Tipoteca Italiana’s museum covers a surface of 3,000 square metres and is devoted to preserve and display the heritage of Italian typefaces and letterpress printing. The museum tour allows visitors to discover typography tools and history through original material, which describes the typographer’s work (typesetting and printing), but also the crucial role of crafts related to the world of type: punch engraving, matrix preparation, typeface melting, typeface design and drawing. The visit reveals a real treasure: the typeface, matrix and punch collection.

The exhibition rooms take visitors through the creation and evolution of movable type and printing, which has changed the way we communicate for over 500 years. The collections are hosted in the former church and guesthouse of the Canapificio. The machines and the equipment on permanent exhibition explain all the steps of making type and letterpress printing from Gutenberg to the 1970s. The museum also offers useful support for visits and educational programmes.