Finding Aid for the Rob Wagner papers, 1925-1942 LSC.0690
Processed by Yvonne Schroeder, October 1960; machine-readable finding aid created by Caroline Cubé.
UCLA Library Special Collections
Online finding aid last updated 2019 November 5.
Room A1713, Charles E. Young Research Library
Box 951575
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575
spec-coll@library.ucla.edu
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
UCLA Library Special Collections
Title: Rob Wagner papers
Creator:
Wagner, Rob, 1872-1942
Identifier/Call Number: LSC.0690
Physical Description:
16.5 Linear Feet
(33 boxes, 3 oversize boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1925-1942
Abstract: Robert Leicester Wagner (1872-1942) was a illustrator for newspapers and the Encyclopedia Britannica. He also wrote for the
Saturday Evening Post, Collier's, and other magazines before moving to Southern California, where he directed films for Paramount
and the Hal Roach studios, and made six films with Will Rogers. In 1929, he published Rob Wagner's Script magazine. The collection
consists of Wagner's correspondence, manuscripts, clippings, drawings, phonograph records, a file of Script magazine from
1929-41, ephemera, and miscellanea.
Physical Location: Stored off-site at SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact UCLA Library Special Collections
for paging information.
Restrictions on Access
Open for research. STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact UCLA Library
Special Collections for paging information.
Restrictions on Use and Reproduction
Property rights to the physical object belong to the UC Regents. Literary rights, including copyright, are retained by the
creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright
owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.
- Gift of Les Wagner, 1960.
- Gift of Florence Wagner Breese, 1963.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Rob Wagner papers (Collection Number 690). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research
Library, UCLA.
Biography
Robert Leicester Wagner was born on August 2, 1872 in Detroit, Michigan; attended University of Michigan and studied art at
the Académie Julian (1903) in Paris; became an illustrator for the
Detroit free press,
Criterion (New York), and the
Encyclopedia Britannica (London); also painted portraits; wrote for the
Saturday evening post,
Collier's, and other magazines; moved to Southern California, where he directed films for Paramount and the Hal Roach studios, and
made six films with Will Rogers; published Rob Wagner's
Script beginning in 1929; published books include
Film folk (1918) and
Tessie moves along (c. 1928); he died on July 20, 1942.
Scope and Content
Collection consists of correspondence, manuscripts, clippings, drawings, phonograph records, a file of
Script magazine from 1929-41, ephemera, and miscellanea of Rob Wagner. The manuscripts are primarily stories intended for film adaptation
and are from Wagner and other writers including one manuscript each by William Saroyan and Peter Bernard Kyne. Many of the
covers of Wagner's Script are illustrated by Leo Politi. Correspondents include William Saroyan, Theodore Dreiser, Upton Sinclair,
Charles Chaplin, Bette Davis, Douglas Fairbanks, Tom Mix, Randolph Scott, Gloria Swanson, Joan Crawford, Cecil B. DeMille,
Walt Disney, Jean Harlow, Daryl Zanuck, Edward Everett Horton, Mary Pickford, and Spencer Tracy.
Organization and Arrangement
Arranged in the following series:
-
Script magazine (Boxes 1-13).
- Correspondence (Boxes 14-18).
- Manuscripts by Wagner (Boxes 19-22).
- Manuscripts by others (Box 23).
- Ephemera, miscellaneous (Box 24).
- Articles clipped from Script (Box 25).
- Original drawings by Wagner (Box 26).
- Records of Wagner's radio program of Script's birthday party (Box 27).
- Clippings and correspondence (Boxes 28-35).
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Publishers and publishing -- California, Southern -- Archives.
Manuscripts for publication.
Wagner, Rob, 1872-1942--Archives.
box 1-13
Rob Wagner's Script. A file of the magazine,
1929-1941.
box 14-18
Correspondence,
1925-1942.
Scope and Contents note
Much of this correspondence is in reference to the magazine
Script and includes letters from famous movie personalities, some of which are here listed:
- Charles Chaplin
- Bette Davis
- Jimmy Durante
- Edward Arnold
- Douglas Fairbanks
- Douglas Fairbanks Jr.
- Tom Mix
- Randolph Scott
- Gloria Swanson
- Herbert Marshall
- Adolphe Menjou
- Noah Beery
- Norman Bel Geddes
- Eddie Cantor
- Joan Crawford
- Bebe Daniels
- Cecil B. DeMille
- Walt Disney
- Hedda Hopper
- Jean Harlow
- Jean Hersholt
- Walter
- Huston
- Darryl Zanuck
- Edward Everett Horton
- Frederick Marsh
- Kenneth Macgowan
- Mary Pickford
- Louella Parson
- Edward G. Robinson
- Sigmund Romburg
- Spencer Tracy
- Lawrence Tibbett
- Jack Warner (tracings).
General note
Correspondence of movie people has added entries in catalog.
box 16
Literary figures.
Scope and Contents note
Included with the correspondence is 1 folder of letters from prominent literary figures:
- William Saroyan, 15 items.
- Ogden Nash, 2 items.
- Edgar Guest, 1 item.
- Irvin S. Cobb, 4 items.
- Thomas B. Costain, 7 items.
- Theodore Dreiser, 2 items.
General note
All correspondence is filed alphabetically by separate items, except this folder which is in one group under Literary figures.
box 19-22
Manuscripts by Rob Wagner. v.p.,
v.d.
General Physical Description note: Holograph and typescript (some carbon). 135 items.
Scope and Contents note
These manuscripts are mostly either stories intended for film adaptation or titles written for silent films.
box 23
Manuscripts by various authors. v.p.,
v.d.
General Physical Description note: Holograph and typescript (some carbon).
- Some of the manuscripts are unidentified but most include both title and author.
- With this: 1 manuscript each by William Saroyan and Peter B. Kyne.
box 24
Ephemera, miscellaneous.
1919.
General Physical Description note: 45 items.
- Mostly literature referring to Robert Wagner and his magazine
Script.
- With this: 1 envelope of articles, clippings, pamphlets, correspondence etc. regarding the campaign against censorship in
movies.
box 17
Letters from, to and regarding Upton Sinclair,
1926-1939.
- 30 letters from Sinclair to Wagner.
- 6 letters from Wagner to Sinclair and 17 letters from various persons regarding Sinclair.
- Also, 5 pieces of related ephemera.
box 27
Records of Rob Wagner's radio program of Script's birthday party.
General Physical Description note: 11 pieces. (9" × 16" and 2" × 12" records).
box 26
Original drawings, sketches, layouts, illustrations, posters etc. by Rob Wagner,
1892-1925.
General Physical Description note: 61 pieces.
Scope and Contents note
Mostly intended for reproduction in magazines such as
Script,
The Royal,
Criterion, and
Madame.
box 36
Original drawing for Rob Wagner's Script, by Walt Disney. n.p.,
n.d.
General Physical Description note: Ink on mat board, covered by cellophane.
box 25
Articles and editorials clipped from Script, and arranged chronologically. Also articles by Florence Wagner clipped from Script.
Clippings and Correspondence,
v.d.
