The volume comprises preliminary notes and heavily revised drafts of 'The Old Century', and notes on various subjects, chiefly autobiographical, including the summer of 1914 (later incorporated into 'The Weald of Youth'). These are interspersed with diary entries dated June 1937 - February 1938. It includes: - watercolour frontispiece entitled 'Memories': /1r. - note on sequence in which Sassoon wrote his notes and drafts in various notebooks from March 1936-January 1937: /1v. - quotations: /2r. from Hardy and Browning; /2v. from Sassoon. - rough drafts of 'The Old Century', includes: /3r-10r. sections written in June 1936 and January 1937 later incorporated into Book 1: Chapter VI-VII (/3r-5v) and Book 1: Chapters I-II (headed 'Prelude' /6r and 'Early Memories' /6v-10r); drafts written July-November 1937 entitled 'Fraulein' (/38v), 'Ch.IX §1' (/39r), and 'Marlborough' (/46r). - notes for 'The Old Century': /10v-12r and /28v-50v. Headings include: /10v. 'Memoranda for 1902-4'; /11r. 'Note on the Past as seen from the Present'; /11v. 'A noticeable point'; /11v. 'A resolution'; /12r. 'Note on taste'. /28v. 'On continuation from Ch.8' and 'Piggins'; /29v-30r. '1898-1900'; /32v. 'Rough draft of Chap.9'; /35r. 'Note for book' (on learning the piano); /35v. 'Rough outlines of Ch.9'; /36r. 'Note on continuing in same voice as Ch.1-8'; /36v. 'New build mentality'; /37v. 'Perspective' and 'A moment of emotion (about my poetry in '97)'; /38r. 'Rough notes for IX'; /43r-44r. notes on chapters IX-XI; /44v-45v. notes on Book II; /48r. 'Cambridge outline'; /48v. '1905-7. Notes on construction'; /49v. 'Construction'; /50r. 'Notes for a discursive chapter (1906-7 period?)'. - rough drafts and preliminary notes, some later incorporated into 'The Weald of Youth': /12v-27v. These include sections headed 'Situation in July 1914'; /13r-15v. 'Details of May-July 1914. Grays (sic) Inn', with notes on opera going and ballet; /16r. 'Breakfast with EM'; /18v. 'Notes on Retrospections at Gray's Inn' (around 1907-14); /19v. 'Note on poetic development and its 1909-14 frustrations'; /19v. 'Note on over-intensifying (need of avoiding this)'; /20v. 'Note on my inconsistencies of behaviour'; /24v. 'Notes for last London chapter'; /51r. 'Vol.2. 1908-13'. - diary entries: /30v-32r. covering 13-16 June 1937, 5-6 July 1937 and 25-27 July 1937; /33. 29 July 1937; /33v-35r. 10 and 24 August [1937]; /47v. 27 November and 1 December 1937; /49. 17 December 1937; /50v. 31 January-24 February 1938. NB. Partly foliated by Sassoon (/1-15). Re-foliation by the archivist is in square brackets. All references refer to the archivist's foliation. Two enclosures are housed separately.