One of our own won the inaugural 2019 California Young Book Collector’s Prize

Matthew is committed not only to providing access to his award winning collection related to his PhD research, but is intent on inspiring other scholars to actively participate in open access. He is an active member of several working groups in the library, one the library’s student advisory group and the Scholarly Communications Working Group. We’re thrilled that Matthew Wills’ collection will be on display at the 52nd California International Antiquarian Book Fair, February 8-10, 2019. #openaccess @ABAA49

“First place was awarded to Matthew Wills, of [UC San Diego], whose collection is on the theme of “Anti-Confucian Propaganda in Mao’s China”. In Matthew’s words:  “[As an] historian and bibliographer, I research the history of book publishing and propaganda in Chairman Mao’s China. In particular, I study books that show the Communist state’s hostility to China’s Confucian traditions.” For a time the state-controlled publishers printed “hundreds of propaganda books critiquing Confucian ideas”, and it is these primary source materials which constitute the foundation of Matthew’s collection, which has approximately 700 unique items, including editions in different languages, comic books, and even five volumes printed in Braille.” Northern California Chapter of the Antiquarian Bookseller’s Association of America announcement 

Liu Xiazhi Denounces Old Kong Number 2.