The ''Handbook of Texas'' is a comprehensive
encyclopedia
An encyclopedia (American English) or encyclopædia (British English) is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge either general or special to a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into articles ...
of
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
geography, history, and historical persons published by the
Texas State Historical Association (TSHA).
History
The original ''Handbook'' was the brainchild of TSHA President
Walter Prescott Webb of The University of Texas
history
History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...
department. It was published as a two-volume set in 1952, with a supplemental volume published in 1976.
In 1996, the New Handbook of Texas was published, expanding the encyclopedia to six volumes and over 23,000 articles.
In 1999, the Handbook of Texas Online went live with the complete text of the print edition, all corrections incorporated into the handbook's second printing, and about 400 articles not included in the print edition due to space limitations. The handbook continues to be updated online, and contains over 25,000 articles. The online version includes entries on general topics, such as "Texas Since World War II", biographies such as notable Texans
Samuel Houston
Samuel Houston (, ; March 2, 1793 – July 26, 1863) was an American general and statesman who played an important role in the Texas Revolution. He served as the first and third president of the Republic of Texas and was one of the first two i ...
and
W. D. Twichell, ranches such as the
Matador
A bullfighter (or matador) is a performer in the activity of bullfighting. ''Torero'' () or ''toureiro'' (), both from Latin ''taurarius'', are the Spanish and Portuguese words for bullfighter and describe all the performers in the activit ...
, and geographical entries such as "
Waco
Waco ( ) is the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin. The city had a 2020 population of 138,486, making it the 22nd-most populous city in the s ...
, Texas".
See also
*
Texas State Historical Association
References
External links
*
1952 two-volume editionat
HathiTrust
HathiTrust Digital Library is a large-scale collaborative repository of digital content from research libraries including content digitized via Google Books and the Internet Archive digitization initiatives, as well as content digitized locall ...
{{Authority control
1952 non-fiction books
1996 non-fiction books
American encyclopedias
American online encyclopedias
Encyclopedias of culture and ethnicity
Encyclopedias of history
Encyclopedias of literature
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
Texas culture
Texas literature