, in rapid economic expansion andtherefore in need of trained and qualifiedtechnical “managers”. The Manuali Hoepli

represented the tools able to provide com-plete support in learning or practising atrade or profession. The accuracy, the sim-plicity and the extreme variety of the subjectscovered enabled Ulrico Hoepli to have a com-petitive advantage over the large publishinghouses, ranging from Dumolard to Son-zogno, from Vallardi to Treves, even thoughthey had been producing scientific books forsome time. The Manuali series rapidlyacquired an established look. Inaugurated in1875 with the Manuale del tintore [Painter’s

The cheerful covers

of some of the old

editions of the Manuali

[Handbooks], the most

renowned and repre-

sentative series of the

Ulrico Hoepli Publishing

House.

[XX]

Ulrico Hoepli

.....................................................................................................................................................................................................................

handbook] by Lepetit, and consolidated in1877 with the very successful and long-livedManuale dell’ingegnere by Giuseppe Co-lombo, at the time the prestigious directorof the Politecnico, it assumed the characterof an encyclopaedia, split into several vo-lumes clearly to be used for consultation.Even though technical and scientific subjectareas continued to dominate - they were alsoextensively used as scholastic textbooks – infact the Manuali invaded almost all branch-es of human knowledge: from agriculture tophysics to chemistry, from natural history tomedicine and surgery, from electricity toengineering, from mathematics to law, fromarchaeology to history and geography, fromphilosophy and teaching to the art of war,from literature to linguistics to music. Theyears that followed the birth of the Manuali

series were marked by a general and impetu-ous development of the publishing industryin Lombardy. Milan, in particular, hadbecome the most important city for the pro-duction of printed matter, dominated by twocolossi, Sonzogno and Treves, to the point ofdeserving the name the Leipzig of Italy.Such a favourable general situation couldnot help but aid the further growth of aneditor who was as eclectic and open-mindedtowards innovative ideas as Hoepli. Fromthen on his handbooks were no longer pub-lished in dribs and drabs, but in waves: arelentless outpouring of work, both originaland translated. 53 handbooks were pub-lished in 1880. 100 were released in 1890.Between 1894 and 1898, in a period of eco-nomic and social crisis – the years of theunfortunate Africa campaign, of the bankscandals, of the “bread riots” – around 700titles were published. The economic reawakening of Milan at thestart of the twentieth century, after the tra-gic pause of 98, was particularly felt byHoepli in his position as bookseller and pub-lisher. In the belle époque years, the book-shop was more than ever the heart ofMilanese intellectual circles. Browsing alongthe shelves of the bookshop it was notuncommon to encounter men of culture, lit-erary men, the city’s “publisher friends”, aswell as famous personalities, who were pass-ing through Milan: Giuseppe Giacosa, SemBenelli, Sabatino Lopez, Emilio Treves, theVallardis, Benedetto Croce, and many others.

It was the bookshop that provided the editorwith an idea of the tastes and needs of mar-ket “demand”. The bookshop may well haveeven induced and stimulated that demand.In any event, the bookshop was not just asales outlet, but also a lively information andcultural centre and a sort of litmus paper ofthe needs and tastes of the public of readers.As the bookshop business thrived, the pub-lishing business was certainly no less suc-cessful. Ulrico Hoepli, assisted by his nephewCarlo from 1903 onwards, had now addedmany other, no less prestigious, collections tohis now classic series of Manuali: theseincluded the Biblioteca tecnica [Technical

Collection], the Biblioteca classica hoepliana

[Classic Hoepli Collection] and the Col-

lezione storica Villari [Historic Villari

Collection].As the number of books published increased,the public towards whom they wereaddressed also expanded. This was particu-larly true of the new public of children andwomen. In 1900, considerably ahead of thetimes, the editor decided to dedicate a bookto the latter entitled Come devo allevare il

mio bambino [How I should raise my child]

by Valvassori-Peroni, which was none otherthan a precursor of the bible of modernpuericulture: Il mio bambino [Baby and

The logotype with

the motto In labore

virtus et vita, which

accompanied the

publications of the

Ulrico Hoepli Publishing

House from 1870 on.

[XXI]


.....................................................................................................................................................................................................................

child care] by doctor Spock.Alongside books addressed to the general pub-lic, the house continued to publish greatworks, such as the “monumental” Storia del-

l’arte italiana [History of Italian Art] by AdolfoVenturi, which was first published in 1901.The economic recession that followed theFirst World War and which had marked thestart of the decline of the glorious and his-toric Milanese publishing houses, such asTreves and Sonzogno, did not appear to haveany substantial impact on the bookshop orthe publishing house. After having beentransformed from an individual proprietor-ship into a partnership in 1923, even thoughstill strictly family-run, and after havingstarted to sell antique books as well, in 1925Hoepli boasted a catalogue of around 5,000titles. Over 1,500 handbooks were publishedtogether with 3,000 other publications. Thebookshop continued to be the city’s mostloved and popular cultural centre. Almost asif to seal the profound bond that linkedHoepli to Milan, to celebrate sixty years fromhis arrival in the city, in 1930, the aged editorwanted to donate a large planetarium to theCity Council so that – as he himself publiclyconfirmed – everything that had come fromscience could be given back to science.More than half a century after his arrival inthe Lombard capital, the “Swiss” editor foundhimself working in an environment that hadchanged radically. The development of thepublishing industry was a fait accompli, butthe main players were no longer the same.The former giants, Sonzogno and Treves,were replaced by new giants, Mondadori andRizzoli. And new, young editors such asBompiani and Scheiwiller were emerging.Ulrico Hoepli appeared to be one of the fewsurviving editors of the old guard, who hadnot been swept away by the transformationand modernisation of the industry. The rea-sons for his longevity are numerous. Firstand foremost, a certain pragmatism who hadled him not only not to oppose the nationalpolitical scene of that time, but also to pub-lish the Scritti e discorsi [Writings and

speeches] by Benito Mussolini in 1933,which later provoked considerable debate.Secondly, his constant attention to thebookshop business, which appears to haveprotected him from the business risks ofpublishing unsuccessful books. Thirdly and

above all, considerable faith in the direction ofhis publications. Well-rooted in the marketniche consolidated in the Manuali era, sub-stantially abandoning any excursions into themore diversified publishing “genres”, he con-tinued to concentrate on technical-scientificpublications. Evidence of such faith was themagazine “Sapere” [“Knowledge”]. When itwas released for the first time in 1935, just afew months after his death, it aimed to offer(or rather, it aimed to continue to offer) asort of panorama of all advances made in thetechnical and scientific worlds. By doingthis, under the leadership of his nephewCarlo, it became, in the wake of tradition, asymbol of the renewed publishing season.

* Professor in the History of Journalism at the

Faculty of Political science of Milan University.


.....................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Between Switzerland and Italy. The life and character of Ulrico Hoepli

by Tindaro Gatani*

Ulrico Hoepli aged fifteen,

during his period of apprenticeship

as a bookseller in Zurich (1862).

[XXIV]

Ulrico Hoepli

.....................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Ulrico Hoepli was born on 18th February1847 in Tuttwilerberg, a hamlet of a fewhouses of Tuttwil, a village in the Canton ofThurgau, “amid green slopes – said GiovanniGalbiati, in Ulrico Hoepli. Profilo [Profile],Milan, 1935 - not far from the eternal sigh ofLake Constance, under the arch of theRhine, there where the river bends majesti-cally and lazily towards Schaffhausen”. Atthe age of fourteen we find him in Zurich,the training ground for his life. In fact, itwas here that he attended the vocationalschools and learnt the “trade” by working inone of the city’s top bookshops. The futurepublisher also worked in a number of otherbookshops in Leipzig, Wroclaw, Vienna,Trieste and Cairo, where he worked in the

former Khediviale Library, which belongedto the Egyptian viceroy.He also forged strong ties with the city onthe Limmat through his marriage, celebra-ted in 1872, to the Zurich-born ElisaHäberlin, his partner and tireless co-worker,who he had met two years earlier, when, notyet twenty-four, he had been about to leavefor Milan. He arrived on 7th December 1870,the day of the city’s patron saint Ambrose.Less than a month after his arrival in theLombard capital, Hoepli took over the oldbookshop of Teodoro Laengner in theGalleria De Cristoforis, rapidly expanding themodest bookshop business, which he thencombined with the publishing one.The Galleria De Cristoforis, which was

accessed from Corso Vittorio Emanuele, was,as Gaetano Afeltra recounts in his article Il

vecchio libraio e il suo segreto. Ricordi di una

Milano che non c’è più [The old bookseller

and his secret. Memories of a Milan that is no

longer] published in the “Corriere della Sera”on 9th February 1991, “a long alley covered bya large glass roof, full of shops that bringback nostalgic memories of the great her-itage of Milan”. Some decades later, as wellas the Hoepli Publishing House, “there was ahairdresser’s, a shop selling corsets and bras,Walter Toscanini’s antique bookshop; therewas Lucchini’s, men’s fabrics; the ‘Betezat’children’s wear shop, a smart shoe shop, thePancrazi stationer’s, the famous Sala Volta,the Paravia bookshop, the De Cristoforisguesthouse and several lawyers’ and accoun-tants’ offices”. The Galleria De Cristoforiswas basically a salon for Milan’s well-to-doand at the same time a renowned street ofthe city. At the start of his publishing career, in orderto avoid competing with the other estab-lished publishing houses, the young manfrom Thurgau decided to limit the publica-tion of novels and fictional works, and con-centrate instead on a completely untappedfield: that of science and technology.Literature, in the true sense of the word,already had its publishers. After the Unity ofItaly, Milan, with the Biblioteca Ambrosiana,the Politecnico, the Osservatorio Astro-nomico di Brera and the Accademia Scientifico-Letteraria was one of the mostimportant cultural cities in Europe.Right from the very start of his time inMilan, Hoepli engaged the trusted servicesof Giovanni Piazza, who first managed thebookshop that Hoepli had opened in Naples,in 1873 and then, for many years, worked asan agent for the publishing house.Despite the fact that he already desired“great and beautiful things” the actions ofthe young publisher had to be initiallyshrewd and cautious. “Naturally in thebeginning – remarks Galbiati – his actionswere those of settling in and testing thewater, if courage and caution were togetherto reap the fruit he dreamed of in later days”.Hoepli’s main objective was to contribute tosatisfying the cultural needs and the thirstfor knowledge of this new Italy, “in whichthe problems of industry, enterprise and of

Portrait of Elisa

Häberlin, Ulrico

Hoepli’s wife,

around 1872.

[XXV]


.....................................................................................................................................................................................................................

everyday life presented themselves withpressing urgency, as irresolvable unlessthrough a vast and rapid cultural momen-tum and expansion, which through accurateresearch could be implemented effectively”(Gli Svizzeri in Italia [The Swiss in Italy],

Milan, 1939). To pay tribute to the life and work of thisgreat man, on the occasion of the celebra-tions of the 150th anniversary of his birththat were held on 22nd August 1997 in hisnative Tuttwil, a magnificent book entitled«… am literarischen Webstuhl…» [«... at

the literary weaving loom...»] Ulrico Hoepli

1847-1935. Buchhändler, Verleger, Antiquar,

Mäzen [Bookseller, publisher, antique deal-

er, patron] was published by in the editionsof the Neue Zürcher Zeitung. Coordinatedby Joseph Jung, Secretary of the HoepliFoundation, 25 scholars contributed to thecompilation of this important work, whichenriched the biography and the culturalcontributions advocating increasingly closerrelations between Italy and Switzerland, inthe name of their many common values andneeds. In the introduction to the book, theFederal Councillor Flavio Cotti, Chairman ofthe cited Foundation, amongst other things,draws attention to how “in the recently unified Italy of 1870, Ulrico Hoepli […] succeeded in interpreting the changes thatthe young State was encountering in itsrapid industrialisation in the best way possible”, creating his Manuali to respond“to the new need for more in-depth andaccessible know-how in all fields of technol-ogy and natural sciences”. The importancethat still today links the Milanese publishinghouse to Switzerland is confirmed by theenthusiastic reviews and the attendances atthe exhibition, held in Zurich’s CentralLibrary (December 2003-February 2004), onthe character and work of Ulrico Hoepli

(1847-1935) ein Thurgauer zwischen Limmat

und Naviglio [a man from Thurgau between

the Limmat and the Naviglio]. Hoepli wasSwiss and Italian at the same time and toemphasise his affection for his two home-lands often said: “I feel the same love forItaly as I do for Switzerland”. He made somany donations to “his two homelands” thatit is difficult to list them all. This generositywas recently documented by Joseph Jung inan essay which is part of the above-mentioned

book, translated and referred to in Ulrico

Hoepli. 1847-1935. Editore e libraio [Ulrico

Hoepli. 1947-1935. Publisher and book-

seller] by Enrico Decleva, Milan, 2001. The“Milanese” as his fellow citizens respectfullycalled him, always responded with great gen-erosity to the numerous and diverse requeststhat he received from Tuttwil and from thewhole of Thurgau. Thanks to this, when hereturned to his home town, the leading fig-ures of the town and of the Canton gave himthe full red carpet treatment, welcoming himwith a musical band, songs, fireworks andhouses decked with flags. For the occasion,the Town Council declared a so-called“Milanese day”, a bank holiday to celebratesuch a famous son.

His generosity was not limited to his homevillage. He made many other donations, toZurich’s Central Library, the mental hospitalof Münsterlingen, the Swiss school in Milanand Zurich University. In 1911, again in Zurich, he decided toestablish a foundation that bore his nameand that did its best to increase the literaryand scientific studies of the scholars of thetwo countries. On that occasion, the Swissgovernment, approving the memorandum ofthe association, made it immediately clearthat it was willing to take on the chairman-ship. In this way the Swiss authoritiesdemonstrated their high esteem for their fel-low countryman, who had gained recogni-tion for his exceptional cultural commit-ment in Italy. Even today, the meritoriousactivities of the Hoepli Foundation continueto include making generous contributionsto scientific and literary scholars of the twocountries. Of the many gifts he made toSwiss cultural institutions we recall the oilon canvas painting La cameriera [The

Servant Girl], by Amedeo Modigliani, which

The people of Tuttwil

crowd around Ulrico

Hoepli’s birthplace on

the occasion of the

marriage of the editor’s

great-nephew of

the same name, to

Teresa Gerberding

(7th April 1934).

[XXVI]

Ulrico Hoepli

.....................................................................................................................................................................................................................

he donated to the Kunsthaus in Zurich in 1927.Amongst many other gifts, Ulrico Hoepligave “his” Milan a valuable collection ofpaintings, and to celebrate the 60th anniver-sary of the foundation of the publishinghouse, the renowned Planetarium in thegardens of Porta Venezia, which is still oneof the most modern in the world. He gave avast number of books to the libraries of thetwo countries which, on different occasions,showed their recognition: in 1901 the uni-versity of the city on the Limmat awardedhim, a laurea honoris causa as a great pro-moter of science; Milan, on the other hand,by naming one of the streets in the city afterhim, where his publishing house is stilllocated today. The proverbial modesty of the Hoeplis wascontrasted only by the Italian renaissance-style villa of 350 square metres that they hadbuilt in the Simplon district in 1894-95. TheHoepli villa, with extensive grounds, had atotal of 28 rooms, including a splendid dining room measuring 9 metres long andalmost 5 metres wide, a Chinese room, arenaissance room and a billiards rooms. Ithad a large wooden staircase decorated bythe Swiss artist Richard Arthur Nuscheler, aloggia that was accessed from the diningroom and a terrace. Nobody has ever beenable to explain, as Joseph Jung emphasises,“the reasons that drove the Hoeplis to buildsuch an impressive villa”. Also because “thevilla was not used to show off the position hehad achieved, nor was it a location for splen-

did parties”. As we know, in fact, “Hoepli pre-ferred a form of more reserved hospitality, heusually invited friends and acquaintances tohis house on Saturdays to converse, play anddine together”. On only one important occasion was the villareally used for official entertainment when, in1906, it welcomed the Federal PresidentLudwig Forrer, who had arrived in Milan forthe ceremony to inaugurate the Simplon tunnel. The villa was guarded by a platoon ofhonour and the tributes of the Milanese wereso numerous and so insistent that the “king ofSwitzerland” had to repeatedly come out ontothe balcony. Joseph Jung recounts for the firsttime a funny incident as he tells how Hoepli,who was just about to get into the carriage toaccompany Forrer to the official ceremonywith the King of Italy, realised that thePresident was wearing his usual floppy hat.“This will certainly not do”, exclaimed Hoepli.“We have to wear top hats!”. “If anyone hasanything to say, that’s his problem”, retortedForrer. “I have only brought this hat so I obvi-ously can’t wear another”. “Very well”, repliedHoepli. “You will have to do without my com-pany; on an occasion such as this I cannot pos-sibly go against all etiquette”. So Forrer, at thispoint stunned and angry, said: “And where,pray, can I find a top hat at the last minute?”.“Easily done”, said Hoepli, gesturing to hishousekeeper, Marie Bützberger, who arrivedwith two new top hats purchased the daybefore.On 14th February 1930, to acknowledge the

A watercolour of the

Hoepli villa dated 1896.

[XXVII]


.....................................................................................................................................................................................................................

esteem and recognition that he had earnedin his sixty years as a publisher and book-seller, Ulrico Hoepli was received in Rome,on the same day, in succession, by the Pope,the King of Italy and the head of the govern-ment, Benito Mussolini. This was an honouronly reserved for heads of state. In 1933, theUlrico Hoepli Publishing House was alsochosen for the publication of Mussolini’sScritti e discorsi [Writings and speeches], aproject that in a few years achieved a circu-lation of 240,000 books of the Duce’s works.

As Eduard Stäuble recalls, in I protagonisti

[The protagonists], Locarno, 1995, “at thetime, Hoepli behaved very openly with theDuce, who for him, epitomised the idea ofthe unification and the unity of the youngnation” and “fate spared Hoepli the worstdelusions regarding the Duce (1935, defeatof Abyssinia; 1939, invasion of Albania; 1940,alliance with Hitler in war)”.As well as his passion for books and antiques,Ulrico Hoepli loved the mountains and travelling. He chose the Swiss Alps as hispreferred holiday destination, anotherdemonstration of affection for his homeland,and when he could, on his own or with themembers of the Italian Alpine Club, he travelled to and climbed the Swiss or ItalianAlps. He even travelled to distant locationssuch as Spitzberg or to Egypt with his wifeElisa, or to Spain, to the Orient, as well astwice to America, North and South. Lastly,at the ripe old age of 85, he still wanted tofeel “the thrill of flying over the Alps”. Hiswish was granted thanks to the Swiss pilotWalter Mittelholzer who, on Monday 20th

April 1931, flew him in his plane from Milanto Zurich, where the publisher was guest ofhonour at the procession of the Sechseläuten,the festival organised by the corporations ofthe city on the Limmat to celebrate the startof Spring by burning the Böögg, the effigyrepresenting the old man of winter.The following day, the “old” Hoepli wasalready on his way back to Milan to hisoffice, where he always arrived early. He alsopassed away in his office, while he was writ-ing a letter, on the morning of 24th January1935, at the age of 88. Commemorating theloss of this great man, on 4th June of thesame year, in a speech at the MilanPlanetarium, Giovanni Galbiati, Prefect ofthe Ambrosiana, made an extensive andfaithful portrait of the publisher, which wasto serve as an outline for his cited Profilo.

“To see him, to converse with him, youcould easily mistake Hoepli for one of ourfifteenth century booksellers, who were

craftsmen in their own workshops, likeZaroto in Milan, and who were not completewithout their books. Of medium height,stocky build, a full face, hair that stood upon his forehead, and still thick at the sides,his beard cut and stiff, simple, precise andconcise with words, with a hint of thatrelaxed old-Rhine wit of Thurgau, as punc-tual as a good robust Swiss watch. He knewwhat he wanted, which books he shouldpublish in accordance with what he consid-ered his duty and the plan he had establishedin the vastness of the publishing world”. Andthis after having said that “Hoepli was therefor everyone and oversaw everything with astrict and dry discipline that, however, hada gentler, almost paternal side, so much sothat he looked after his co-workers

On the left:

Ulrico Hoepli at

Niagara Falls,

which he visited

during his trip

to North America

in 1893-94.

On the right:

Ulrico Hoepli (fourth

from the right) and the

Swiss pilot Mittelholzer

(fourth from the left)

on the occasion of the

flight across the Alps

on 20th April 1931.

[XXVIII]

Ulrico Hoepli

.....................................................................................................................................................................................................................

unreservedly and willingly even outside thebookshop, in family affairs”.Gaetano Afeltra, in his cited article in the“Corriere della Sera” also mentioned thefamily atmosphere that reigned at the pub-lishing house. Speaking of Cesare Branduani,the legendary Milanese bookseller who passedaway at the age of eighty in 1976, “a figure ofa long cultural season, friend of hundreds ofwriters”, Afeltra recalls how “Cesarino” hadstarted working at the age of ten at the UlricoHoepli’s Publishing House, where his father, apostroom worker, who on 90 lira a month wasstruggling to bring up seven children, hadmanaged to find him a job. “Very well, sendhim to me at seven sharp”, Mr. Ulrico had said“and we’ll see what we can find for him to do”.So the next morning, the humble postroomworker and his son turned up early and werewaiting for the shutters of the bookshop inGalleria De Cristoforis to be raised. “WhenHoepli saw that young boy with his pene-

trating eyes but still with the face of a child,he was moved. Taking him by his hand tointroduce him to the head office boy, he firstasked him: “What’s your name?” –“Cesarino”. And from that moment on hewas known simply as Cesarino by everyone”.In a few years, Cesarino became one of thebookshop’s best employees. It is said thatthanks to his excellent memory he remem-bered not only the 2,000 titles of the Manuali

Hoepli, but also the prices and where all of thebooks were located on the shelves. And so,from humble shop assistant, Cesarino, by

climbing all of the steps on the ladder, becamedirector of the bookshop, and has alwaysacknowledged his employer with affection.In addition to the success of its renownedManuali, the Ulrico Hoepli’s PublishingHouse soon achieved great recognition forits prestigious collections of art, literatureand science as well as its magnificent folio publications. Like the Manuali, the works ofthe collections were edited by top experts inthe field. Of the Hoepli collections, thesplendid editions of the Codici Vaticani

[Vatican Codex], the Collezioni archeologiche,

artistiche e numismatiche dei Palazzi

apostolici [Archaeological, artistic and

numismatic collections of the apostolic

Palaces] and the Monumenti storici ed

artistici del canton Ticino [Historic and

artistic monuments of the Canton of Ticino]

deserve a special mention. The Swiss UlricoHoepli knew how to show his great love forhis adoptive homeland by paying greatattention to the publications of the worksand studies of Dante. The first publication ofthe poet by Hoepli was the “Dantino” [Little

Dante] in microscopic letters dated 1878.This was followed by the “Dante minuscolo”[Miniscule Dante] by Fornaciari, theheliochrome reproduction of the 1337Codice Trivulziano [Trivulzian Codex] andthe “Dante del Re” [Dante of the King], The

Divine Comedy, called this because commissioned by King Umberto I withannotations by Stefano Talice da Ricaldone.Various editions of Vita nuova [The new life]

and of the Canzoniere [Songbook] and theUltimo Rifugio di Dante Alighieri [The last

refuge of Dante Alighieri] were also broughtinto the world by the Hoepli printing presses,not to mention the Nuovi studi danteschi

[New studies on Dante] by D’Ovido, Beatrice

nella vita e nella poesia del secolo XIII

[Beatrice in the life and poetry of the XIII

century], Dante e la Francia [Dante and

France] by Farinelli and various other worksincluding also Dante nell’arte tedesca

[Dante in German art] by Locella.For a publisher like Hoepli, so attentive, byvirtue of his Swiss origins, to what was happening in the Germanic cultural worldand above all in his homeland, the importance of the in-depth studies on Dantethat were being conducted by his fellowcountryman, Giovanni Andrea Scartazzini,

The publishing

catalogue of the

500 Manuali Hoepli

(1897).

[XXIX]


.....................................................................................................................................................................................................................

could certainly not be overlooked. Born inBondo, a village in the Val Bregaglia in 1837,after studying initially in his hometown andattending high school in Basel, Scartazzinihad attended the faculty of theology in theRhineland city for a brief period and then,“due to ideological divergences” with hisprofessors, transferred to the university ofBern. From that moment on, unfortunately,divergences of opinion, clashes and intoler-ance were to often characterise his relationsboth in the work environment and in hisstudies. Basically this young man fromBregaglia was – as Reto Roedel in hisLectura Dantis, Bellinzona, 1965 put it – “ofa demanding nature and, on occasion argu-mentative” and therefore “found it hard tosettle down”. A man with this type of char-acter was not made to stay long in one place.As a Protestant minister, his wanderingsbrought him to various towns in Switzerland,even staying for a brief period in his home

town of Bregaglia, to Soglio, ending up inFahrwangen on lake Hallwil in the Canton ofAargau, where he spent the last seventeenyears of his life with his wife and children. Infact he died there in 1901. His great passionwas the study of Dante and especially of The

Divine Comedy. His dedication drove him, asGalbiati notes “almost to breaking point” somuch so that “he lived for Dante alone, andwas brimming with quotations even in thesermons that he gave to the unculturedboors”. In order to dedicate himself to hisbeloved studies, without distractions, Scar-tazzini always preferred to practise as a min-ister in the smaller villages. Although helacked the contact and debate with otherscholars, which is so necessary for a work ofgreat harmony, his works achieved consider-able success in Germany and Italy. It was theera in which the two countries were rediscov-ering Dante and his most important work.In 1880 Hoepli went to visit the minister inSoglio to negotiate the publication of Dante

in Germania. Storia letteraria e bibliografia

dantesca alemanna [Dante in Germany.

Alemannic literary history and bibliography

of Dante] in two volumes, which werereleased in 1881 and 1883 respectively. Alsoin 1883, and again by Scartazzini, the Vita di

Dante [The Life of Dante] and Opere di

Dante [The Works of Dante] were publishedin the form of Manuali, and the followingyear were combined in a single book ofDantologia [Dantology]. It was precisely inthe Dantologia – as Reto Roedel in Giovanni

Andrea Scartazzini, Chiasso, 1969, pointsout – that the ideas of the two Swiss nation-als were merged, who by their nature wereespecially interested in divulging and satisfy-ing all “of those peculiarities that too manyother Dante biographers and experts” hadscorned, but that could instead “respond tothe needs of many”, without forgetting towork in a scientific manner “despite theirpopular nature”. In the meantime, Hoepliand Scartazzini met a second time at theminister’s new residence in Fahrwangen tonegotiate the “abridged edition” of La Divina

Commedia riveduta nel testo e commentata

[The Divine Comedy reviewed and with

annotations], which was published in 1893.The release of Scartazzini’s latest commen-tary understandably provoked a wave of harshcriticism. In fact, Scartazzini had once again

The Bodoni cover of

the “Dante minuscolo

hoepliano” [“Miniscule

Hoepli Dante”]

published in “Il Natale

del libro” [“A book for

Christmas”] dated 1904.

[XXX]

Ulrico Hoepli

.....................................................................................................................................................................................................................

intentionally ignored certain editors when heactually should have avoided doing so.Therefore, there was certainly no lack ofcontroversy. This tough character fromBergaglia however, was not someone whowas easily shaken and certainly never missedan opportunity to provide some sharpretorts of his own. For some time UlricoHoepli had acknowledged the criticismmade of his fellow countryman. We find evi-dence of such in a letter addressed to theZurich-born philologist Karl Täuber, pre-served in the Zurich Central Library, inwhich, on 14th January 1890, he wrote,amongst other things, that “to a certainpoint Scartazzini is an authority”, but “inthe last few years he has not kept abreast ofthe times”. In any event, the publisher neverlost his respect or personal friendship withthe Swiss scholar of Dante, publishing in1896 the first and in 1899 the second vol-ume of the Enciclopedia dantesca.

Dizionario critico e ragionato di quanto

concerne la vita e le opera di Dante Alighieri

[The Dante encyclopaedia. A critical and

annotated dictionary regarding the life and

works of Dante Alighieri], the third volumeof which, comprising the Vocabolario-con-

cordanza delle opere latine e italiane

[Vocabulary-concordance of Latin and

Italian works], was finished, after the deathof Scartazzini, by Antonio Fiammazzo in1905. The importance and the success of thework of this Bregaglia-born man is alsodemonstrated by the fact that theCommento scartazziniano [Scartazzinian

Commentary] is still written in large red let-ters on the title page of Hoepli’s Divine

Comedy, edited, from the fourth edition in1903 onwards, by Giuseppe Vandelli, andwhich has been reprinted up to recent times.The Hoepli edition of the Scartazziniancommentary has in any event provided suchstimulus and influence as regards theknowledge of the Divine Comedy that futureannotators, however authoritative, wouldnever have been able not to take it into dueconsideration. In fact, still today – as Roedelremarks – even though the “course of theannotators is different, addressed more toresolving those problems that we see asbeing real and almost unique to poetry ofthis genre, Scartazzini’s work, powerful inthe field of scholarly documentation,

remains a tool that assists the new annota-tors, who, if they do not want to fail, cannotand must not ignore the truth revealed bythe research of Our man”. Research that“given the bilingualism” of the person con-ducting it, “could have been used as a linkbetween the culture of the North and that ofthe South”. Ulrico Hoepli, who did not have any directheirs, had always wished to keep the busi-ness in the family, something he achieved byorganising for his two nephews, CarloHoepli and Erardo Aeschlimann, to workwith him. On the occasion of the fiftiethanniversary of the foundation of hisCompany, in the foreword to the publishinghouse’s General catalogue for 1922, the pub-lisher, to emphasise his gratitude to Italy,amongst other things, wrote: “It is not up tome to judge my work; however, I do want tosay this: that what I have done has beeninspired by my great love for Italy, by theunshakable faith I have in its future, by thesincerity and dignity of the scholars who areprogressively bettering Man and Society. Mytwo nephews, Carlo Hoepli and ErardoAeschlimann, are here to succeed me, whenI feel that I can no longer remain at my bat-tle post. They will be continuing from whereI have left off, and I would like to wish themall the very best. With determination, withfaith in your ideals, you can, you mustalways go further”. And it was at his “battlepost” that Ulrico Hoepli died 13 years later.As we have seen, the Ulrico HoepliPublishing House practically everything

The Dante scholar from

Bregaglia, Giovanni

Andrea Scartazzini

(1837-1901), author

of the famous

commentary to

The Divine Comedy,

published a number

of times by Hoepli

from 1893 onwards.

[XXXI]


.....................................................................................................................................................................................................................

apart from novels. Of the around eight thousand titles published by the founderthere are very few works of fiction. His suc-cessors have remained loyal to this prescription, by continuing to give amplespace to astronomers, linguists, geogra-phers, scholars of Dante, librarians, art his-torians and anyone that spreads knowledgein technical and scientific culture. After theGalleria De Cristoforis was demolished in1935, all of the Hoepli business activitieswere transferred to via Berchet, where thebookshop, with its 14 windows, became oneof the most attractive and largest in Italy.Totally destroyed by bombs in the SecondWorld War, the Ulrico Hoepli PublishingHouse and the International Bookshop wereone of the first businesses in Milan to reopenafter 25th April 1945, the day of liberationfrom Nazi fascism. In the offices in CorsoMatteotti, under the leadership of his succes-sors, the publishing house and the bookshopcontinued in their work to serve both cul-ture and science. In 1958, to mark therebuilding, a modern bookshop and newoffices commissioned by Ulrico Hoepli (1906-2003) and designed by the architects Figiniand Pollini were inaugurated. The building,situated in via Hoepli 5 in the centre ofMilan between the Duomo and La Scala the-atre, still houses the company’s headquar-ters.We like to remember Ulrico Hoepli throughthe lovely profile of him written by ananonymous author in the previously citedGli Svizzeri in Italia, published in 1939 bythe Swiss Chamber of Commerce in Milan:“Ulrico Hoepli, indefatigable worker,methodical, precise, with an excellent senseof business, prolific understanding, some-times daring, at other times reserved,embodies and personifies the ideal type ofgreat modern editor, who has to combine, inan agile and eager mind, the rapidity andprecision of business intuition with a higherspirituality; because in modern society […]the function of a book is no longer the prod-uct of industry or commerce, but is above allsomething that serves difficult and very del-icate philosophical and practical require-ments. […] Hoepli had the gift of notbecoming fixed in his ideas, even when mid-dle-aged, and not even in old age […]; hisspirit and mind were mature when he was

young, he had youthful ideas and intentionswhen old age could have justified a morerelaxed approach. Ulrico Hoepli was abuilder; as tough and hard as he was intelli-gent and eager, combining common sensewith his infinite love for the art of publish-ing, of which he was the master. He knewhow to build his company […] withoutimprovisations and without dragging hisfeet, avoiding anything that he had notthought through, constantly refusing anysense of stagnation of ideas. He had distin-guished colleagues in Italy who had gainedrecognition as publishers and artists; herespected them, he applauded their works,which he also admired and encouraged. […]But he did not imitate anyone, nor did hehave any imitators in the true sense of theword. His work was too personal and origi-nal. […] For sixty years many great minds[…] gravitated around Ulrico Hoepli and hisHouse […] because his work was personaland creative, and each publishing conquestwas a triumph of his brilliance, of hisinstinct and of his method. Over the courseof his long life, Ulrico Hoepli had devotedfriends, some of whom had risen to theheights of everlasting fame. […] But hisfriends were those who felt and recognisedhim, based on their experience and by hisvirtue, the Prince of publishers”.

* Researcher at the Zurich Central Library


.....................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Hoepli the patron. The Ulrico Hoepli Foundation

by Joseph Jung*

Amedeo Modigliani, La cameriera

[The Servant Girl], oil on canvas, 1916.

The painting was donated to the

Kunsthaus in Zurich by the

Ulrico Hoepli Foundation in 1927.

Ulrico Hoepli

.....................................................................................................................................................................................................................

The then fifty-year old Ulrico Hoepli hadbeen mulling over the idea of a foundationright from the end of the 1890’s. However,the renowned publisher remained undeci-ded as to the purpose to be given to thefoundation for some time. In the summer of1911 he decided on promoting “the supportof Federal councillors who are close toretirement”; however Federal councillorLudwig Forrer was against the idea, statingthat the government “could never accept” agift of that nature. The proposal that camefrom Bern, to appropriately assign the foun-dation’s funds to “a first-class technicalmagazine” designed by the Polytechnic, waspersonally rejected by Hoepli. In the end,the Ulrico Hoepli Foundation found its rai-son d’être in the “support of institutions andinitiatives in the public interest (especiallycharitable ones) or to promote science andthe arts in Switzerland”, a purpose ratifiedby a Notarial deed dated 8th September 1911.Initially Hoepli gave the Foundation100,000 francs and ordered that the assets ofthe Foundation should be managed sine die

by Crédit Suisse. A Board of Trustees were todecide the actual destination of the funds,although Hoepli reserved himself specialrights regarding their allocation. As a non-binding request, he prescribed the followingdistribution: half of the amounts donatedwere to be assigned to activities in the publicinterest and charity, particularly to the poor,the sick and the young; a quarter to scientificactivities, specifically to the fund for widows and orphans of professors of thePolytechnic and University of Zurich, toschools in the Canton of Zurich, Winterthurand Frauenfeld; and a quarter to artisticactivities in the fields of literature, figurativearts and music. Hoepli entrusted the management of theFoundation to a board of five members which– after numerous changes made by Hoeplihimself – still today comprises a governmentrepresentative (who acts as chair), aCouncillor of State from the Canton ofThurgau and one from the Canton of Zurich,by the Chairman and a member of the Boardof Directors or of the Management, of CréditSuisse. The execution of resolutions andlooking after correspondence is the responsi-bility of the Secretary, who is also an em-ployee of the bank. It is no wonder, given his

personal contacts, that Hoepli, despite the“modest”, for those days, resources, succeed-ed in convincing government representativesto hold a position on the Board of Trustees. Inthis way, Federal Councillor Ludwig Forreralso became the first Chairman of the UlricoHoepli Foundation.At the beginning of 1923 Ulrico Hoepliincreased the Foundation’s capital to500,000 francs. The following year he donat-

ed a further half a million francs. On thedeath of Ludwig Forrer, the government –respecting the will of the founder and on theexpress wish of Federal councillor GiuseppeMotta – appointed Federal councillorHeinrich Häberlin as its representative. “Ibelieve – wrote Hoepli in 1922 to his nephew– that we could do many good things forTutwil and Thurgau”. Häberlin, fromThurgau, who chaired the Foundation for 26years, did not fall short of his expectations. Ofthe amounts disbursed between 1924 and1935, totalling around 460,000 francs, almost100,000 francs were employed in projects inthe Canton of Thurgau. If in the above-men-tioned period only the disbursements forcharitable and social projects are considered,the Canton of Thurgau, with its 73,000 francs,equal to around 40% of these allocations, wasat the top of the list of the beneficiaryCantons.The Ulrico Hoepli Foundation rapidly gainedgreat prestige; even in the first few decades ofits activities, when foundations establishedfor the anniversaries of the large banks didn’teven exist, and when other foundations thathave today become important had not even

[XXXIV]

Ulrico Hoepli receives

the Swiss president

Ludwig Forrer on

1st June 1906, on the

occasion of the

celebrations in Milan

for the opening of the

Simplon tunnel.

Forrer was the first

Chairman of the Hoepli

Foundation.


.....................................................................................................................................................................................................................

been established and others had carelesslylost their capital in speculation, the UlricoHoepli Foundation played an important cul-tural and socio-political role. The chairmanof the foundation at the time declared, in1935, that “many outsiders have slipped intoour fodder trough of subsidies”, and: “Now Iam very busy with the Hoepli Foundation,because the needs of writers and artists alsoneed to be tended to…” or, in 1940: “I nowfeel like a pocket version of the Swiss sub-sidy cow, that is sometimes milked at theHoepli udder and sometimes at the ProHelvetia one. I am the biological proof thatthe cow is well only when it is milked”. In1911 Ulrico Hoepli saw social and charitywork as a fundamental task of hisFoundation; under no circumstance was itto become an institute to support writerswithout talent, it was not to “raise freeload-ers who stand at the entrance to the templeof fine arts, blocking the light of the elect”nor was it to be an insurance company forpublishers, enabling them to publish bookswithout taking any business risks. Hoeplialso did not want the State to feel relieved ofits cultural obligations thanks to theFoundation’s contributions. He expresslyinstructed that “politics and religion”should have no weight in disbursements.His waiver, which came later, of specificallyindicating the content of the activities towhich the funds should be allocated, provedto be an act of wisdom. The Board ofTrustees, who had always had the faculty to

refer to criteria for quality, in its resolu-tions, had until then fully exploited thistotal liberty within the scope of theFoundation, adapting the grounds for thedisbursements, over the years, to the ever-changing needs of society. The Ulrico Hoepli Foundation today makes avalid contribution to cultural initiatives. Asa tribute to the life and work of its founder,it considers its main mandate the publica-tion of quality books, with particular focuson historical-cultural subject areas and tointellectual publications that cover theItalian and Swiss linguistic areas. TheFoundation is also closely linked to Hoepli’shomeland, the Canton of Thurgau; itbelieves its mission to be the preservation ofcultural heritage, achieved through the con-tinuous funding of selected projects to pre-serve heritage monuments.

Ulrico Hoepli was a patron even in his pri-vate life; Switzerland and Italy benefitedfrom his magnanimity in equal measure. Hemade the greatest gift to his adoptive home-land by publishing the great Italian classicsand the technical-scientific books that con-tributed to Italian prosperity. His patronagecrowned the work of his whole life. Hoepli defined himself as having an “Italian,but really Milanese heart, sentiments andaffection,” Understandably, he focused onMilan more than on any other city; with theBiblioteca Popolare Ulrico Hoepli [UlricoHoepli Public Library], established on the

[XXXV]

Hoepli in 1927, at his

desk in the bookshop in

Galleria De Cristoforis

occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of thefoundation of his publishing house, with thePlanetarium inaugurated on 23rd May 1930and with a valuable collection of paintings.In 1930 Hoepli received the Gold Medal ofthe city, also as acknowledgement of themany donations he had made in total discre-tion. He paid particular attention to thefunding of scholastic and scientific activitiesin his “adoptive homeland”, so that the stu-dents could share his success and the profitshe had made thanks to books. His passionfor Italy was complemented by his patronageof Switzerland, with an inestimable numberof donations. “The good Ulrico has recentlybeen so inundated with requests for offers,that he has regularly forwarded to me, thatI will have to appoint a secretary just toreply to them”, said Johann Heinrich Hoepliin 1930. The applicants included friends andstrangers, private citizens and public officials;“at that time didn’t I too make numerousrequests for help? – but then who didn’t?”There were cases of vital necessity and ofsmall daily requirements.Hoepli was ever-present when money wasneeded for the construction of a spa on theBichelsee or when the church in Wängineeded a new central heating system. TheAssociation of shooters from Tuttwil wroteto him because they were short of funds forthe construction of their headquarters, thevillage music master wrote to him whenthey needed to buy the folders for sheetmusic and a piano. Hoepli donated his par-ents’ house to the local council. He recog-nised the “need to introduce electric light-ing even to small towns”, and put his handin his pocket to modernise his hometown.Therefore the people of Tuttwil benefitedparticularly from the generosity of theiremigrated fellow citizen. Hoepli also madeother donations: in 1903, 25,000 francs forthe construction of Zurich’s Central Library;in 1910, 100,000 francs for the women’sblock of the Münsterlingen mental hospital;in 1917, 50,000 Italian lire for the ScuolaSvizzera di Milano [Swiss School of Milan];between 1914 and 1918 the statue in whitemarble portraying a Niobe, at an estimatedvalue of 10,000 francs, for the University ofZurich. In the midst of such generosity, themost important gift that Hoepli gaveSwitzerland is the Foundation that still

today bears his name.

The current members of the Foundation’sboard are:The former Federal councillor Flavio Cotti(chairman),Walter B. Kielholz (deputy chairman),Walter Berchtold,The councillor of State Bernard Koch(Canton of Thurgau),The councillor of State Dr. jur. MarkusNotter (Canton of Zurich),Secretary: Prof. Dr. Joseph Jung.Address: Ulrico Hoepli Foundation,c/o Crédit Suisse Group, Postfach 1,CH-8070 Zurich.

* Secretary of the Ulrico Hoepli Foundation in

Zurich

[XXXVI]

Ulrico Hoepli

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[XXXVII]


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Hoepli between 1935 and 2005In 1935 Carlo Hoepli succeeded the founderUlrico and gave a new boost to the publishinghouse in the years that preceded the SecondWorld War, through the publication of authorssuch as Arnheim, Berenson, Guénon, Tucci andof magazines such as “Sapere” and “Cinema”.Unfortunately, the world conflict had a devas-tating effect on the company, with the destruc-tion of the warehouse (1942) and the bookshop(1943). Only 82 titles of the 4,000 present in thecatalogue were available in 1943. After the war,Carlo Hoepli, together with his son, Ulrico(1906-2003), painstakingly reconstructed thetechnical and scientific catalogue. The works ofDesio, Giedion and Nervi appeared alongsidethe reprints of the most successful Hoepli titlesand in 1955 the Enciclopedia Hoepli [Hoepli

Encyclopaedia] was released.A symbol of the reconstruction was the inau-guration of the current headquarters in viaHoepli 5 in 1958 with a modern bookshop andnew offices. The company remained family-runand Ulrico’s brother Gianni, worked with him,and from the 60’s onwards also his son UlricoCarlo. The production of technical publicationswas confirmed and extended over the course ofthe 60’s and 70’s, the publishing house expan-ded its catalogue to university publications(80’s) and scholastic ones (90’s) and in recentyears, to new areas such as computing andmanagement. At the same time the UlricoHoepli International Bookshop has grown,reaching today’s six floors, becoming one of themost important bookshops in Europe.The current Hoepli Chairman is Ulrico CarloHoepli, flanked by the fifth generation, histhree children Giovanni, Matteo and Barbara,the general manager Susanna Schwarz, thepublishing director Marco Sbrozi and by thedirector of the bookshop Aldo Modugno. Atotal of around one hundred employees workbetween the publishing house, bookshop andwarehouse.

The Ulrico Hoepli Publishing HouseThe Hoepli catalogue has almost 1,300 titlescurrently available and each year publishesaround 120 titles, between new publicationsand new editions. The catalogue is the realasset of a publisher like Hoepli, who has alwaysaimed to produce publications that will stand

the test of time, through books that are printedover and over again. An exemplary case: therenowned Manuale dell’ingegnere [Engineer’s

handbook], which from a slim first edition in1877-78, the work of the engineer GiuseppeColombo, has today reached its 84th edition, thework of 200 people, with a total of 6,680 pages,divided into four volumes. Some other similarexamples: the Nuovo Gasparrelli. Manuale del

geometra [New Gasparrelli. Surveyor’s hand-

book] (22nd edition), the Vademecum per diseg-

natori e tecnici [Vademecum for designers and

technicians] by Luigi Baldassani (19th edition),the Dizionario tecnico inglese-italiano ita-

liano-inglese [Technical dictionary English-

Italian Italian-English] by Giorgio Marolli (12th

edition).The focus on the professions is one of the con-stant features of the catalogue, confirmed by awide range of books present in the Biblioteca

tecnica Hoepli [Hoepli Technical Collection].In recent years, technologies linked to audio-video, the various forms of computing, cov-ered by the Hoepli Informatica [Hoepli

Computing] series and books dedicated tosafety and legislation have been added to thehealthy series of volumes dedicated to engi-neering, architecture, building, electronicsand electrical engineering.Another strength of the Hoepli catalogue arethe linguistic publications and the dictionar-ies, essential tools for an increasingly globaland interdependent world: for example thegreat bilingual dictionaries dedicated toEnglish (Picchi, Grande dizionario di inglese

[Great English Dictionary]), Spanish (Tam,Grande dizionario di spagnolo [Great Spanish

dictionary]) and Russian (Dobrovolskaja,Grande dizionario russo-italiano italiano-

russo [Great dictionary Russian-Italian

Italian-Russian]), are all amongst the mostpopular in Italy, not to mention bilingual tech-nical and commercial dictionaries dedicated toEnglish, French and German, grammar books,courses and an array of support material for themain European and non-European languages,and Italian for foreigners.More recently, considerable interest has beenshown in marketing (Raimondi, Marketing del

prodotto-servizio [Product-service marketing],management (Kerzner, Project Management)and communications (Colombo, Atlante della

comunicazione [Atlas of communications], aswell as in professional tourism, confirmed by

Hoepli today

the many volumes of the Turismi & Turisti

[Tourism & Tourists] series. A growth area is represented by universitytexts with a series dedicated to economics(among the authors the Nobel Prize winnerStiglitz, Fischer, Dornbusch, Krugman andthe Italians Padoa Schioppa Kostoris,Masciandaro, Pittaluga) and to translationstudies, important books on engineering(Ballio-Bernuzzi, Progettare costruzioni in

acciaio [Designing steel constructions], archi-tecture (Newfert, Enciclopedia pratica per

progettare e costruire [Practical encyclopae-

dia for design and construction], 7th edition),to which a series of nursing science and one ofspecialist English texts have recently beenadded.In the field of scholastic publishing for sec-ondary schools, Hoepli is currently one of thetop ten publishers in Italy with a consolidatedproduction in subjects covered by technical,vocational and artistic institutes. A specificcatalogue on basic professional training andon-going training is also available.A range of publications as extensive as that ofHoepli is bound to include some strange titles,dedicated to hobbies, art techniques andleisure time; books on sailing, technical sub-jects and illustrated editions of history books. In recent years another two traditional Hoepliareas have been revived: children’s stories andbooks dedicated to Milan. In terms of the former, new editions of classic fairytales(Andersen, Grimm, The Arabian Nights) pre-serving the drawings of great illustrators suchas Accornero and Nicouline, have been pub-lished, while even more recently the enjoyableCampa Cavallo [That’ll be the day], the twentyanimal proverbs illustrated by Altan, wasreleased. For Milan, to whom over the yearsHoepli has dedicated a series of very signifi-cant publications, various books on the city’shistory and traditions have been published inrecent years.

The BookshopThe Ulrico Hoepli International Bookshop ischaracterised by the fact that it has extremelyspecialised sectors that satisfy the interests ofboth the general reader and of those that arelooking for tools with which to update theirprofessional skills. With a selection of over175,000 titles and 500,000 Italian and foreignvolumes, it is one of the largest bookshops in

Europe, with a surface area of over 2,000square metres, more than 40 linear metres ofshop windows and two linear kilometres ofshelves. The forty sales assistants give adviceon a wide range of subjects ranging from: thesciences; architecture; art; graphics andphotography; legal fields; economics; computing; and literature; to the variousfields of non-fiction: medicine; children’sbooks; sport; cooking; travelling; and antiquebooks. The percentage of foreign books available exceeds 30%. In Milan they say: “goto Hoepli’s” if you are looking for a particularbook or one that is difficult to find. There is noguarantee that you will find the book there,but it can be ordered and the sales assistantwill be able to provide you with a bibliographyon the subject so the customer never goesaway empty-handed. The Hoepli Bookshopseeks to unite the interests of those that usebooks for their professional careers and ofthose that seek the pleasure of reading,although often the customer is one and thesame. In addition to books, there is also a section dedicated to international specialist magazines ranging from architecture to economics, the cinema and scientific subjects.A section dedicated to DVDs has recentlyopened with classic films and documentaries.The bookshop also has an area where once ortwice a week, book presentations are organised as well as a small area for art orphotographic exhibitions.

Hoepli.itTo complement the services of the bookshop,in 2001 a website www.hoepli.it was set up.The site, which was recently revamped andexpanded, offers 500,000 books and 2,000magazines on line, free consultation of theHoepli English dictionary, as well as all of thebooks in the bookshop, the option of makingbibliographical and in-depth searches bymeans of the search engine called Booxster. Atpresent the site receives one million visitorsper year.

Ulrico Hoepli

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[XXXVIII]

[XXXIX]

Le felici intuizioni di un libraio editore

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The text of Hoepli today was written by Alberto Saibene in col-

laboration with the Ulrico Hoepli Publishing House.

The research of captions for the thematic images that accompany

the Operating Report was made by Pier Carlo Della Ferrera.

Acknowledgments

Thanks to all of the people and the institutions that, under various

titles, have provided documentation, information, news and useful

suggestions for the realisation of this piece of work. Special thanks

to the Ulrico Hoepli Publishing House (Drs Ulrico Carlo Hoepli,

Giovanni Ulrico Hoepli, Matteo Hoepli, Barbara Hoepli and Alberto

Saibene) and to the painter Tullio Pericoli.

Sources and photographic references

Hoepli editorial and family archive, Milan, p. I, III, IV, V,VI, VII,

VIII, IX, XII, XIII, XIV, XV, XVI, XVIII, XX, XXII, XXIII, XXIV, XXVI,

XXVII, XXVIII, XXIX, XXXIV, XXXV, XXXIX

Art Photo Studio Paolo Manusardi, Milan, p. I, IV, VI, IX, XXXV

Edwin Herzog, Wängi, p. XXV

Kunsthaus Zürich, p. XXXII and XXXIII

Tullio Pericoli, Milan, p. II

The portrait on p. II was painted especially for this publication by

the painter Tullio Pericoli, Milan.

The Banca Popolare di Sondrio (SUISSE) is available to holders of

the rights to the images the owners of which have not been identi-

fied or found, in order to absolve the obligations provided for by

the legislation in force.

Ulrico HOEPLI,

Dedication in the guestbook

of Emanual Stickelberger, May 1931

DESIGN AND COORDINATION

SDB, Chiasso

ulrico hoepli the insightful ideas of a bookselling publisher...manuale dell'ingegnere civile e...

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