as exploring parties and surveyors he commissioned.
Together with his own observations
and those of the Mexican commissioner,
Manuel de Mier y Teran, Austin
updated his first efforts and drew more
accurate and detailed maps of the
province. In 1828 and 1829, Austin made
arrangements with Philadelphia map publisher
Henry S. Tanner to have his map
printed. Tanner published it first in 1830
in a pocket format with the 28 x 24 inches
map sheet folded into covers 5.6 inches
high. Tanner updated and reprinted the
map again in 1833, 1835, 1836, 1839, and
1840 because of the interest in Texas.
This first published edition, Map of
Texas with Parts of the Adjoining States
Compiled by Stephen F. Austin, 1830 (see
map, page 10), is important in the history
of Texas, but is also typical of all maps.
Austin, as a mapmaker, combined words
and images to help readers locate and better
understand places. Today, we commonly
use maps to communicate graphic information
about places. Maps are used for
many purposes in daily life; for example,
they help people navigate from place to
place, identify land ownership, and indicate
where natural resources such as coal
and oil are found. Politicians use maps to
show the boundaries of their districts, and
advertisers may use maps to direct people
to their products and services.
Both contemporary and historic maps
have several key parts that help users
"read" the graphic and textural information.
The first part of a map that catches
one's attention is the geographic subject of
the map itself, or the mapped area, such as
Austin's Texas. Some maps feature not
only this mapped area but also an inset
showing an enlargement of some important
area, such as a harbor, battlefield, or
city. Many maps have a cartouche, a sometimes-elaborate
feature that contains the
title of the map, name of the cartographer
and publisher, date, and place of publication.
The cartouche may also contain other
graphic designs such as landscape images
or illustrations of, among other things,
people, animals, or plants. In the Austin
published map, the cartouche includes the
title: Map of Texas with Parts of the
Adjoining States Compiled by Stephen F.
Austin; the date: 1830; the publisher:
Henry S. Tanner; the place of publication:
Philadelphia; and an image of a cactus
with an eagle on top (see detail, page 12).
Many maps also include written commentaries
that describe aspects of the history,
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