The University of Macau Library Acquires Rare Books, Enhancing Legacy of East-West Exchange (2025-11-25)
The University of Macau (UM) Library has enriched its special collections with the recent acquisition of a significant collection of rare historical works. This acquisition provides scholars and the public with invaluable primary resources to explore the history of cultural exchange between East and the West. The newly acquired rare books and documents support a wide range of academic disciplines, from literature and history to arts and religious studies. They will serve as cornerstone artifacts for future exhibitions, digital humanities projects, and specialized research on Macao.
The collection includes several landmark publications, such as:
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Historiarum
Indicarum libri XVI (1588)
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Dell’historia della Compagnia di Giesu : l’Asia (1656)
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An
English and Chinese Vocabulary, in the Court Dialect (1844)
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O Arcebispo de Goa e a Congregação de Propaganda
Fide. Por um Portuguez (1862)
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Ephemerides
commemorativas da historia de Macau e das relacoes da China com os povos
Christaos (1868)
- The Chater Collection (1924)
Digital versions of these rare books will be made accessible through the UM Library Catalogue. To consult the physical items in the library, please contact us at lib_spc@um.edu.mo.
University of Macau Library
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Historiarum Indicarum libri XVI (1588) , by Giovanni Pietro Maffei. Florence: Apud Philippum Juncatam. The first edition of the Italian Jesuit Maffei’s account of the Portuguese discoveries in the West and East Indies, and of the Jesuit missions, particularly in India, Japan, and China. |
Dell’historia della Compagnia di Giesu : l’Asia, by Danielo (1656), by Danielo Bartoli. Genova : nella stamperia di Benedetto Guasco libraro a Banchi. The first Genoa imprint of the first part of the Ferrarese Jesuit Daniel Bartoli’s three-part work on Jesuit missionary activities in Asia. |
An English and Chinese vocabulary, in the court dialect (1844), by Samuel Wells Williams. Macao : Printed at the Office of the Chinese Repository. Williams’ dictionary, which he hoped would supersede that of Morrison (1815-1823), was compiled by non-English speaking Chinese and Portuguese assistants. |
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O Arcebispo de Goa e a Congregação de Propaganda Fide. Por um Portuguez (1862), by Joaquim Heliodoro da Cunha Rivara. Nova-Goa : na Imprensa Nacional. The rare original Portuguese-language edition of Joaquim Heliodoro da Cunha Rivara’s pamphlet in patriotic defence of the new Archbishop of Goa, João Crisóstomo de Amorim Pessoa. |
Ephemerides commemorativas da historia de Macau e das relacoes da China com os povos Christaos (1868), by A. Marques Perreira. Macau : Jose da Silva. A rare Macao imprint documenting the history of the city. |
The Chater Collection. Pictures relating to China, Hong Kong, Macao, 1655-1860 (1924), by James Orange. London: T. Butterworth. This book records the extraordinary collection that Hong Kong businessman Sir Paul Chater built. It includes representations and descriptions of the prints and maps within his collection. |
