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A major part of the collection is von Meck's autobiography (660 p.), covering up to the latter part of World War II, when she left Russia for the West. This autobiography primarily discusses her life in the Soviet Union in the 1920s and 1930s; her father was executed and she herself was imprisoned in Soviet concentration camps. There are five brief essays discussing railroads in Russia and the USSR, and a photograph of her grandmother, Anna Merkling. Also icluded is von Meck's translation of 681 letters written by P.I. Tchaikovsky to his family during the period March 1861 to September 1893.