Texas. Imperial State of America.

[Texas] W. W. Dexter. Texas. Imperial State of America. With Her Diadem of Cities. St. Louis: Samuel F. Meyerson Printing Company. [1904]. Maroon pictorial wraps. 24 x 32 cm. Illustrated. Map. [146 pp.] Edge chips and splits, tear at top of spine, some wear and staining to cover, one inch tear to first two pages, else very good.

OCLC shows 22 holdings, scarce today. This copy has 146 pages, while most of the listings on OCLC (19) show 144 pages, but I have not compared the copies to determine the difference. Produced for the Texas exhibit at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition held in Saint Louis in 1904. "The Official and Exclusive Book of the Texas World's Fair Commission." Many great photographs. Contents include: Texas Supreme Court; Texas Capitol, including a photo of the dedication of the Confederate Monument in 1903; Governor's Mansion; Portraits of Texas Heroes and Statesmen; Austin; Dallas; sections on Cities, including Fort Worth; Galveston; Houston; San Antonio; Granbury; New Braunfels; Waxahachie; Crockett; San Angelo and Llano; Agriculture, including cattle raising in Texas; Texas Press Association; Prominent men of Texas; Railroads; outline of Texas history and other photographs. Scattered throughout are many advertisements for local businesses. An interesting and inadvertently revealing snapshot of Jim Crow era Texas, lacking information on or depictions of minorities, including Mexican Americans or Tejanos (other than a portrait of De Zavala) and African Americans or their contributions to the "Imperial State."