Finding Aid to the Henry Raup Wagner Collection MS.223

Eloise Nelson, Anna Liza Posas
Library and Archives at the Autry
2013
210 South Victory Blvd.
Burbank, CA 91502
rroom@theautry.org


Contributing Institution: Library and Archives at the Autry
Title: Henry Raup Wagner Collection
Creator: Wagner, Henry Raup
Creator: Axe, Ruth Frey
Creator: Streeter, Thomas W.
Identifier/Call Number: MS.223
Physical Description: 1.5 Linear Feet
Date (inclusive): 1837-1970
Abstract: Henry Raup Wagner, 1862-1957, was an avid book collector and author. He settled in California with his wife, Blanche Henrietta Collet, circa 1917. In the 1890s, he started collecting books on Spanish history, metallurgy, and mining. He also amassed collections on Ireland, Mexico, and the American West. Wagner died in 1957 March 28. The Henry Raup Wagner Collection includes publications and correspondence by or about Wagner and 19th Century Mexican and Chilean newspapers collected by Wagner. The collection also includes duplicate pages, maps, and book illustrations from Wagner's Spanish Explorations in the Strait of Juan De Fuca, printed in 1933. The material in this collection was created from 1837 to 1970.
Language of Material: English .

Scope and Contents

This collections includes publications and correspondence by or about Henry Raup Wagner and 19th Century Mexican and Chilean newspapers collected by Wagner. The collection also includes duplicate loose pages, maps, and book illustration from Wagner's special edition of Spanish Explorations in the Strait of Juan De Fuca, which was printed in 1933 by Fine Arts Press, Santa Ana, California.

Biographical Note

Henry Raup Wagner, 1862-1957
Wagner was born on 1862 September 27 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He received his Bachelor of Arts and Doctor of Law degrees from Yale University located in New Haven, Connecticut.
Wagner worked for and represented the Guggenheim's mining interests in the United States and Latin America from 1898 to circa 1921.
He lived in Mexico from circa 1906 to 1915, spending the last five years in Mexico City. He then spent two years in Chile before returning to the United States and deciding to retire from business and focus entirely on scholarly research and writing.
In 1917, he married Blanche Henrietta Collet and settled in California.
Wagner began to collect books in the 1890s to support his interest in Spanish history, metallurgy, and mining. He amassed collections on Ireland, Mexico, and the American West, especially the state of California. He eventually sold his collection of American midwest and southwest material to Yale University's Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Wagner's collection on California was sold to the Huntington Library located in San Marino, California. He also donated most of his personal papers to the Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley.
Wagner served as president of the Historical Society of Southern California, a trustee of the Southwest Museum, and as an active member of the Zamorano Club. He was also one of the founding members of the Friends of The Bancroft Library. The rejuvenation of the California Historical Society in 1922 was due largely to his influence.
Wagner died on 1957 March 28.
His published works total more than 175 titles and include:
Sir Francis Drake's Voyage Around the World: Its Aims and Achievements, 1926
Spanish Voyages to the Northwest Coast of America in the Sixteenth Century, 1929
The Grabhorn Press: a Catalogue of Imprints in the Collection of Henry R. Wagner, 1938
Bibliographies: The Plains and Rockies , 1920
The Spanish Southwest (1924)
References:
The Bancroft Library. "Guide to the Henry Raup Wagner Papers, 1912-1957." Accessed 2011 May 26. http://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/tf6779n8g9 .
Hammond, George P. and Jerry E. Patterson. "Henry Raup Wagner, 1862-1957." The Hispanic American Historical Review, Volume 37, pages 486-494, 1957 November.

Processing History

Biographical note prepared by Eloise Nelson, Braun Research Library intern, 2011 June 6. Finding aid completed by Anna Liza Posas, 2013. Final processing of collection and publication of finding aid made possible by a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC).

Conditions Governing Access

Appointments to view materials are required. To make an appointment please visit https://theautry.org/research-collections/library-and-archives  and fill out the Researcher Application Form.

Acquisition

Donation on behalf of Henry Raup Wagner, 1933-1957 and gift of Ruth Fay Axe, 1970 April 23 and circa 1973.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright has not been assigned to the Autry Museum of the American West. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Research Services and Archives. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Autry Museum of the American West as the custodian of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.

Related Materials

Blanche Collet Wagner Papers, 1930-1939, Braun Research Library Collection, Autry Museum of the American West, Los Angeles; MS.222.

Preferred Citation

Henry Raup Wagner Collection, 1837-1970, Autry Museum of the American West, Los Angeles; MS.223; [folder number] [folder title][date].

Subjects and Indexing Terms

Remembrances of Jose Toribio Medina
Prospectus
Bibliography
Henry Tenaux Company: A Bibliography
Chile -- Newspapers
Photostats
Articles
In the Port of Monterey, 1833 Ayuntamiento Spanish Explorations in the Strait of Juan De Fuca
Maps
Publications
Mexico -- Newspapers
West (U.S.) -- History
Southwest, New -- History
Cartography of the Northwest Coast of America Bound for Sacramento
Zamorano Club

box 1, folder 1

Prospectus for Bound for Sacramento translated by Ruth Fay Axe, with a forward by Henry Raup Wagner circa 1938

box 1, folder 1

Zamorano Club announcement for a surprise presentation for Henry Raup Wagner for his 85th birthday 1947 September 9

box 1, folder 1

Prospectus flyer for Cartography of the Northwest Coast of America to the Year 1800 by Henry Raup Wagner circa 1937

box 1, folder 1

Christmas card from Mr. and Mrs. Henry Raup Wagner undated

box 1, folder 2

Bibliography of Henry Raup Wagner books in the Southwest Museum Library 1949

Scope and Contents

The bibliography is titled "List of books furnished to Henry Raup Wagner of books published by the Bancroft, Co. and in the Southwest Museum Library collection." It is a typed document with notations in pencil. This folder also includes Wagner correspondence with Ella L. Robinson, Southwest Museum Librarian, and Frederick Webb Hodge, Southwest Museum Director. The letters were written in 1949 from July to October.
box 1, folder 3

Wagner, Henry Raup. "Remembrances of Jose Toribio Medina." A reprint from the International Review of Bibliography 2, no. 3 (1952): 147-51. 1952 September/December

box 1, folder 3

Streeter, Thomas W. "News of the Society," "Henry Raup Wagner, Collector, Bibliographer, Cartographer and Historian." California Historical Society Quarterly 25, no. 2 (1957 June). 1957 June

box 1, folder 3

Wagner, Henry Raup. "Henry Tenaux Company: a bibliography". Reprinted from the International Review Bibliography 7, no. 3 (1957): 239-54. 1957 July/September

box 1, folder 4

A list of books and ephemera donated to the library by Henry Raup Wagner

box 1, folder 4

UCLA Librarian, supplement to volume 11, number 6 1957 December 18

Scope and contents

Accompanied with this items is a photocopy of a letter to Ruth F. Axe from Frederick Webb Hodge. The original letter is dated 1973 October 27.
box 1, folder 4

Wagner, Henry Raup. "A Pope's Blunder." undated

Scope and contents

This article is about Gian Pietro Carafa who became Pope Paul IV in 1555 May 23.
box 1, folder 4

Henry Raup Wagner Christmas Christmas Card with Drawing of Montezuma 1938

box 1, folder 5

Axe, Ruth Frey. "More published writings of Henry Raup Wagner, Including Tributes and Biographies." California Historical Society Quarterly. 1938 September

box 1, folder 6

Photostat of 1838 document "In the Port of Monterey, 1833 Ayuntamiento" undated

Language of Material: Spanish; Castilian.

Scope and contents

The photostat is accompanied with a handwritten transcription by Ella Robinson.
box 1, folder 7

Henry Raup Wagner papers about Alphonse L. Pinart

box 1, folder 7

Biography and Bibliography undated

Scope and contents

Typed by Ruth F. Axe with hand written editing by Henry Raup Wagner.
box 2

Pages from Spanish Explorations in the Strait of Juan De Fuca 1933

Publication note

There were only 25 copies of Wagner's special print edition of this book.
box 3

Maps from Spanish Explorations in the Strait of Juan De Fuca 1933

Scope and contents

This folder includes multiple copies of the maps printed on pages 39, 144 and 155 of Wagner's Spanish Explorations in the Strait of Juan De Fuca
box 3

Mexican and Chilean Newspapers 1832-1859

box 3

Streeter, Thomas W. "Obituary of Henry Raup Wagner." American Antique Society Proceedings LXV 16, no. 10 (1957). 1957