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Forty-six manuscript and typescript letters, [c. 1890]-[c. 1934], from Berta Ruck, mostly to her father, Col Arthur Ashley Ruck, [1920s]-[c. 1934], containing mainly personal and family news.
Also included are two letters to her grandmother Mary Anne Ruck, [c. 1890] (ff. 1-4), and a carbon copy letter to her sister-in-law, Georgina Ruck, 15 July 1932 (ff. 86-91). Most of the letters were written either from home or while on holiday in Austria, France, Germany and Sweden. There are references to Oliver Onions (ff. 6-100 passim), Geoffrey Moss (f. 6), Sir Ray Lankester (ff. 9 verso, 10 verso-11, 12, 31, 32, 66), Ménie Muriel FitzGerald (ff. 13-17, 18, 29, 46-47, 56, 59), Alec Waugh (ff. 26, 35-36) and Vita Sackville West (f. 46); she also describes her car accident on 14 July 1932 (ff. 88-91). There are ink drawings by Ruck on f. 2 recto-verso.

Notebook of Berta Ruck, December 1939-May 1940, containing journal entries, comments on the progress of the war and notes for fiction. Press cuttings relating to contemporary events, other ephemera and some sixty-nine letters, postcards and Christmas cards, mostly to the author, have been pasted in.
The correspondents include Oliver Onions, 25 December 1939 (f. 20), Arthur Oliver, December 1939-May 1940 (ff. 2b, 20 verso, 51, 57, 63-65 verso), Vicki Baum, 25 November 1939 (f. 2), Edith Heal, [December 1939] (ff. 2a, 20 verso), Anthony Thorne, December 1939, March 1940 (ff. 7 verso, 56 verso), Osbert Sitwell, Christmas [1939] (f. 19 verso), Ménie Muriel FitzGerald, [1939] (f. 22 verso), Naomi Jacob, [December 1939] (f. 26 verso), Alys Meirion, 29 December [1939] (f. 27), Lieut-Cmdr Bradwell T. Turner, [February 1940] (f. 47 verso), Alec Waugh, [December 1939] (f. 51 verso), Sir Kenneth Barnes, 4 April 1940 (f. 57 verso), and Horace Horsnell, 2 April 1940 (f. 58). One letter from 'Effie', [January 1940], discusses the state of Ménie Muriel FitzGerald's health (f. 35 verso). The press cuttings include several political cartoons relating to the war (ff. 39 verso, 52-53 verso).

Notebook of Berta Ruck, July 1941-April 1942, containing ideas for fiction, journal entries and comments on the progress of the war. Press cuttings relating to contemporary events and some sixty-six letters, cards, postcards and telegrams to the author, May 1940-April 1942, have been pasted in.
The correspondents include Anthony Thorne, July 1941-January 1942 (ff. 1 verso, 15 verso, 17 verso, 24, 39a), Hermon Ould, 25 July 1941 (f. 1 verso), Emlyn Williams, [1941] (f. 4 verso), Baron Atkin of Aberdovey, 20 November 1941 (f. 18 verso), Edith Heal, [Christmas 1941] (f. 33), Able Seaman E. J. Smith, HMS Cossack, 2 May 1940 (f. 36 verso), Alice Williams, 2 March [1942] (f. 38 verso), and Alec Waugh, 19 February 1942 (f. 47 verso). The journal includes a description of a visit to her sister's house in Llanfachreth, Merioneth, October 1941 (ff. 5, 6, 7, 8, 9).

Notebook of Berta Ruck, May 1930-March 1931, containing journal entries, including accounts of her visits to Sweden, July 1930 (ff. 14-22), Germany, July, November 1930 (ff. 22 verso-28 verso, 69 verso-81 verso), Vienna, Austria, July-August, November-December 1930 (ff. 28 verso-42 verso, 82-91), and the French Riviera, August-September 1930 (ff. 44-61), and notes for fiction. Some fifty-two letters, cards and telegrams from family and friends, photographs, cuttings, programmes and other ephemera have been pasted in.
The correspondents include Marda Vanne, June-[December] 1930 (ff. 4, 62, 91), Oliver Onions, July-[August] 1930 (ff. 13, 30, 53), Alec Waugh, 22 June 1930 (f. 38), Hermon Ould, 30 September 1930 (f. 65 verso), Vicki Baum, 4 November 1930 (f. 78), Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies, [December] 1930 (f. 91), Norman Haire, [December] 1930 (f. 114 verso), Vita Sackville-West, 3 November 1930 (f. 121), and Cynthia Stockley, [December] 1930 (f. 129). The volume contains sketches and drawings (ff. 2 verso, 28 verso-29, 48-49, 87, 92 verso, 109, 123 verso) and poetry (ff. 67 verso, 73a-b, 88, 91-92 verso, 94 verso, 101 verso) by Ruck. The photographs include three of her with her sons (inside front cover, ff. 54, 60; the latter was published in A Story-Teller Tells the Truth (London, 1935), facing p. 166). Among the friends and acquaintances referred to in the volume are Ernst Hanfstaengl (79 verso, 80 verso-81 verso) and the writers Rebecca West (ff. 45 verso, 50 verso -51), Geoffrey Moss (ff. 49 verso-50, 54 verso, 57 verso), Vicky Baum (f. 71 verso) and Otto Friedländer (ff. 82 verso, 83, 84).

Notebook of Berta Ruck, Aberdyfi, May 1945-December 1946, containing journal entries including comments on the end of the Second World War and its aftermath and notes for fiction, especially the novel Surprise Engagement (London, 1946) (here called 'They are engaged', ff. 27-73 passim). Some one hundred and forty-six letters, cards and telegrams, mostly from family and friends, January 1945-September 1946, cuttings and other ephemera have been pasted in.
The correspondents include Tony Thorne, January 1945-March 1946 (ff. 4 verso, 12 verso, 17a, 26 verso, 44, 56 verso, 65 verso, 73verso-74 verso, 75 verso, 79 verso), Miriam L. Rothschild, 4 January 1945 (f. 6), Ronald Staples, May-June 1945 (ff. 6, 10 verso), J[oseph] P[eter] T[horp], 6 June 1945 (f. 10 verso), Alec Waugh, July 1945-April [1946] (ff. 22, 75 verso, 80), Vicki Baum, 20 August 1945 (f. 24 verso), Bernard Darwin, 28 August 1945 (f. 26a), Oliver Onions, September-December 1945 (ff. 34, 35, 59 verso), A. E. Chesterton, 26 October 1945 (f. 41), Nancy Rodd [ie. Mitford], 12 January 1946 (f. 43 verso), Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies, [11 November 1945] (f. 52 recto-verso), Marda Vanne, 11 November 1945 (f. 53), Osbert Sitwell, November-December 1945 (ff. 54 verso, 58 verso), Maurice Bowra, 22 December [1945] (f. 60 verso), Hermon Ould, 11 March 1946 (f. 74), Esmond Knight, [1946] (f. 75 verso), Ivor Brown, 20 August 1946 (f. 83 verso), Ambrose Heal, 16 September 1946 (f. 87), and C. A. Lejeune, 24 May [1946] (f. 89 verso). The volume contains references to the deaths of her friends Ménie Muriel FitzGerald (f. 1) and Edith Heal (f. 87), and conditions in London after VE Day (ff. 7, 8); also verse (f. 46) and an ink sketch (f. 51 verso) by Ruck. Pasted into the volume are 1945 General Election leaflets for Merioneth (ff. 17, 20 verso, 22), and photographs of Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies and Marda Vanne (f. 86).

Notebook of Berta Ruck, November 1927-May 1928, containing journal entries including an account of her visit to France (pp. 1-12), the deaths of her aunt, Sister Mary Gabriel (Mary D'Arcy), on 15 December 1927, and her mother, Elizabeth, on 10 March 1928, and drafts of articles. Thirty-three letters, cards and telegrams from family and friends and ephemera have been pasted in.
The correspondents include Alec Waugh, [1928] (p. 42), Rebecca West, 20 February 1928 (p 57), Ménie Muriel Fitzgerald, [March 1928] (p. 64), Marda Vanne, [March 1928] (p. 77), Capt. Geoffrey de Havilland, 7 November 1928 (p. 103), Sir E. Ray Lankester, [November 1928] (p. 104), and Vyvyan Holland, 25 November 1928 (p. 107). A photograph, 1923, of Ruck with her parents is on p. 62; ink sketches by her are on pp. 1, 5, 21, 29, 47, 106. A menu for a Forum Club Welsh Group dinner, 12 December 1927, signed by David Lloyd George, is on p. 15. There are also references to the death of Thomas Hardy, January 1928 (pp. 36-37), and an anecdote relating to Colette, the French novelist (p. 8). The volume includes three folios, November 1928 (pp. 103-108), and two letters (ff. i b-e), removed from other volumes.

Notebook of Berta Ruck, March-June 1931, containing journal entries including an account of a visit to Oxford, 16 May 1931 (ff. 28 verso-30), and notes for fiction and other work. Twenty-nine letters, postcards and telegrams, mostly from family and friends, February-June 1931, [December 1935], cuttings, photographs and ephemera have been pasted in.
The correspondents include Oliver Onions, April-May 1931 (ff. 34, 36 verso, 52), Robin Darwin, 20 March 1931 (f. 2 verso), Marda Vanne, 25 May 1931 (f. 8 verso), Alec Waugh, April 1931 (ff. 16 verso-17, 30 verso), and Doris Langley Moore, 12 May 1931 (f. 28); there are also four copy letters from Ruck to her father and others, March-April 1931, [December 1935] (ff. 1 recto-verso, 4-5, 14-15 verso, 38a-b). The volume also contains ink sketches (ff. 27, 30, 42, 44) and verses (ff. 20 verso, 32-33, 36, 40 verso, 44, 46) by Ruck. There are references to Doris Langley Moore's forthcoming biography of E. Nesbit (London, 1933) (ff. 25 verso, 28) and to Gwen Ffrangcon Davies (f. 40 verso). Besides a single copy letter there is no material dating from 1935 onwards (as alluded to on the front cover), presumably having being excised.

Notebook of Berta Ruck, December 1934-July 1935, containing journal entries and notes for fiction and for her autobiography. Some thirty-seven letters and cards, November 1934-July 1935, as well as press cuttings, photographs, theatre programmes and other ephemera, have been pasted into the volume.
The correspondents include Gwen [Ffrangcon-Davies], [November 1934] (f. 1a verso), Marda Vanne, 24 November 1934 (f. 1g verso), Hermon Ould, [22] December 1934 (f. 13 verso), Alec Waugh, December 1934-[1935] (ff. 16 verso, 28 verso), Vita [Sackville West], 6 January 1935 (f. 20 verso), and A. A. Ruck, 6-16 June 1935 (f. 34 verso, 37). The volume includes accounts of a visit to the 'Flower Medium' (ff. 6 verso, 12-13 verso), a description of Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies and Marda Vanne's cottage in Essex (f. 21), and a brief description of meeting Amy [Johnson] and her husband (f. 44). Ink sketches by Ruck are on ff. 9, 22 verso-23; photographs of her and of family members are on ff. 16 and 34. Cuttings pasted into the volume include her short story 'Selling Rodney' (f. 26) and the obituary for her uncle, Major-General Sir R. M. Ruck, from The Times, 19 March 1935 (f. 27 verso). A call sheet, 28 March 1935, for the film Car of Dreams (1935) is on f. 31.

Notebook of Berta Ruck, August 1932-May 1933, containing journal entries, impressions of her stay in Vienna, October-November 1932 (ff. 12-54) and notes for fiction, short stories and articles. Some forty-four personal and family letters, cards and telegrams; press cuttings referring to her and to contemporary events; photographs; theatre, concert and film programmes (mostly German); and other ephemera, 1929-1930, 1932-1933, have been pasted in or are loose in the volume.
The correspondents include her husband Oliver Onions, November 1932 (ff. 42 verso, 84), Alec Waugh, [September] 1932 (f. 10 verso), Ivan Phillipowsky, [December 1932] (f. 64), Ménie Muriel FitzGerald (née Dowie), [1933] (ff. 72-73), and John van Druten, 27 October 1932 (ff. 85-86); a letter from Amy Mollison [i.e. Amy Johnson] to the Secretary of the London Airplane Club, 21 November 1932, is also included (f. 91). There are references to Maurice Bowra, whom she befriended in Vienna (ff. 22 verso, 24, 32, 37-38 verso) and Eric Maschwitz (ff. 52, 56, 66 verso, 75 verso, 84 verso), and references throughout to aviation and the exploits of famous aviators of her acquaintance. There are pen and ink drawings by Ruck on ff. 37 verso and 57.

Notebook of Berta Ruck, September 1937-June 1938, containing journal entries including comments on contemporary events, notes for fiction and articles. Some forty-eight letters, cards and telegrams, mostly from family and friends, cuttings, photographs and other ephemera have been pasted in.
The correspondents include A. A. Ruck, September 1937-April 1938 (inside front cover, ff. 73, 91), Alec Waugh, October-[December] 1937 (ff. 13, 44), Norman Haire, 29 October 1937 (f. 18), Oliver Onions, 1937 (f. 19 verso), Nathaniel Gubbins, 19 November 1937 (f. 27), Alys Meirion, [1937] (f. 29 verso), Naomi Jacob, 19 December 1937 (f. 36), and Peter Wykeham Barnes, [December 1937] (f. 36 verso). The volume also contains ink sketches and drawings by Ruck (ff. 54, 57, 59 verso-60, 63, 69 recto-verso) and a photograph of her, [1938] (f. 51). The press cuttings include articles by Ruck (ff. 59, 79, 80 verso) and an article from the Daily Express, 12 November 1937, about her son, Arthur Oliver (ff. 26 verso-27). Various press cuttings and letters from Austrian friends (ff. 49 verso-58 verso passim, 80a) discuss the Anschluss in March 1938.

Notebook of Berta Ruck, July 1940-June 1941, containing journal entries and comments on the progress of the war. Press cuttings relating to contemporary events, other ephemera and seventy-three letters, postcards and telegrams, May 1940-March 1941, mostly to the author, have been pasted in.
The correspondents include Michael Joseph, 12 July 1940 (f. 2), Harold Nicolson, 3 June 1940 (f. 2 verso), Helen Rees ('Jane Oliver'), 16 August 1940 (f. 10 verso), Robert Owen Morris, 19 August 1940 (f. 12 verso), Maurice Bowra, December 1940-February 1941 (ff. 26, 66 verso), Tony Thorne, August-September 1940 (ff. 32 verso, 35), Dolf Wyllarde, 27 November 1940 (f. 34 verso), Peter Wykeham-Barnes, [December 1940] (f. 35 verso), Alys Meirion, October-December 1940 (ff. 36 verso, 45 verso), Angela Thirkell, 8 November 1940 (f. 45), Edith Heal, 18 December 1940 (f. 47), Marda Vanne, November-December 1940 (ff. 50 verso-51), Bradwell T. Turner, 12 May 1940 (f. 53 verso), and Alec Waugh, 8 January 1941 (f. 54a-b). A photograph of Ruck is on f. 5 verso and there are pen drawings by her on ff. 10, 23. Press cuttings include political cartoons by David Low, from the Evening Standard (ff. 2 verso, 29 verso, 30 verso, 33 verso, 41, 46, 64 verso-65), and items relating to the deaths of John Llewelyn Rees (ff. 8 verso, 11, 68) and Amy Johnson (ff. 51 verso, 63 verso). Programmes for Christmas events in Aberdyfi and Tywyn, December 1940, are on ff. 38 verso and 48.