The Texas Almanac: 1857-1873: A Compendium of Texas History

A Compendium of Texas History. Sam Houston read the Texas Almanac. More than a century later Governor John Connally wrote of the 1966-67 edition that it reflected "a true picture of Texas." That faithful reflection of a vast region, it resources and people, for a hundred years and longer has made the Texas Almanac the greatest influence on Texas of any book ever written and published in the state. This work represents one of the most complete reference books ever compiled. The length and nature of the material make it hard to describe - it is a veritable mountain of information. The original Texas Almanac was published by Willard Richardson in Galveston, Texas, from 1857 to 1873. This volumne was conceived one afternoon as Robert D. Davis (one half of the founding Davis Bros Printing Co in Waco TX), sat in his office extoiling the virtues of the early volumnes of the Texas Almanac. Obviously in a work like this something has to be omitted. The aim was to include those articles of significance to the general sweep of Texas history and with this in mind many specialized articles had to be cut. Nor could extensive footnotes be added because they would take as much space as the article, perhaps more. Thus they have been kept to a minimum so that more of the original material could be included.