The aim of the Books & City Series is to encourage students’ polymathic study, to gather knowledge, not only by expanding beyond the borders of countries, but also time and different subjects. Speakers like writers, journalist and faculty from academic departments are invited to share with students. Through this event, we hope to promote reading from the perspective of speakers from various fields as well as to promote library resources.
In collaboration with the Development Office, the Library was honored to have invited Mr. Roy Delbyck, Law Offices of Roy Ian Delbyck, to share his rare collections on China on 22 Apr 2015. Mr. Delbyck is a full-time practice of law as well as a collector of printed materials on China. His collection now approaches some 10,000 items which consist of books, maps, photos, programs, magazine, posters, post cards, luggage labels, letters, diaries, cacheted envelops, yearbooks, directories, and all sorts of other amazing ephemera.
In this talk, Mr. Delbyck talked about the reasons he came to collecting materials on China, how his collecting interests have changed over time and some of his collecting hits and misses. Among his collections, he picked materials on Shanghai in the 1930s as the main topic. He explained that Shanghai was undergoing a tumultuous period in the 1930s because of the two wars with Japan. Materials produced during this period could show us the diversity and complexity of Shanghai during that time. From Mr. Delbyck’s stories, we learnt about the history of these materials and they are of high research values for the study of modern China. The talk was moderated by Ms. Linda Yeung, former Education Editor of SCMP.
Shanghai 1930s: Materials from Roy Delbyck's Collection
