A slight lull has been in had in funding progress, partly due to my attention wavering towards other projects than the fact that universities are out and until the new year starts in September.
However, we have now successfully shipped donations of nearly all 33 works to the SOAS, Washington University Library, Oxford, Edinburgh, Leeds and even to the Royal Shakespeare Society. Cambridge University are also requesting a full set but the person in-charge is still sunbathing in the Algarve, I hear.
This is indeed great news (the donations I mean not the sunbathing bit) and I hope that with these books on their shelves more students will be able to share in Bill's wonderful output.
I have also contacted various other institutes/organisations with hope to donate further works to them and I am looking for further funding options to promote the Chinese Culture Series, at home and abroad (thanks to Carolyn Boynes for the heads-up on certain avenues that might bear fruit). I will keep you updated on progress of these further efforts but more-often that not our emails end up in the spam box which drags out and delays positive dialogue.
Finally, due to the sudden rush of donations we are now out of print of four volumes of works but certainly, with a little impetus, during the month of September I will work flat out on the first volume, No28 and digitise this with another one following soon afterwards.
All who have donated to the fund will of course receive their free copies of the completed digitised version and as we go forwards I will ensure that they also receive the rest.
Thanks again for helping us with this worthwhile cause and in keeping an enormous legacy alive: without which it will end up languishing and forgotten about. Discussed 'yes' but only in the past tense,
Ieuan Dolby