Axe (Ruth F.) collection of material about H.H. Bancroft and Company, 1854-1977

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Summary

Title:
Ruth Frey Axe collection of material about H.H. Bancroft and Company
Dates:
1854-1977
Creators:
Axe, Ruth Frey
Abstract:
Collection consists of correspondence, manuscripts, publications, and ephemera by and about H.H. Bancroft and Co. and A.L. Bancroft and Co. Ruth Frey Axe compiled the collection to complete the Bancroft publications checklist started by Henry Wagner and Eleanor Bancroft.
Extent:
4.0 Linear Feet (8 boxes)
Language:
Materials are in English.
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Ruth Frey Axe Collection of material about H.H. Bancroft and Company (Collection 1427). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.

Background

Scope and content:

Collection consists of correspondence, manuscripts, publications, and ephemera by and about H.H. Bancroft and Co. and A.L. Bancroft and Co. Ruth Frey Axe compiled the collection to complete the Bancroft publications checklist started by Henry Wagner and Eleanor Bancroft.

The collection comprises correspondence, manuscripts, publications, and ephemera by and about H.H. Bancroft & Co. and A.L. Bancroft & Co. These were compiled by Ruth Frey Axe for the completion of a Bancroft Publications Check-list begun by her late employer Henry Raup Wagner and Eleanor Ashby Bancroft, then Assistant to the Director of the Baacroft Library, The list below is to be used in conjunction with Mrs. Axe's own inventory of the collection, a copy of which is attached. The original typescript is in Box 1, f.1.

Biographical / historical:

Henry Raup Wagner was born Sept. 27,1862, in Philadelphia, PA; BA (1884) and LL.B. (1886), Yale Univ.; practiced law in Kansas City, MO, 1887-90; worked for Globe Smelting and Refining Co. (Denver) (1890-98), and Guggenheim Interests (later American Smelting and Refining Co.) (1898-1921); following his retirement in 1921, he devoted much of his time to writing on historical subjects; Wagner's interest in California printers and printing led him to collect Bancroft publications and prepare a bibliography on the subject; Eleanor Bancroft, then Asst to the Bancroft Library Director, assisted Wagner on this project; Wagner died Mar. 28, 1957; he bequeathed his collection of Bancroft imprints to the California Historical Society and left the nearly completed checklist project to Ruth Frey Axe. requesting that she see to its completion and publication.

Ruth Frey Axe was born in Chicago, IL and grew up in Los Angeles, CA; after two years at the Univ. of Vienna, she attended UCLA, and subsequently earned a master's degree at the Univ. of So. CA; she first met Henry Wagner at UCLA, and became his secretary and research assistant for nearly thirty years.

Hubert Howe Bancroft started publishing in 1857; his younger brother Albert Little Bancroft joined the business in 1859 making them close associates both in business and family life; in 1868 A.L. Bancroft and Co. came into existence and H.H. Bancroft and Co. was phased out; the brothers continued their association until 1886 when a fire and personal differences caused them to split; Albert went on to co-found the firm of Bancroft-Whitney.

Acquisition information:
Gift of Ruth Frey Axe, 1983.
Processing information:

Processed by UCLA Library Special Collections staff.

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Arrangement:

Arranged in the following series:

  • Box 1: Axe's inventory of items in collection; items #2-52.
  • Box 2: Items #53-68; #79-84 (folder 1 of 4). [For #69-78 see box 8]
  • Box 3: Items #84 (folder 2)-85 (folder 5 of 6).
  • Box 4: Items #85 (folder 6)-89; #91-103. [#90 not included]
  • Box 5: Items #104-118.
  • Box 6: #119-126; items not on checklist:
    • Bancroft Library tickets of admission
    • Bancroft Co. stationery
    • Evolution of a Library (1901)
    • Miscellaneous articles and ephemera re Hubert Howe Bancroft
  • Box 7: Item #127.
  • Box 8: Items #69-78.

Physical location:
Stored off-site. All requests to access special collections material must be made in advance using the request button located on this page.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Finding aid prepared by UCLA Library Special Collections staff; machine-readable finding aid created by Caroline Cubé.
Date Encoded:
This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2022-12-08 11:49:49 -0800 .

Access and use

Restrictions:

Open for research. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in advance using the request button located on this page.

Terms of access:

Property rights to the physical objects belong to UCLA Library Special Collections. All other 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.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Ruth Frey Axe Collection of material about H.H. Bancroft and Company (Collection 1427). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.

Location of this collection:
A1713 Charles E. Young Research Library
Box 951575
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575, US
Contact:
(310) 825-4988
AskLSC@library.ucla.edu
Website