Books and Magazines — Payne's Universum, or, Pictorial World — engravings

"Payne's Universum, or, Pictorial World" (full title: "Payne's Universum, or, Pictorial World: Being a Collection of Engravings of Views in All Countries, Portraits of Great Men, and Specimens of Works of Art, of All Ages and of Every Character") was an English illustrated publication of the mid-19th century.

The work was published in London by Brain & Payne (later E.T. Brain & Co.) around 1845–1847 and was edited by Charles Edwards . It also had a branch in Leipzig and was distributed in the United States through Charles Müller in New York.

Payne's Universum consisted of three volumes, each containing 64 steel engravings (including frontispieces) — a total of approximately 192 illustrations . The engravings were accompanied by historical and biographical essays, partly in verse, with some captions in both English and German.

Most of the engravings were executed by the publisher himself, Albert Henry Payne (1812–1902) , a renowned English engraver and publisher; several engravings in the third volume are signed by the engraver W. French . The engravings were printed in London by Joseph Rickerby.

Unlike the German "Meyer's Universum," the British edition had a broader thematic scope: it included not only topographical views but also portraits of great men (rulers, military leaders, cultural figures) and reproductions of works of art from various periods . The Library of Congress catalogue records the publication as issued in 1845–1847 in three volumes.

Today, complete sets of "Payne's Universum" are rare and highly valued by collectors as examples of Victorian book illustration and important monuments of European publishing culture.