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Notebook, July 1924-July 1926, of Berta Ruck containing diary entries and impressions of her visits to Switzerland, Paris, Germany and Austria; theatre programmes, letters to her and press cuttings relating to her work and to contemporary events have been pasted in.

Notebook of Berta Ruck, March 1921-June 1924, containing diary entries, ideas for fiction, comments on the progress of her work and impressions of holidays in Vichy, Brittany and Haute Savoie, France; a few extracts were later incorporated in her autobiographical volume A Story-teller tells the Truth (London, 1935).
Letters and papers, 1921-1933, found loose inside have been filed separately (NLW MS 23569iiC).

Letters and papers of Berta Ruck, 1921-1933, found loose inside her 1921-1924 notebook (NLW MS 23569iB).
The correspondents include her father, A. A. Ruck, [1933] (f. 7), and Gerald Gould, 1933 (f. 8).

Notebook of Berta Ruck, January-May 1936, containing diary entries, ideas for fiction, comments on the progress of her writing and on contemporary events, and pasted-in letters and cards to her, including one each from Sir Maurice Bowra (f. 37) and Rebecca West (f. 15). Also pasted in are press cuttings, mainly relating to the European political crisis but also including articles on the death of Rudyard Kipling, George V and A. E. Housman.

Notebook of Berta Ruck, January-June 1937, containing diary entries, ideas for fiction, comments on the progress of her writing, and pasted-in letters and cards to her, together with her typescript account of attending the trial at the Old Bailey of Saunders Lewis, Lewis Valentine and D. J. Williams, sketches of the defendants and related press cuttings and correspondence. Also pasted in are press cuttings relating to other contemporary events, including the coronation of George VI and the marriage of Edward, duke of Windsor.

Notebook of Berta Ruck, February-September 1939, containing diary entries, ideas for fiction, comments on the progress of her writing and on the threat of war, and pasted-in letters and cards to her, including one from J. B. Priestley (f. 23 verso). Also pasted in are press cuttings relating to contemporary events including the death of W. B. Yeats and the European political crisis.

Notebook of Berta Ruck, September 1943-January 1945, containing a few diary entries, mainly commenting on the war and on the progress of her writing, and pasted-in letters and cards to her, including one each from Sir Maurice Bowra and Emlyn Williams (f. 38 verso). Also pasted in are press cuttings relating to contemporary events, especially the progress of the war, and a few programmes for concerts and plays performed at Aberdyfi, 1942-1944.

Notebook of Berta Ruck, 1914-[1922], containing draft passages of fiction, including passages from The Wrong Mr Right (London, 1922) (ff. 8-26 verso, 35 verso, 62 verso), together with notes and journal entries giving impressions of life in wartime in both Britain and France, March 1914-November 1915.
There are extensive notes concerning a journey to Paris and Bordeaux, apparently in the company of Menié Muriel Dowie, October-November 1915 (ff. 43 verso-48, 50-55, 56 verso-62, 63-64, 66 verso-67); as well as visits to aircraft works, 1914 (ff. 29 verso-32, 64 verso-66); and to Aberystwyth and the family home at Esgair, 1914-1915 (ff. 2, 3, 35, 41 verso-42). There are a number of pen and ink drawings by Ruck (notably ff. 24-25, 59 verso, 61).

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, May 1933-May 1934, containing journal entries, including impressions of stays in Vienna, July, September 1933 (ff. 9 verso-10, 71-75, 84 verso-85), and the Tyrol, July-September 1933 (ff. 11-71), and brief notes for fiction. Some forty-nine mainly personal and family letters, cards and telegrams, press cuttings of articles by her, photographs, theatre programmes and other ephemera have been pasted in or are loose in the volume.
The correspondents include Marda Vanne, [June] 1933 (f. 8), Oliver Onions, February-August 1933 (ff. 38 verso, 91, 132, 136 recto-verso), Margaret Storm Jameson, 17 May 1933 (f. 88), A. M. Low, May-November 1933 (ff. 89, 92, 97 verso, 134 verso, 137 verso), James Agate, 25 January 1934 (f. 118), Louis Marlow, 20 March 1934 (f. 119 verso), and Ménie Muriel FitzGerald, April 1934 (ff. 123 verso-124). Her Tyrol journal includes a detailed account of location filming for the Basil Dean directed films The Constant Nymph (1933) (ff. 19 verso-51) and Autumn Crocus (1934) (ff. 52-71), her son Arthur being part of the film crew. Photographs in the volume include Ruck (ff. 36, 42 verso, 56), the actress Victoria Hopper (ff. 40 verso, 56) and other film crew (ff. 32-42 verso), on location, and Alys Meirion (f. 100). There are pen and pencil sketches by Ruck on ff. 21 verso, 75, 96 recto-verso, 114, 127 verso, 128 verso. On f. 91 is Oliver Onions' description, 26 February 1923 [recte 1933], of the funeral of Robin Anwyl, Llugwy.

Notebook of Berta Ruck, August-December 1938, containing a journal of a stay in Italy, mostly around Lake Garda and Venice, August-September 1938 (ff. 1-34), notes for fiction, and comments on the Sudeten crisis in Europe. Photographs, press cuttings, theatre programmes and twenty-six personal and family letters and cards, 1936, 1938, have been pasted in.
The correspondents include Oliver Onions, July-September 1938 (ff. 9 verso, 13 verso, 14 verso, 17 verso, 20 verso, 21 verso, 47 verso), Philip Connard, [1938] (f. 27 verso), and Marda Vanne, 4 August 1938 (f. 48); a letter on behalf of Queen Mary, 3 February 1936, acknowledges Ruck's letter of condolence on the death of George V (f. 3 verso). A programme and cuttings, October 1938, relating to the first production of the Emlyn Williams play The Corn is Green are ff. 34 verso, 36, 43-44. Among the photographs are two of Ruck in Venice and Cologne (ff. 45 verso, 49). The journal entries include an overheard conversation between a German and an Austrian concerning 'the Juden question' (f. 18) and a description of the former residence of Gabriele D'Annunzio at Gardone (ff. 29 verso-30)

Notebook of Berta Ruck, September 1939, recording her move from London to Aberdyfi, Merionethshire, at the outbreak of war and commenting on contemporary events. Press cuttings relating to the war and thirty-five letters and postcards to the author, August-September 1939, mainly from family and friends, have been pasted in.
The correspondents include Oliver Onions, discussing his own move to Aberdyfi, September 1939 (ff. 16 verso, 45, 47, 53 verso, 59, 60, 64), and Tony Thorne, 17 September 1939 (f. 67 verso). She records the engagements of both her sons (ff. 51, 65).

Notebook of Berta Ruck, Aberdyfi, September-December 1939, containing journal entries and comments on the progress of the war. Press cuttings relating to contemporary events, photographs and some forty-six letters and postcards, mostly personal, to the author have been pasted in.
The correspondents include her son Arthur Oliver, October-[November] 1939 (ff. 13-14, 16, 33 recto-verso, 42-44), Ménie Muriel FitzGerald, 2 October 1939 (f. 12 verso), Michael Joseph, October-November 1939 (ff. 12 verso, 40, 59 verso), Anthony Thorne, [1939] (f. 34), Horace Horsnell, 28 November 1939 (f. 59), Harold Nicolson, 21 November 1939 (f. 59a), and Osbert Sitwell, 28 November 1939 (f. 60 verso). There are numerous references in journal and letters to the marriages of both her sons, Arthur and Bill, in October 1939. Among the photographs are one of Ruck (inside front cover) and two of Bill Oliver (inside front cover, f. 36 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 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.

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 1942-February 1943, containing notes for fiction, notably for the novels Bread and Grease Paint (London, 1943) (ff. 34-35 verso, 36 verso, 37 verso, 48 verso) and Shining Chance (London, 1944) (ff. 20-25, 28 recto-verso, 33 recto-verso, 37, 38, 39 verso, 40 verso-41 verso, 43-45), and journal entries and comments on the progress of the war (ff. 4-5, 6, 12-19 verso, 38 verso-39). Press cuttings relating to contemporary events and thirty-four letters, cards and telegrams to the author, April 1942-February 1943, have been pasted in.
The correspondents include William Lyon Phelps, 15 September 1942 (f. 5 verso), Osbert Sitwell, [December 1942?] (f. 9), Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies, [December 1942] (f. 9 verso), Edith Heal, [December 1942] (f. 11), Anthony Thorne, January-February [1943] (ff. 20a, 27, 51 verso), and Marie Stopes, [December] 1942 (f. 42 verso). There are numerous references to Oliver Onions' illness and hospitalization, January-February 1943 (ff. 12-19 verso). The volume includes a number of pen drawings by the author (ff. 19, 33, 36, 39 verso, 40 verso, 41 verso, 51). Some folios are stubs, containing fragments of text (ff. 26, 27, 29-32, 49-50, 52-53).

Typescripts, 1956-1957, of radio scripts by Berta Ruck, which formed the basis of her autobiographical volume, A Smile for the Past (London, 1959).
They comprise scripts, some incomplete, for a series of six talks, also called 'A Smile for the Past', recorded 2-3 April 1957 for transmission in June and July on the Home Service (ff. 5-16 [Talk 1], ff. 17-23, 27-40 [2], ff. 24-26, 116 [3], ff. 69-81 [4], ff. 83-95 [5], ff. 82, 96-115, 117-118 [6]) and the script of a talk recorded on 22 May 1956 and transmitted on 24 June (ff. 41-68, two copies). Also included is an incomplete draft, [?1957], of a letter from Ruck to Aled Vaughan at the BBC, discussing the series (ff. 1-4, first page lacking); typescript drafts, [1957x1959], of Chapter 8 of the book A Smile for the Past (ff. 119-128); and a cutting of an article by Ruck, 'I enjoyed my boarding schooldays', Western Mail, 9 April 1955, containing material found in Chapter 8 (f. 129).

An incomplete manuscript and typescript draft of Berta Ruck's family history Ancestral Voices (London, 1972), based on the correspondence of her D'Arcy and De La Warr ancestors and conversations with her sister, Maud.
The volume contains drafts of the Foreword (ff. 1-10) and Chapters 2-3, 5-6, 8-10, 12-14, 16-20, 28-30, 33-34, 37-40, 43, 45-48, 51-53 and 55 (ff. 11-321, 332-382). 'Interval' (ff. 328-331) is an early draft of Chapter 51; 'Interval (for Argument)' (ff. 322-327) became part of Chapter 11. The volume consists of manuscript and typescript sections with annotations, often with fragments cut and pasted together to form single leaves.

Manuscript and typescript drafts by Berta Ruck, [1955]-[1974x1978], of chapters of projected and published autobiographical works, mainly concerned with her life in Wales.
They include a manuscript draft of the first chapter of An Asset to Wales (London, 1970), [?1969] (ff. 1-24); drafts, mainly typescript, of various chapters for projected works entitled 'Welsh Harlequinade' and 'Fanfare for Wales', [1974x1978] (ff. 25-137); a typescript poem entitled 'Stair-case Remorse', [1970x1978] (f. 138); a typescript of various fragments of fiction and autobiographical prose, [1970x1978] (ff. 139-144); a cutting of an article by Ruck, 'A Golden Prince Came to the Castle', [1955] (f. 145); and a cut-out watercolour sketch of a young man (f. 146). There are references to N. C. Hunter (ff. 47-50), Stephen Peet, producer of the 1970 television documentary featuring Ruck (ff. 106-120), and to E. Nesbit (ff. 141-142).