抗戰期間（1940-1941），上海為鄭振鐸等人發起「文獻保存同志會」，在國民政府教育部長陳立夫以及「中英庚款董事」朱家驊先生的支持下，由蔣復璁先生居間聯絡、指導，鄭等人為國家，為中央圖書館搜購散聚滬上之江浙南地古籍善本及文獻圖書，其過程頗為艱幸，所以善本也使央館為如貧幾暴富。

　　During the War of Resistance against Japan many rare books from Jiangsu and Zhejiang were in Shanghai and many were overseas in foreign collections. With the help of the Ministry of Education of the Nationalist government and Zhu Jiahva, scholars such as professor Zheng Zhenduo were able to use the money which had . been returned to China by Way of England (Zhong Ying Geng Kuan) to purchase and save many rare books and documents for the National Central Library. In this article, Zheng Zhenduo's diary and letters to Zhang Shouyong between 1940 and 1941 are used to illustrate how difficult and dramatic was the saving of rare books and documents in this period.