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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.

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).

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).

Notebook of Berta Ruck, 1907-1914, containing impressions of people and places, various ideas for fiction and sketches in ink or pencil (ff. 5, 9 verso-10, 17, 23, 29 verso-30, 33 verso, 38, 51 verso, 52 verso).
The volume includes descriptions of Équihen-Plage, France, July 1907 (ff. 1-3 verso), and Pennal, Merioneth, 8 June 1911 (f. 35, 45), and notes describing the lifestyle and duties of nurses (ff. 39 verso-44 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, October 1926-September 1927, containing a journal, mainly of her visits to Le Portel, near Boulogne, October 1926 (ff. 1-6), August-September 1927 (ff. 19-70 verso), and notes for fiction. Some sixteen letters, playbills and other ephemera have been pasted in.
The correspondents include Sir E. Ray Lankester, November [1926]-August [1927] (ff. 9, 64 verso), Edgar Wallace, 8 February 1927 (f. 18 verso), and Rebecca West, [8] July 1927 (f. 58). There are references to Rebecca West (f. 12 verso) and the late E. Nesbit (f. 23), and descriptions of a travelling French theatre company at Le Portel (ff. 30-31 verso, 33 recto-verso, 35, 45 verso-47 verso, 52-53 verso, 56-57 verso, 65), and of a visit to Paris (ff. 24 verso-28). Ink, pencil and watercolour sketches by the author are on ff. 4 verso, 32, 36 verso-37, 38 verso, and a photograph of her is on f. 55 verso. A ticket for a lecture in Pantperthog, 26 February 1895, is on f. 15.

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, 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, 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).

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.

Fragments of notebooks of Berta Ruck, 1914-1926, containing impressions of travels in England and Merioneth, Wales, 1914-1916 (ff. 1-11), New York, [22]-23 September 1919 (ff. 12-16), Vienna, Austria, 1926 (ff. 17-30 verso), and France, 1926 (ff. 31-36), together with a few notes for fiction. Ephemera (in German) and nine letters, postcards and telegrams, mainly from family, July-August 1926, have been pasted in.
There are references to the First World War, [1914] (f. 2 recto-verso), 1916 (ff. 5 verso, 7 recto-verso), including a description of a Red Cross auction in Corris, Merioneth, 3 June 1916 (f. 7 recto-verso). Ink drawings by Ruck are on ff. 2 verso, 12. A photograph, [1926], of Ruck with her son, Arthur, is on f. 36 verso.

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.

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.

Miscellaneous papers of Berta Ruck, 1902-[early 1970s], including autograph and typescript drafts of verse, [1920s]-[1930s], many in multiple copies (ff. 1-123); lecture notes, [c. 1935]-[c. 1945] (ff. 124-224); a short story, 'April Folly', [c. 1935], apparently related to her novel Half Past Kissing Time (London, 1936) (ff. 225-248); and some thirteen letters to the author in English and German, [1903x1904]-1971 (ff. 264-283).
The correspondents include Clement Scott, [1903x1904] (f. 264), Marda Vanne, 9 October 1936 (f. 280), Harold Nicolson, 14 June 1962 (f. 281, on the death of his wife, Vita Sackville-West), and Quentin Bell, September 1971 (ff. 282-283, concerning his biography of Virginia Woolf); there are also three letters, 1929, from 'Harry', her Austrian lover (ff. 265-272, mostly in German). Also included are two leaves from Ruck's journal, June 1930 (ff. 249-250); reminiscences, [early 1970s], of Lydia Lopokova (ff. 251-259) with a photograph of her, [?1920s] (f. 260); press cuttings of an article by Ruck, September 1936 (f. 261), and of two articles relating to Virginia Woolf, 1972 (ff. 262-263); W. R. Oliver's school report at Shrewsbury School, 1929 (f. 284); programme for 'My Lady Molly' at the Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, 1902 (ff. 285-286); and page proofs for Chapter 8 of A Smile for the Past (London, 1935) (ff. 287-292).