Basic Texas Books

Anyone interested in Texas history will find Jenkins’s bibliography indispensable. After fourteen years of research into the more than 100,000 books published on Texas since Cabeza de Vaca’s Relacion of 1542, Jenkins, formerly an Austin rare book dealer, author, and bibliophile, selected 224 books that he considered essential for any Texas library. The entry on each book provides a substantial critical essay and full bibliographical details on every printing and issue. An additional 1,017 books are discussed and appraised, and an annotated guide to 217 Texas bibliographies is included. This revised edition, now available at a new low price, includes more than 100 changes and additions to the 1983 edition.

I cannot imagine a book collector, or any Texas scholar, without a copy … of Basic Texas Books.

–Dorman H. Winfrey, former director, Texas State Library