Berta Ruck Travel Journals

Amy Roberta (Berta) Ruck was born in Muree, India, on August 2, 1878. Initially, Ruck worked as an illustrator, providing drawings for stories in The Idler and the children's magazine Jabberwocky. In the latter, she was also able to publish a short story, and also began writing fiction for women's magazines. With the assistance of her husband, Ruck revised her story "His Official Fiancée," for publication in book form. The novel was a success in both Great Britain and the United States, and it began Ruck's prolific career as a popular writer. Over the next fifty-eight years, she would publish over a hundred books, often producing as many as three a year. The collection includes six volumes, as well as correspondence, photographs, and ephemera laid or pasted in. Ruck's journals are a mix of diary, workbook, and scrapbook. They contain partial drafts of her works in progress, accounts of her financial and romantic difficulties, and memorabilia from her travels. The journals contain letters from Ruck's family and friends, including her two sons Arthur and William, and her father. Ruck also included pieces of her fan mail.