Axe, Ruth Frey

Biography

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.