Motta represent the historical sciences, the latter contributing much
to the Bollettino della Suizzera Italiana (from 1879 onwards), which,
though mainly historical, devotes much space to literary and
historical matters relating to the canton. The art of novel writing
does not flourish in Ticino. But it has produced a great number
of poets such as Pietro Peri (1794–1869), who translated the Swiss
national anthem into Italian, J. B. Buzzi (1825-1898), Giovanni
Airoldi (died before 1900) and Carlo Cioccaii (1829-1891)—the
two former were lyric poets, and the third a dramatist. Two
younger singers are F. Chiesa and M. A. Nessi.
d. Romonsch and Ladin Branch.—In the Grisons alone still lingers a quaint Romance dialect, which is a laggard sister of French and Italian, and has therefore not much to show in the way of literary activity. Indeed it would probably have perished altogether by this time had not certain energetic men and societies more or less successfully tried to bring about a sort of artificial revival. It is distinguished into two main dialects, that of the Btmdner Oberland or the valley of the Vorder Rhine being called Romonsch, while that spoken in the Engadine and the neighbouring valleys is known as Ladin. Both took their origin from the spoken tongue or lingua rustica Romana in the days of the later empire. The earliest known monument of this interesting survival was discovered in 1907, and consists of a few lines, in an early form of the Romonsch dialect, of interlinear translation (with the original Latin text) of a sermon attributed to St Augustine. This monument is said to date from the early 12th century. The first poem in Ladin was one on the Musso War, written in 1527 by Johann von Travers (1483-1563), though it was not published till 1865. The first book printed in it (at Poschiavo in 1552) was the translation of a German catechism, and the next a translation of the New Testament, also at Poschiavo, but in 1560. Most of the works in both these dialects are translations of books of a religious or educational nature. The principal writers in the Romonsch dialect (the less literary of the two) of recent times are Theodor von Castelbcrg (1748-1830), a poet and translator of poetry, and P. A. de Latour (about 1814) also a poet, while the best of all poets in this dialect was Anton Huonder, whose lyrics are considered remarkable. Alexander Balletta (1842-1887) wrote prose romances and sketches, while J. C. Muoth (1844-1906), himself a most typical and characteristic figure, wrote much in prose and verse as regards his native region. In Ladin one of the chief figures was the poet Conradin von Flugi (1787-1874), who published volumes of poems in 1845 and 1861, but the poems, novels and translations of J. F. Caderas (1830-1891) are placed above them. Other Ladin poets are Florin Valentin, O. P. Juvalta and S. Caratsch (d. 1892), while P. Lansel represents a younger generation. Zaccaria Pallioppi (1820-1873) also wrote poems. but the excellent Ladin dictionary that he compiled was not published till 1895 by the care of his son. (W. A. B. C.)
Bibliography
-a. General.—The indispensable work for any
one desiring to know what books have been written on an subject
relating to Switzerland is the officially published Bibliographic
der sch-weizerischen Landeskunde, a series of detached parts, each
complete in itself, and issued separately (Bern, from 1892 onwards).
In particular may be mentioned: A. Waber's Landes- und Reisebesrhreibungen
(1899; with a supplement, 1909), that deals with works
of travel in Switzerland (see, too, the new edition, London, 1899,
of J. Ball's Hints and Notes for Travellers in the Alps, pp. 140-152),
and J. H. Graf, Kartenwesen (1896), which enumerates all the
maps of Switzerland and its various districts. Among the best
of the older descriptions may be mentioned those of A. von Bonstetten
(1479), Conrad Tiirst (1495), Sebastian Munster (1544),
J. Stumpf (1548), J. Simler (1574), M. Merian (1642), J. J. Scheuchzer
(1723). G. S. Gruner (1760), P. F. D. de Zu-rlauben (1777) and W.
Coxe (1779). More modern, but still useful in many ways, are
Max Wirth, Allgemeine Beschreibung und Statistik der Schweiz
(3 vols., Zürich, 1871-187), and H. A. Berlepsch, Schweizerkunde
(2nd ed., Brunswick, 1875§ . The most complete and recent monograph
on the country from all points of view is the work (700 pp.)
entitled La Suisse (also in German), with atlas of 8 maps, reprinted
from the Dictionnaire géographique de la Suisse (Neuchatel, 1909).
For a pretty complete detailed account of its chief towns, villages
and mountains, by far the best work is the Dictionnaire géographique
de la Suisse (Neuchatel, 1902, and following years; it is also issued
in German). A complete account of the country in the 19th century
is given in the work entitled La Suisse au xix'"” siecle (3 vols.,
Lausanne, 1899-1900; also issued in German). For statistics see
the official census of 1900 (Bern, 3 vols., 1904-1907), as well as the
annual official publication Stalistisches Jahrbuch der Schweiz (from
1891, see specially the vol. for 1897, Atlas graphique et statistique de
la Suisse, with many diagrams), and another (appearing six times
a year at Bern, since 1865) the Zeitschrift fur schweizerische Statistik.
For educational matters the annual official Jahrbuch fur Unlerrichtswesen
in der Schweiz (Zürich, from 1894) is ve useful. For
mountaineers there is the Climbers' Guides Series (London, from
1890, now comprising II vols. relating to Switzerland), and the
two works published by the Swiss Alpine Club, Clubfuhrer durch
die Glarner Alpen (1902), and Clubfuhrer durch die Urner Alpen
(2 vols., 1905). Murray's Handbook for Travellers in Switzerland
was thoroughly revised (19th edition) in 1904, while it is not necessary
to do more than mention the guide-books of Baedeker and
Joanne, of which new editions often appear (that by Iwan von
Tschudi is no longer kept up to date).
The best maps of Switzerland are those published by the Federal Topographical Bureau at Bern. One, called from the director of the survey (G. H. Dufour, 1787-1875) the Dufour Map (scale 1:100,000), was published in twenty-five sheets between 1845 and 1863 (see the detailed history of this map in the work entitled Die schweizerische Landesvermessung, 1832-1864, Bern, 1896). It has however, been practically superseded by the issue (revised and corrected) of the original survey (scale I: 25,000 for the plains and 1:50,000 for the mountain districts) in 598 sheets, of which the publication began in 1870-this magnificent map, one of the finest ever executed, is named the Siegfried Atlas, from the successor of Dufour at the head of the survey, Hermann Siegfried (1819-1879). The history of Swiss travel has been told by G. Peyer, Geschichte des Reisens in der Schweiz (Basel, 1885), and W. A. B. Coolidge, Swiss Travel and Swiss Guide-Books (London, 1889). That of the exploration of the Swiss Alps is contained in Gottlieb Studer's Uber Eis und Schnee (Bern, 3 vols., new ed., 1896-1899), while Bernard Studer's Geschichte der physischen Geographic der Schweiz bis 1815 (Bern, 1863) describes the gradual examination of the country from the scientific point of view. The last-named work contains many short lives of eminent Swiss. These are narrated more in detail in R. Wolf's Biographieen zur Kulturgeschichte der Schweiz (4 vols., Zürich, 1858-1862); E. Secretan's Galerie suisse (3 vols., Lausanne, 1873-1880); and Sammlung berner Biographieen (Bern, as yet 5 vols., 1884-1906). (See also ALPS and GLACIER5.) As to languages in Switzerland the best general work is . Zimmerli's Die deutsch-franzosische Sprachgrenze in der Schweiz 3 vols., Basel and Geneva, 1891-1899); while for the Swiss-German dialects there is the splendid Schweizerisches Idiotikon (of which the publication began at Frauenfeld in 1881); and the Glossaire des patois de la Suisse romande. For one branch of the curious Ladin dialect, see Z. and E. Pallioppi's Dizionari dels idioms romauntschs d'Engiadow. &C- (Samadeh, 1895); while for select extracts of all branches of the Romonsch or Ladin literature consult C. Decurtins, Ratoromanische Chrestomathie (8 vols., Erlangen, 1894-1907), of which the vols. i., ii., iii. and iv. refer to the Romonsch dialect of the Bundner Oberland, and the rest to the Ladin dialect of the Engadine. F. J. Stalder's Versuch eines schweizerischen Idiotikon (2 vols.-Aarau, 1806-1812) is still useful, as is his later work'Die Landessprachen der Schweiz (Aarau, 1819).
The Archiv für Volkskunde published by the Société suisse des traditions populaires (Zürich, gom 1897), contains much that is interesting in the way of folk-lore, while for Swiss legends in general consult E. Kohlrusch, Schweizerisches Sagenbuch (Leipzi, 1854); A. Lijitolf, Sagen, Brauche, Legenden aus den Fiinlf Orten %Lucerne, 1862); M. Tscheinen and P. J. Ruppen, Wal iser-Sagen (Sion 1872); A. Cérésole, Légendes des alpes 1/audoises (Lausanne, 1885); J. Kuoni, Sagen des Kanlons St Gallen (St Gall, 1903); T. Vernaleken, Alizensagen (Vienna, 1858); D. Gempeler's Sagen und Sagengeschichten aus dem Simmenthal (ThUH, I 883-1 893); and Walliser-Sagen (2 vols., Brieg, 1907). Another feature of the life of the people in Switzerland is treated in H. Herzog's Schweizerische Volksfeste, Silten, und Gebrauche (Aarau, 1884).
For educational matters the two following books (with the Jahrbuch fur Unterrichtswesen in der Schweiz, already mentioned) will be found specially useful: F. Escali, L'Instruction primaire en Suisse (Paris, 1883) and the annual volume (Geneva, from 1904) entitled L'Education en Suisse. For the Swiss universities see the special histories mentioned in the articles on the several cantons, while for the Swiss Polytechnic School at Zürich, consult W. Oechsli's Geschichte der Griindung des eidg. Polytechnicums (Frauenfeld. 1905).
As to the mountain pastures, see Alp, where a list of books is given.
Swiss carriage. roads, especially across the Alpine passes, are described in S. Bavier, Die Strassen der Schweiz (Zürich, 1878), and the official book, Die schweizerischen Alpenpässe (2nd ed., 1893). For the history of the several Swiss Alpine passes consult in particular P. H. Scheffel, Verkehrsgeschichte der Alpen (Berlin, 1908-1909); R. Reinhard, Pässe und Strassen in den schweizer Alpen (Lucerne, 1903), which gives full references; and E. Oehlmann's articles “Die Alpenpässe im Mittelalter,” published in vols. iii. and iv. (Zürich, 1878-1879) of the Jahrbuch für schweizerische Geschichte). The Simplon has a special history, F. Barbev, La Route du Simplon (Geneva, 1906), as has also the St Gotthard; E. Motta, Dei Personaggi celebri che varcarono il Gottardo nei tempi antichi e moderni (Bellinzona, 1884; later continued in the Ballettino della Svizzera Italiana). As to Swiss railways in general, see R. Herold, Der schweizerische Bund und die Eisenbahnen bis zur Jahrhundertwende (Munich, 1902); P. Weissenbach, Die Eisenbahnoerstaatlichung in der Schweiz (Berlin, 1905); and C. P. Wiedemann, Die geschiclitliche Entwicklung der schweizer. Eisenbahngesetzgebung (Zürich, 1905). The St Gotthard railway and its history are treated of at length by M. Wanner in his two works—Geschichte der Begründung des Gotthardunternehmens (Lucerne, 1880); and
