The Hankow Club, founded by the British in 1878, was one of many which grew up to provide amenities for the foreign communities which began to settle in Hankow when the various concessions were made in 1861. The "China" section of this club library was bought by the University of Hong Kong in 1932 when Sir William Hornell was Vice-Chancellor. It contains some three thousand volumes, providing a rich collection of western rare books that have an emphasis on the Far East. Though the collection is now integrated with the general rare book collection, books from Hankow Club can be easily identified by its bookplate or book-stamp.
