INTRODUCTION
In 1959 the Texas Library and Historical Commission au- thorized publication of the series of Texas Indian Papers in order to carry out the legislative mandate to "edit and preface for pub- lication copies of the Texas Archives." The purpose was to make available significant documents of Texas history which were not generally accessible to the public. The first volume covered the years 1825-1843; two volumes brought out in 1960 covered the years 1844-1845 and 1846-1859; and a final volume published in 1961 (co-edited by James M. Day) covered the Indian Papers from 1860-1916. Publication of the manuscript copies of Texas Indian Papers was a most appropriate choice and filled a need which had existed for a great many years. Historians and others doing work in almost all phases of Texas history had frequent need to examine the Texas Indian Papers. As a result of long and repeated use over the years, the manuscripts had become worn and in many instances were in such poor condition that some items could no longer be made available to researchers for general use. The volumes, then, were published to preserve the original copies of the Texas Indian Papers and to make their valuable contents available for wide public use. Favorable public response to the printed Texas Indian Pa- pers was demonstrated by rapid purchase (unfortunately a mea- ger publication budget limited the printing to 400 copies) and by favorable reviews the various volumes received in scholarly jour- nals. In a short time all volumes were out-of-print, and for some years now copies of the Texas Indian Papers have been almost unobtainable. Under these conditions the Texas Library and Historical Commission welcomed the suggestion of reprinting the Texas Indian Papers made by Mr. John H. Jenkins of the Pemberton Press. The Commission, with a desire to disseminate Texas his- tory to as wide an audience as possible, went on record to permit reprinting and to cooperate with the Pemberton Press in every way possible. It is commendable that these valuable reference books are available once again at a reasonable cost, and the new publication demonstrates a fine public service attitude on the part of the Texas Library and Historical Commission and the Pemberton Press. As was mentioned in the Preface to the first edition, the
Powered by FlippingBook