GAULLE Charles de. Notebook of personal notes on the fly. Small notebook in-12 (13.8 x 8.3 cm), brown basane, gilt edges. Precious notebook used head to foot by General de Gaulle in 1940, at the crucial moment when he was organising Free France from London. Comprising 52 sheets, the notebook contains around 60 pages of annotations in the General's handwriting, in blue and black ink and pencil. The same notebook also contains addresses and telephone numbers in Yvonne's handwriting. On other pages, there are some earlier annotations in pencil, in another hand, concerning a staff composition. Some pages have been left blank. Begun in France, probably at the beginning of 1940, there are a few date marks: "Wednesday 27 [March]", "9 June, London", "12 June", and so on. The General was then in London, as can be seen from certain notes on his accommodation and the contacts he made there. For example, he wrote down the name of his first flat in London on a page in shaky handwriting: "Seamore", for 7-8 Seamore Grove (now 7 Curzon Place), near Hyde Park. He took up residence on the first floor of this comfortable house, in a small flat lent to him by Jean Laurent, who was his chief of staff in Paris. The same entry, crossed out, can be found on another page This notebook, which probably never left his desk, records his concerns for his family and friends, but also for France and the continuation of the fight: "Jaulet and his 2 companions to be freed"; on one page: "Cada, Yvonne, Philippe, Elisabeth, Anne, Brise-du-Soir Carentec Finistère"; "The reinforcements from the troops are not arriving. Why?"; "Withdraw to North Africa, mechanical troops and organise the manufacturing elements needed for armoured vehicles"; "German airmen prisoners in France, can't we send them to Argentina? (Churchill's question)"; "There are pilots without planes in France, we could send them to England where there are planes without pilots". He had various plans for Brittany, which he felt would be a good lever for organising the armed struggle... The "Breton retreat" came up several times. He was also concerned about the fate of refugees: "French children in America, starting with those from the invaded regions", "There must be 7 or 8 million children, a total of around 7,000 boats... Is there any freight on the return of boats from Europe to America? It's via Hesinbath (?)", "we need a delegate for refugees". As well as addresses and telephone numbers (Palewski, Spears, Pierre [his brother], Joseph, Michel, Charles Caillau, Xavier [his brother], Daniel Rops, Joseph Maillot, various generals and senior officers), train times, etc. for Bordeaux, there are code names for Cameroon (?): "Leclerc = Sullivan Pleven = Douglas Boislambert = Charles". One page is slightly longer than the others: "is responsible for regulating on the spot and to the best of circumstances the destination and use of elements of the French land, naval and air forces, as well as repatriates and (?) who are or may come to be on British territory...". Although the notebook remained unpublished, one page was reproduced in Philippe de Gaulle's book De Gaulle mon père, showing the name of his hotel and the telephone numbers of his room and that of Anne's governess, Mlle Potel. Some quires weakened, minor rubbing to corners, spines and headpieces; weak binding. Preserved in an envelope bearing this inscription in Philippe de Gaulle's handwriting: "Carnet personnel de mon père en 1940. G. B."