ISO observations of obscured Asymptotic Giant Branch stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud

We present ISO photometric and spectroscopic observations of a sample of 57 bright Asymptotic Giant Branch stars and red supergiants in the Large Mage llanic Cloud, selected on the basis of IRAS colours indicative of high mass -loss rates. PHOT-P and PHOT-C photometry at 12, 25 and 60 mu m and CAM pho tometry at 12 mu m are used in combination with quasi-simultaneous ground-b ased near-IR photometry to construct colour-colour diagrams for all stars i n our sample. PHOT-S and CAM-CVF spectra in the 3 to 14 mu m region are pre sented for 23 stars. From the colour-colour diagrams and the spectra, we es tablish the chemical types of the dust around 49 stars in this sample. Many stars have carbon-rich dust. The most luminous carbon star in the Magellan ic Clouds has also a (minor) oxygen-rich component. OH/IR stars have silica te absorption with emission wings. The unique dataset presented here allows a detailed study of a representative sample of thermal-pulsing AGE stars w ith well-determined luminosities.