O Diário de Sarah: Um Documento Inédito de Meados do Século XIX

This article explores the diary of an American merchant's wife written in 1853 during a voyage between the USA and China in 1853. Beyond the incidents of the long round trip, the diary also addresses the period of approximately two months that the couple spent in Macao. This type of intimate record was rare among women and was only made public some 200 years after it was written. The document provides not only information on the physical aspects of the cities of Canton and Macao, but also portrays the social fabric, including the interaction of the foreign community with the local population. As an unpublished manuscript, Sarah's Diary holds exceptional historical value. Being the only known account of its kind to date about life in Macao in the early years of the second half of the nineteenth century, it is an essential source of information for understanding the reality of the region during a period marked by multiple diplomatic initiatives and intense commercial exchanges between Asia and the West.