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Notebook of Berta Ruck, December 1922-January 1923, containing a journal of a visit to the south of France and Corsica (ff. 1-21).
The journal records her car journey from Paris to Cannes, in the company of Ménie Muriel FitzGerald, December 1922 (ff. 1 verso-5), her stay at Cannes, including visits to Nice and Monte Carlo, December 1922 (ff. 5-11) and her visit to Corsica, December 1922-January 1923 (ff. 11 verso-21). There are also fragments of journal entries from September 1921 (f. 49) and October 1921 (f. 50 recto-verso). A letter from Dr George Williamson to a Mrs Hueffer, 6 June 1923, possibly about Ruck, is f. 22a. A leaf containing cartoons and jottings is f. 52a.

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, July-August 1931, containing journal entries and notes on her visit to Vienna and Carinthia, Austria. Four letters, March 1931-September 1932 (ff. 10 verso, 18, 28, inside back cover), photographs and postcards, playbills and other ephemera have been pasted in.
The volume contains a photograph of Ruck (f. 15) and verse by her (ff. 1 verso, 4 verso). There are fragments of text on the stubs of ff. 13-14, 16-17, 21-28 and on the unfoliated stubs between ff. 17 and 18.

Notebook of Berta Ruck, July-December 1935, containing journal entries, including an account of visits to Zurich, Switzerland, August 1935 (ff. 15 verso-17), and Vienna and Klagenfurt, Austria, August-September 1935 (ff. 18-38), and notes for fiction. Some thirty-nine letters, postcards and telegrams, 1933-1935, photographs, cuttings, theatre programmes (in German) and other ephemera have been pasted in.
The correspondents include Oliver Onions, July 1935 (ff. 6, 9), her father, A. A. Ruck, July-August 1935 (ff. 8 verso, 25 verso), Ferdinand Deutelmoser, July-August 1935 (ff. 9 verso, 37), Ivan Phillipowsky, 27 November 1935 (f. 55), and Marda Vanne, [24] October 1935 (ff. 59). The volume also contains ink sketches and drawings by Ruck (ff. 42, 57, 66, 70 recto-verso, 72 verso, 73 verso, 75, 79) and photographs of her, [1904?] (inside front cover), [1935] (f. 79 verso). A number of the press cuttings (ff. 60a, 64 verso-65, 66 verso, 68 verso, 70 verso) relate to her autobiography, A Story-teller Tells the Truth (London, 1935); there are also references to the death of her friend Arthur Watts in an aeroplane accident on 20 July 1935 (ff. 4 verso-5, 6, 8 verso, 9 verso, 10, 11 verso).

Notebook of Berta Ruck, 1906, containing jottings in English and German, and pencil, ink and charcoal sketches, many made during a visit to Holland.
Notes, May 1906, relating to Holland are on ff. 34 verso-36 verso (inverted text).

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, May 1960-April 1961, including letters from Emyr Humphreys, February 1961, Hesketh Pearson, October 1960, and Vita Sackville-West, March 1961.

Notebook of Berta Ruck, April 1962-July 1964, including letters from Lord Toby Aldington, August 1962, Ursula Bloom, October 1963, Barbara Cartland, [n.d.], Harold B. Hewitt, October 1963, Heather Jenner, November 1963, Dyfnallt Morgan, October 1963, and Harold Nicolson, December 1962; and a memorial service card of her brother Oliver Laurence Ruck, Llanidloes Parish Church.

Notebook of Berta Ruck, April-October 1971, including a letter from Anthony Swerling, June 1971.

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, June 1918-September 1919, containing impressions of wartime life in North Wales and London and of her visit to the USA in 1919, later reworked and incorporated into chapters 16-25 of her autobiographical volume A Story-teller tells the Truth (London, 1935); also included are commonplace entries and extracts from letters received.

Notebook of Berta Ruck, September 1919-March 1920, containing impressions of her visit to the USA and comparing British and American life; a press cutting of a review of her novel The Immortal Girl (London, 1925) has been inserted on f. 57 verso.

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, 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).

Notebook of Berta Ruck, September-November 1927, containing a journal mainly of her visits to Le Portel, near Boulogne (ff. 1 verso-14 verso), the Côte d'Azur (ff. 31 verso-58 verso), and Paris (ff. 59-68 verso), France, and notes for fiction. Some twelve letters from family and friends, playbills and other ephemera have been pasted in.
The correspondents include Ivor Nicholson, 28 September 1927 (f. 23 verso), and S[alomon] Reinach, 1 October 1927 (f. 24). There are references to Norman Haire (f. 15 verso), the death of Isadora Duncan (f. 9), and Sir Ray Lankester's ill health (ff. 25 verso-26 verso, 31, 34 verso, 47 verso). Also included are ink, pencil and watercolour sketches by Ruck (inside the front cover and on ff. i recto-verso, 3, 4 verso, 7, 8, 10 verso, 28, 40, 57, 65) and photographs of her (ff. 13 recto-verso, 14 verso), and her family (f. 22 verso). The photograph on f. 13 was published in A Story-Teller Tells the Truth (London, 1935), facing p. 276.

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 1964-[August] 1965, including letters from William Condry, September 1965, Dyfnallt Morgan, December 1964, and Raleigh Trevelyan, February-March 1965.

Notebook of Berta Ruck, August 1968-October 1969, including letters from Glyn Tegai Hughes, August 1968, and Nancy Mitford, December 1968; and notes relating to her novel Ancestral Voices (London, 1972).

Notebook of Berta Ruck, July 1972-January 1973, including letters from Rupert Croft-Cooke, July 1972, Elaine Morgan, [n.d.], and Gwyn Thomas, December 1971; and sketches for 'The Wild Elopement' (see also NLW MS 23745D for 'The Reckless Elopement'), and 'The Wishful Thought'.