Carol Titelman's first volume appeared in 1979 during a surge of behind-the-scenes media products. This book presented pre-production concept art and storyboards alongside George Lucas's screenplay from the revised fourth draft dated the 15th of January 1976.
Ralph McQuarrie's work became highly influential for the production of the first three Star Wars movies. Joe Johnston provided additional sketches while John Mollo created costume design sketches for the franchise.
The Art of the Empire Strikes Back edited by Deborah Call arrived in 1980 as a companion volume to the sequel film. The Art of Return of the Jedi followed in 1983, completing the trilogy documentation cycle.
Lucasfilm mounted an exhibition titled The Art of Star Wars at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco during 1995. Props and costumes joined the artwork display within this initial venue before expanding internationally from 2000 to 2001.
Harry N. Abrams took over publication duties for titles released after the initial run. Revised editions of the first three books arrived in 1997 with changes reflecting special effects used in Special Edition theatrical releases.