Finding Aid for the Rob Wagner papers, 1925-1942
Processed by Yvonne Schroeder, October 1960; machine-readable finding aid created by Caroline Cubé.
UCLA Library Special Collections
Room A1713, Charles E. Young Research Library
Box 951575
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575
Email: spec-coll@library.ucla.edu
URL: http://www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/special/scweb/
© 2003
The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Descriptive Summary
Title: Rob Wagner papers
Date (inclusive): 1925-1942
Collection number: 690
Creator:
Wagner, Rob, 1872-1942
Extent:
33 boxes (16.5 linear ft.)
3 oversize boxes
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. The collection consists of Wagner's correspondence, manuscripts, clippings, drawings, phonograph records, a file of
Script magazine from 1929-41, ephemera, and miscellanea.
Language: Finding aid is written in
English.
Repository:
University of California, Los Angeles. Library Special Collections.
Los Angeles, California 90095-1575
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.
Administrative 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.
Box 27 is stored at the UCLA Film and Television Archive.
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.
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
- 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).
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Subjects
Wagner, Rob, 1872-1942--Archives.
Script (Beverly Hills, Calif.).
Publishers and publishing--California, Southern--Archival resources.
Genres and Forms of Material
Manuscripts for publication.
Container List
Boxes 1-13
Rob Wagner's
Script. A file of the magazine, 1929-1941.
Boxes 14-18
Correspondence, 1925-1942.
Scope and Content 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).
Note
Correspondence of movie people has added entries in catalog.
Box 16
Literary figures.
Scope and Content 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.
Note
All correspondence is filed alphabetically by separate items, except this folder which is in one group under Literary figures.
Boxes 19-22
Manuscripts by Rob Wagner. v.p., v.d.
Physical Description: Holograph and typescript (some carbon). 135 items.
Scope and Content 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.
Physical Description: Holograph and typescript (some carbon).
Scope and Content Note
- 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.
Physical Description: 45 items.
Scope and Content Note
- 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.
Scope and Content Note
- 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.
Physical Description: 11 pieces. (9 × 16 and 2 × 12 records).
Note
Box 27 is stored at the UCLA Film and Television Archive in Hollywood.
Box 26
Original drawings, sketches, layouts, illustrations, posters etc. by Rob Wagner,
ca. 1892-1925.
Physical Description: 61 pieces.
Scope and Content 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.
Physical Description: 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.
