Wagner continued to collect books during his stay in Chile . He spent considerable time in the residence of Chilean bibliographer José Toribio Medina , time described by George P. Hammond in his obituary on Wagner as " some of his most pleasant hours " . In 1918 he decided to devote most of his attention to writing on the subject of exploration in the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains . His research later materialized in one of his notable works , '' The Plains and the Rockies '' . First published in 1920 , it quickly had an impact on the pricing and quality of books on that topic . As he became more interested in history , Wagner considered detaching himself entirely from the Guggenheims ' business world . He eventually quit his job in 1921 to dedicate most his time to historical research . According to Charles Lewis Camp , in 1922 Wagner played an important role in the revival of the California Historical Society , which had been defunct since the 1906 San Francisco earthquake . He also founded its principal publication , the '' California Historical Society Quarterly '' . This gradual shift from one preoccupation to another coincided with a transition from book collecting to full-time research and writing . Yale 's library bought his Texas and mid-west collections of over 2,000 works in 1919 . In 1922 he sold the Huntington Library his last major collections on California . It had formed the basis of his '' California Imprints August 1846 June 1851 '' published that same year . He continued the practice of buying and selling old works , however , though to a lesser extent . Wagner then went on to complete '' The Spanish Southwest , 1542 – 1794 , an Annotated Bibliography '' , inspired by his studies and findings in Medina 's residence in Chile , which was published in 1924
1906 San Francisco earthquake
1906 San Francisco earthquake
Henry Raup Wagner