Westward expansion in the United States was deeply intertwined with the technological revolutions of the nineteenth century, from telegraphy to railroads. Among the most important of these, if often forgotten, was the lithograph. Before photography became a dominant medium, lithography-and later, chromolithography-enabled inexpensive reproduction of color illustrations, transforming journalism and marketing and nurturing, for the first time, a global visual culture. One of the great subjects of the lithography boom was an emerging Euro-American colony in the Americas: Texas. The most complete collection of its kind-and quite possibly the most complete visual record of nineteenth-century Texas, period-Texas Lithographs is a gateway to the history of the Lone Star State in its most formative period. Ron Tyler assembles works from 1818 to 1900, many created by outsiders and newcomers promoting investment and settlement in Texas. Whether they depict the early French colony of Champ d'Asile, the Republic of Texas, and the war with Mexico, or urban growth, frontier exploration, and the key figures of a nascent Euro-American empire, the images collected here reflect an Eden of opportunity-a fairy-tale dream that remains foundational to Texans' sense of self and to the world's sense of Texas.

More than a quarter of a century ago, critic and author Michael Ennis observed that "There is no comprehensive work on Texas art; there has never been an exhibition offering more than a cursory overview of Texas art from the nineteenth century to the present." But appreciation for Texas art has undergone a genuine renaissance, with collectors, museums, and the public paying more attention to it than ever before. The Art of Texas: 250 Years tells this story, beginning with key Spanish colonial paintings related to Texas and moving through two and a half centuries of art in Texas. By the twentieth century, most Texas artists had received formal training and produced work in styles similar to European and other American artists. The aesthetic scene changed abruptly as the Great Depression swept across the country: A group of Dallas artists agreed with artist and museum director Jerry Bywaters that "the artist is unbent, willing to be a human worker and not a luxury vendor." They introduced a gritty regionalism in their Texas subjects, while the artists of the Fort Worth Circle developed their own brand of surrealism, and Houston artists looked to Europe for inspiration. The relief that followed World War II brought a new exuberance to the Texas scene, for the first time a majority-urban state. Artists responded with modernist styles rather than the sweeping landscapes and farm scenes of previous generations. The Art of Texas: 250 Years accompanies an exhibition of the same title at the Witte Museum in San Antonio. Written by noted scholars, art historians, and curators, it is the first attempt to analyze and characterize Texas art on such a grand scale.

Many defenders of slavery have maintained that the slaves in Texas were well-treated and happy, but as a former slave remarked, ""Tisn't he who has stood and looked on, that can tell you what slavery is - 'tis he who has endured."" Here are the tales of those who have endured - a collection of the voices of the ex-slaves themselves, recalling what their lives were like under slavery. Over one hundred former slaves describe their slavemasters, their work, runaway slaves, their recollections of the Civil War and, finally, the coming of freedom. The narratives were collected by WPA interviewers in the late 1930s and subsequently edited by Ron Tyler and Lawrence R. Murphy. ""The Slave Narratives of Texas"" is a highly informative and readable book that provides a valuable history of the institution of slavery in Texas. It is also a profoundly moving text that yields great insight into the full impact of slavery upon human lives.