"This volume is a collection of almost 4,000 church-related works from the rare documents repository of the Shanghai Municipal Archives. These documents encompass the era from 1836-1963, with contents that touch upon the Roman Catholic Church, the Chinese Protestant Church, the China Branch of the Seventh Day Adventists, Chinese Christian youth associations and 32 other denominations and church-related organizations. Shanghai has historically been the city where the majority of Christian groups were established, and in the 70 year span beginning in 1879 until the founding of New China, the printing presses of Shanghai-area Catholic and Protestant organizations published a great variety of periodical literature, both locally and countrywide. Christian publishing organizations of a national character were likewise published in Shanghai, leaving as their legacy a large quantity of religious publications and printed materials."

"Among the source documents included in this compilation are those of various Christian groups from different time periods, who published periodicals in great variety, with similarly varied contents. The archives are not without rare books and unique volumes as well, including the inaugural editions of several rare periodicals. These sources provide a minute, highly detailed historical reflection of each church group’s organizational and structural development, including historical outlines, annual reports, yearbooks, records of important events, and centenary commemorative editions. In addition to these items, there are publications which reflect the attitudes of the religious community both prior to and the Sino-Japanese war and its aftermath, which are sources deserving of study. The contents of this volume total 3,785 entries, cataloged and compiled according to international bibliographic standards, and include detailed annotation and critical apparatus for Chinese and Western sources listed by title, author, publishing organization, publication date and other information. With an appended six-category index, this catalog will profitably assist the study of the history of religion, religious education, and Chinese-Western cultural history. This volume is a joint publication of the Shanghai Municipal Archives and the Ricci Institute for Chinese-Western Cultural History of the University of San Francisco."