The University of Macau Library Acquires Rare 19th‑Century Encyclopedia of World Costumes (2026-02-10)
The University of Macau Library has recently enriched its special collections with the acquisition of a complete five‑volume set of Costumes, Usos e Trajos de Todos os Povos do Mundo (in Portuguese), compiled by Auguste Wahlen and translated from French by Francisco Ludovino de Sousa Freitas Sampaio, published in Lisbon between 1872 and 1878. The work is the first Portuguese edition of Wahlen’s renowned encyclopedia of world costumes and customs, originally issued in Brussels in the mid‑19th century.
Organized by continent, the encyclopedia provides a global survey of dress and customs across Asia, Africa, the Americas, Europe, and Oceania. The set is illustrated with nearly one hundred finely executed hand colored lithographic plates, many based on visual records from major European voyages of exploration in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
The encyclopedia holds significant academic value for research in history, anthropology, art history, and cultural studies, and complements the UM Library’s strengths in Portuguese studies and the history of East–West exchange.
Digital versions of the rare set will be made accessible through the UM Library Catalogue, after digitization. To consult the physical items in the library, please contact us at lib_spc@um.edu.mo.
Costumes, usos e trajos de todos os povos do mundo, em face de documentos authenticos e das mais recentes viagens (1872-1878) by Augusto Wahlen. Lisboa: Typographia Lisbonense.
Illustrations of Chinese junks from the Asia Volume.
Illustration of Chinese peoples from the Asia Volume.
Illustration from the Asia Volume.
Illustration from the Europe Volume.
Illustration from the Africa-America Volume.
Illustration from the Oceania Volume.