Finding Aid to Bancroft Reference Notes for California, circa
1870s-1890s
Processed by Iris Donovan and Carola DeRooy
The Bancroft Library
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720-6000
Phone: (510) 642-6481
Fax: (510) 642-7589
Email: bancref@library.berkeley.edu
URL: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/
© 2002
The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Finding Aid to Bancroft Reference Notes for California, circa
1870s-1890s
Collection number: BANC MSS B-C 12
The Bancroft Library
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720-6000
Phone: (510) 642-6481
Fax: (510) 642-7589
Email: bancref@library.berkeley.edu
URL: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/
- Finding Aid Author(s):
- Processed by Iris Donovan and Carola DeRooy
- Finding Aid Encoded By:
- GenX
© 2010 The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Collection Summary
Collection Title: Bancroft reference notes for California
Date (inclusive): circa 1870s-1890s
Collection Number: BANC MSS B-C 12
Collector:
Bancroft, Hubert Howe,
1832-1918
Extent:
Number of containers: 4 boxes, 22 cartons
Linear feet: 29.20
Repository: The Bancroft Library.
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720-6000
Phone: (510) 642-6481
Fax: (510) 642-7589
Email: bancref@library.berkeley.edu
URL: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/
Abstract: Consists of bibliographic and research notes pertaining to and used
in the preparation of the
History of California (volumes 18-24),
California Pastoral (vol. 34) and
California Interpocula
(vol. 25), nine volumes of Hubert Howe Bancroft's 39-volume,
History of the Pacific
States of North America
published between 1882-1890.
Languages Represented: Collection materials are in English
Physical Location: For current information on the location of these materials,
please consult the Library's online catalog.
Information for Researchers
Access
Collection is open for research.
Publication Rights
Materials in this collection may be protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17,
U.S.C.). In addition, the reproduction of some materials may be restricted by terms of
University of California gift or purchase agreements, donor restrictions, privacy and
publicity rights, licensing and trademarks. Transmission or reproduction of materials
protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of
the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited
without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively
with the user.
All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from, or otherwise use collection materials
must be submitted in writing to the Head of Public Services, The Bancroft Library,
University of California, Berkeley 94720-6000. See:
http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/reference/permissions.html .
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Bancroft reference notes for California, BANC MSS B-C 12, The
Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley
Related Collections
Library:
Hubert Howe Bancroft, Records of the library and publishing companies, BANC MSS B-C
7.
Hofmann & Curtis Architects, Specifications ... in the erection of a ...
library building for H. H. Bancroft, 1881, BANC MSS 73/122 c: [no.] 64.
Catalogue of the Bancroft Library of Pacific Coast Books, Maps, and Manuscripts,
BANC MSS B-C 4.
William Henry Knight, Bancroft Library MS Scrapbooks, 1860-64, BANC MSS C-E 200.
San Francisco Bulletin index, 1855-1872, BANC MSS B-C 2.
Publishing Companies:
Hubert Howe Bancroft,
In these Latter Days, BANC MSS B-A 1
John S. Hittell,
A History of the City of San Francisco, 1878, BANC
MSS 90/19 c
History Company.
The History Company periodical index, BANC MSS B-C 3
Hubert Howe Bancroft, Letters and papers from Mexico, 1886-91, BANC MSS M-M 384
Porfirio Diaz Collection of Papers, 1881-93, BANC MSS M-M 392
Hubert Howe Bancroft, Authorities quoted in the History of California, BANC MSS B-C
1
Thomas Savage, Report of labors in archives and procuring material for the History
of California, 1876-79, BANC MSS C-E 191
Hubert Howe Bancroft, Preliminary notes and plans for the Pioneer Register, BANC
MSS C-E 170
Hubert Howe Bancroft, Correspondence relating to the
History of Oregon,
1863-1889,
BANC MSS P-A 169
Hubert Howe Bancroft, Correspondence, BANC MSS C-B 362
Bancroft Reference Notes for the Western States, excluding California, BANC MSS B-C
8
Bancroft Reference Notes for Central America, BANC MSS B-C 9
Bancroft reference notes for Mexico, BANC MSS B-C 10
Bancroft reference notes for British Columbia and Alaska, BANC MSS B-C 11
Bancroft Reference Notes--Bibliography, BANC MSS B-C 13
Bancroft Reference Notes on the conquest of Mexico, BANC MSS B-M 1
Bancroft Reference Notes, BANC MSS 97/31 c
Bancroft Miscellaneous Newspaper Clippings, 1860-1890, BANC MSS B-C 14
Henry Cerruti, Sketches of the California Pioneers, BANC MSS C-E 65
Ivan Petroff, Journal of Trip to Alaska in Search of Information for the Bancroft
Library, 1878, BANC MSS P-K 62
Harry Bishop Hambly, Information for the Bancroft Library, 1936, BANC MSS C-D 5081
Henry Lebbeus Oak, Correspondence and papers, BANC MSS C-B 387
Henry Lebbeus Oak, Letters from H.H. Bancroft and diary, 1874-87, BANC MSS 67/153
Frances Fuller Victor, Correspondence and notes relating to the History of Oregon,
1865-[ca. 1886], BANC MSS P-A 170
A.L. Bancroft & Co., Account of stock, Jan. 1, 1879, BANC MSS C-E 195
A.L. Bancroft & Co., Resolutions for the year 1890, BANC MSS C-E 196
Bancroft family:
Albert Little Bancroft,
My Brother Hubert Howe Bancroft,1907, BANC
MSS 73/122 c:109
Hubert Howe Bancroft family papers, BANC MSS 73/64 c
Bancroft family, Family genealogical data, 1886-1907, BANC MSS 89/91 c
Hubert Howe Bancroft letters to his family, 1882-1918, BANC MSS 77/169 c
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the
library's online public access catalog
Bancroft, Hubert Howe,
1832-1918. California Interpocula
Bancroft, Hubert Howe,
1832-1918. California Pastoral
Bancroft, Hubert Howe,
1832-1918. History of California
Agriculture--California--History--Sources
Education--California--History--Sources
Mines and mineral
resources--California--History--Sources
Missions--California--History--Sources
California--History--1846-1850--Sources
California--History--1850-1950--Sources
California--History--To
1846--Sources
Administrative Information
Acquisition Information
The Bancroft reference notes for California were part of the Bancroft Collection,
purchased by the University of California in 1905.
Biography
Hubert Howe Bancroft was born in Granville, Ohio on May 5, 1832. After working for some
time in the Buffalo, N.Y. book store owned by his brother-in-law, George H. Derby, Bancroft
came to California in 1852 to establish a West Coast outlet for the shop. In 1855, after
selling the initial stock, he went east and returned with sufficient books and stationery to
open a San Francisco store the following year. Within two years, his firm on Montgomery
Street began to grow into a publishing house, issuing such items as law books and legal
stationery, texts and maps for schools, and music and piano sales.
In 1860, as an outgrowth of assembling research materials for publication of a Pacific
Coast handbook, Bancroft began to collect regional writings: this was the beginning of his
unparalleled collection of books and manuscripts on the West. Within a decade he had 16,000
volumes, encompassing not only California and the Pacific Coast as the central focus, but
also British Columbia and Alaska to the north, the Rocky Mountains to the east, and Mexico
and Central American to the south, extending back in time from the native Indian cultures of
all these regions and the subsequent era of Spanish control. The collection continued to
grow as a result of collecting trips to the east and Europe, as well as through extensive
purchases at a number of major auctions. Eventually it included not only books and
manuscripts, but pamphlets, maps, newspapers and other periodicals, and transcriptions of
manuscripts made by his corps of copyists from originals still in private hands or in
government and church archives. Bancroft and his staff also created original materials by
interviewing pioneers whose recollections might not otherwise have been preserved, resulting
in hundreds of early oral histories termed "dictations."
By 1868, a move became necessary to relieve overcrowding in Bancroft's expanding
and prosperous Montgomery Street headquarters. He bought property on Market Street near
Third, and began to build in 1869. In April 1870, the completed five-story building boasted
a modernized steam engine in the basement to provide power for the printing presses. The
first four floors accommodated nine departments, including wholesale and retail books, and
stationary, music, law, and education sales; a subscription department; and a printing,
bindery, and blank book production division. The fifth floor of the new Bancroft Building
was a literary workshop, completely divorced from the business, where Bancroft's
collections could be put to use. He engaged Librarian, Henry Lebbeus Oak, to catalog the
works he had acquired.
Bancroft continued to collect materials as he planned a vast publication project of a
series of histories of western North American, which in the end numbered 39 volumes: the
History of the Pacific States of North America, also known as
Bancroft's
Works. First were five volumes on The Native Races
(1874-1875), then three volumes on the History of Central America and six more on the
History of Mexico, followed by two volumes on the Northern Mexican States and Texas, and one
treating Arizona and New Mexico. All of these preceded his central topic, a seven-volume
History of California (1886-1890), which were followed by nine more volumes on other parts
of the west, and a number of more informal works, including
Literary
Industries
, the author's biography.
Bancroft's ten year marriage to his beloved wife, Emily Ketchum Bancroft, ended
upon her death in 1869. Left alone to raise their daughter, Kate, born in 1860, Bancroft
devoted his energies to family and literary productions. He placed the full responsibility
of managing the business interests of the firm with his younger brother, A. L. (Albert
Little) Bancroft, creating a new partnership in 1860 under the title, A. L. Bancroft and
Company. The business expanded and prospered under A. L. Bancroft's direction until
a fire destroyed the Bancroft Building and its contents in 1886. Old resentments and
quarrels erupted following the traumatic event which eventually severed the brothers
personal and professional relationships.
Fortunately, the library (referred to as both the Bancroft Library and the Pacific Library)
was spared. In 1881, it had been moved from the fifth floor of the Market Street location to
a specially constructed fire-proofed brick building on Valencia Street. Following the fire
and dissolution of his partnership with A. L. Bancroft in 1886, Hubert Howe Bancroft formed
two new companies: The History Company, and the Bancroft Company. In August 1887, under
these new imprints, the production, publication, and marketing of Bancroft's
Works resumed in the rebuilt quarters at 723 Market Street, known
thereafter as the History Building.
Throughout the West, Bancroft's numerous sales agents continued to sell
subscriptions to his
Works and the seven-volume
Chronicles of the
Builders
. Following a successful marketing campaign which secured orders for more
than 6,000 sets of volumes during the 1870's and 80's, the canvassing
effort was abandoned in 1892. In the late 1880's, Bancroft's methods for
writing and marketing his works came under attack by literary critics and several of his
former employees, including Mr. Henry Oak and Mrs. Francis Fuller Victor. Oak and Victor
claimed authorship for major portions of the
Works that were credited solely
to Bancroft, calling the historian's methods and reputation into question. The
retail book and stationary store finally closed its doors in 1894, after a long and bitter
price war had made the business unprofitable.
In 1905, Bancroft's accomplishments as an historian and collector were recognized
by the University of California. The institution purchased the book and manuscript
collections of the eminent historian, numbering over sixty-thousand items, for $250,000.
Although the collector contributed $100,000 of the purchase price, the contents of the
library had been appraised at twice the net cost to the University.
The History of
the Pacific States
won recognition as an indispensable work for students of
western history. The collection as a whole remains a distinguished primary source of unique
books, maps, pamphlets, and documents on the early history of the West, from Alaska to
Central America.
In his later years, Bancroft wrote several volumes (
Retrospection, The New Pacific,
In These Latter Days
) expressing his political, moral, economic, and social
concerns for a modernizing world. On March 3, 1918, at the age of 86, Hubert Howe Bancroft
died at his home, having been struck by a street car several days earlier. He was survived
by his daughter, Kate, and his four children (Paul, Philip, Griffing, and Lucy Bancroft) by
his second wife, Matilida Griffing Bancroft. They were married in 1876 and she predeceased
him in 1910.
Sources
-
Harry Clark,
A Venture in History: The Production, Publication, and Sale of
the Works of Hubert Howe Bancroft.
University of California Press,
1973.
-
John Walton Caughey,
Hubert Howe Bancroft, Historian of the West.
University of California Press, 1946.
-
The Bancroft Library, University of California,
The Bancroft Collection of
Western and Latin Americana
, June 4, 1998,
http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/collections/bancroft.html .
Scope and Content of Collection
Bancroft reference notes for California consists of bibliographic and research notes
pertaining to and used in the preparation of the
History of California
(volumes 18-24),
California Pastoral (vol. 34) and
California Inter
Pocula
(vol. 25), nine volumes of Hubert Howe Bancroft's 39-volume,
History of the Pacific States of North America published between 1882-1890.
The research notes for the seven volumes of the
History of California
include early explorations of the west coast, settlement, societal, and land issues between
1550-1890. The notes are largely bibliographic citations along with brief descriptive text
about society and customs of indigineous peoples, the Mission period, pioneers, and the
development of rural and industrial areas into separate California counties and the
establishment of a state.
The notes for
California Pastoral volume cover early voyages, mission
establishment, presidios, and regional developments during the Mission period.
California Inter Pocula research and bibliography notes concern the
turbulent period between Mexican rule of California and establishment of an effective State
government when swelling populations descended upon California seeking gold.
The California notes as a whole originate from primary sources such as diaries, personal
correspondence, and company logs and more abundant secondary source material such as
pamphlets, journals, newspapers, and previously published histories. A few of the numerous
subjects covered in the notes are finances, politics, land grants, mining, pioneers,
transportation. A large group of notes document individual county and city development,
including San Francisco and San Jose. The research notes about the Gold Rush period are
informative concerning social character of gold seekers, cemeteries, crime, drinking, duels,
epidemics, earthquakes, fires, shipwrecks and other hazards of early California life. Also
covered are enterprises such as overland journeys, manufactures, journalism, railroads,
stagecoaches and theater. Research subjects also include population groups such as
immigrants, women, pioneers, Forty-niners, and the Chinese.
In addition, the material provides information about H. H. Bancroft's methods of
compiling notes and references in preparation for writing chapter drafts for the
Works volumes. The distinctive handwriting of many of Bancroft's
assistants is revealed. The majority of notes were taken from manuscripts, books, and other
sources that were part of Bancroft's Pacific Library collection during the years
1870-1890.
Consistently noting a subject heading in the left margin, the notes range from one-inch
wide strips of papers citing bibliographic references to longer texts copied or summarized
from sources, the majority of which were Bancroft's own book, manuscript, and
clippings collection. The notes and strips were often pasted or pinned to larger sheets to
construct draft outlines and text footnotes.
Series 1:
Bibliography and Research Notes,
History of California
1550-1890
Physical Description:
Cartons 1-22
Linear feet: 29.20
Language of Material:
English
Arrangement
Arranged alphabetically by subject or county name, then chronologically within each
subject.
Content/Description
The majority of bibliographic notes were taken between 1870 and 1890 from manuscripts
and books which were part of Hubert Howe Bancroft's collection Bibliographic
notes include title, author, volume, and page citations; many notes are simple, 1- to
4-line summaries with a specific region and date noted in the left hand margin.
Research notes are one to ten page transcriptions or summaries of historical documents,
biographies and earlier published histories and clippings pasted onto paper.
Major subject topics include agriculture, arts, architecture, politics, disasters,
education, economics, industry, land, military, mining, religion, transportation, and
water.
carton 1, folder 1-13
Agriculture: Alameda-Yuba Co..
1774-1885
undated
carton 1, folder 17
Arts and entertainment.
1820-1860
carton 1, folder 24
Joaquin Murietta.
1851-1853
carton 1, folder 25
Romaldo Pacheco.
1825-1831
carton 1, folder 27
Bouchard's Invasion.
1817-1819
carton 1, folder 33
Calaveras County.
1849-1880
carton 1, folder 34
California dictations.
undated
carton 1, folder 35
California general history.
1845-1885
carton 2, folder 1-7
Californian Indians.
1791-1880
undated
carton 2, folder 8
Capital history and debates.
1835-1885
carton 2, folder 10
Chronology.
1534-1860
undated
carton 2, folder 11
Churches and religions
1750-1885
carton 2, folder 18
Conquest of California.
1846-1847
carton 2, folder 19
Contra Costa County.
1884-1897
carton 2, folder 21
Del Norte County.
1852-1884
carton 2, folder 22
Discovery and exploration.
1636-1843
carton 2, folder 23
El Dorado County.
1848-1860
carton 3, folder 3
Foreign relations
1836-1845
carton 3, folder 10
Hide and tallow trade.
1830-1850
carton 3, folder 12
History, rough draft, n.d
carton 3, folder 13
Humboldt County.
1830-1880
carton 3, folder 14-23
Immigration and colonization
1773-1885
Immigration and Colonization
carton 4, folder 1
The Donner Party
1846-1847
carton 4, folder 6
Justice.
1777-1880
undated
carton 6, folder 7-8
Manufacturing and industries.
1820-1880
carton 6, folder 10
Mariposa County.
1850-1870
carton 6, folder 12
Mendicino County.
1850-1885
carton 6, folder 14
Military.
1796-1877
undated
carton 6, folder 15
Military Cavalry Company of Monterey
carton 6, folder 16-20
Gold Discovery.
1848-1859
carton 6, folder 21
Mining and Mineral Resources.
1848-1878
undated
carton 7, folder 1-8
Mining and Mineral Resources.
1849-1883
Mining and Mineral Resources
carton 7, folder 10-20
Alameda-Santa Barbara County.
1820-1885
carton 8, folder 1-4
Santa Clara-Yuba County.
1775-1885
carton 9, folder 7
Nuestra Senora de Soledad.
1790-1850
carton 9, folder 8
Purisima Concepcion.
1785-1850
carton 9, folder 9-16
San Antonio de Padua-San Diego de Alcala.
1680-1885
carton 10, folder 1-16
San Fernando Rey de Espana-San Rafael Arcangel.
1760-1885
carton 11, folder 1-6
Santa Barbara-Santa Ines.
1769-1850
carton 11, folder 7
Echeandia vs. Padres.
1826-1830
carton 11, folder 8-11
Secularization.
1820-1850
carton 11, folder 12
Modoc-Mono County.
1840-1885
carton 12, folder 10
Napa-Nevada County.
1840-1860
carton 12, folder 11
Newspaper history.
1846-1877
undated
carton 12, folder 13-17
Pioneers and pioneer societies.
1530-1881
undated
carton 13, folder 3-21
Politics and government.
1796-1850
carton 14, folder 1-10
Politics and government
1851-1886
carton 14, folder 11
Governor Alvarado.
1838-1839
carton 14, folder 12
Don Carlos Carrillo.
1838
carton 14, folder 14
List of inhabitants
1772-1800
carton 14, folder 16-17
San Buenaventura-Sonoma.
1774-1850
carton 14, folder 18
Southern California.
1775-1850
carton 14, folder 20-21
Public finance.
1822-1835
carton 15, folder 1-5
Public finance.
1836-1856
carton 15, folder 6
Railroads and transportation.
1841-1888
undated
carton 15, folder 8-13
Russians in California.
1711-1870
carton 15, folder 14-18
Sacramento.
1844-1870
undated
carton 16, folder 2
San Benito-San Bernardino.
1846-1877
carton 18, folder 5
Bear and bull fight story.
1860
carton 18, folder 13
Residence history.
1839-1849
carton 18, folder 14-15
Stock exchange.
1860-1880
carton 18, folder 16
San Joaquin County.
1813-1880
carton 19, folder 3
Land grants and settlements.
1777-1790
carton 19, folder 5
San Juan Capistrano.
1846
carton 19, folder 6
San Luis Obispo.
1846-1886
carton 19, folder 18
Santa Clara-Santa Cruz County
1849-1880
carton 19, folder 21-27
Shipping and commerce.
1770-1826
carton 20, folder 1-13
Shipping and commerce.
1827-1880
carton 20, folder 17
Siskiyou County.
1851-1875
carton 20, folder 18
Slavery and segregation.
1850-1870
carton 20, folder 19-23
Social customs.
1744-1849
undated
carton 21, folder 1-3
Social customs.
1850-1884
carton 21, folder 7
Stanislaus County.
1849-1873
carton 21, folder 9-12
Sutter-Ventura County.
1774-1885
carton 21, folder 13
Vigilance Committee.
1848-1857
carton 21, folder 18
Weather and climate.
1785-1867
carton 21, folder 19
Weights and measures.
1773-1844
carton 21, folder 21
Yolo-Yuba County.
1842-1870
carton 21, folder 22-25
Miscellany.
1609-1880
undated
carton 22, folder 1-26
Volume 1-6 notes, 1542-1859
Series 2:
Bibliography and Research Notes,
California Pastoral
1769-1848.
Physical Description:
Box 1
Arrangement
Arranged alphabetically by subject.
Content/Description
Contains primary research notes.
Series 3:
Bibliography and Research Notes,
California Inter Pocula
1848-1856.
Physical Description:
Box 2-4
Arrangement
Arranged alphabetically by subject.
Content/Description
Includes a majority of research notes written on topics associated with the Inter
pocula period (Latin term meaning between drinks or drunkeness or full cups). The term
inter pocula was chosen by Bancroft to describe the period between the discovery of gold
and the development of a legally functional society in California after statehood.
Lawlessness, crime, fires, earthquakes, judicial matters, prices, prostitution,
lynching, slavery, shipwrecks, women and the Vigilance Committee a sampling of topics
researched for this volume focusing on the hazards and disillusion suffered by a large
influx of gold seekers. Also there is an assemblage of research notes on population
groups, commerce and business enterprises, politics, mail, transportation, social
customs and activities, population, and property matters during these years. Of
significance are two separate dictations, eyewitness accounts of discovery of gold (one
by Mrs. Wimmer) and Sutter's personal reaction to the find.
box 3, folder 1
Forty-niners, stories and legends
box 3, folder 19
Marshall, James
Include Wimmer account of gold nugget
box 4, folder 15
Society of California Pioneers
