Seven years ago, Roy Delbyck came down with a bug which infects him until today. The bug is collecting and it has manifested itself in tens of thousands of items – books, maps, photographs, newspapers, letters, diaries, posters, postcards, directories, yearbooks and other ephemera – on China and Hong Kong, largely from the first half of the 20th century, with pre-World War II Shanghai occupying a major place in his collection.

Roy will discuss what he collects, how his collecting interests have changed over time, the fish that got away and the five items he would grab in case of a natural disaster, while exploring the nature of collecting and how private collectors fill in the gaps, often going where institutions can't.