- Title: Map of Texas, compiled from surveys on record in the General Land Office of the Republic, to the year 1839... WITH, Guide to Texas Booklet
- Author: Richard S. Hunt & Jesse F. Randel
- Date: 1839
- Condition: See Description
- Inches: 24 1/4 x 32 [Paper]
- Centimeters: 61.59 x 81.28 [Paper]
- Product ID: 308575
Landmark Representation of the Republic of Texas
This map is an exceptionally rare cartographic artifact, representing the first edition of Richard S. Hunt and Jesse F. Randel’s "Map of Texas, Compiled from Surveys on Record in the General Land Office of the Republic to the Year 1839." Only four appearances at auction have been documented since 2000, underscoring its extreme scarcity and desirability among collectors.
Published in 1839, this map is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential early large-format maps of the Republic of Texas. It was originally issued to accompany Hunt and Randel’s seminal Guide to the Republic of Texas, described by Thomas W. Streeter as the "first general guide to Texas." The map is distinguished by its depiction of the newly established town of Austin—a detail generally considered to be its earliest printed appearance—as well as thirty-one shaded counties, prominent river systems, and the locations of original colonies and Indigenous nations.
This cartographic work was approved for accuracy by leading Texas officials and certified by John P. Borden, Commissioner of the General Land Office. Key geographical features are based on actual surveys from the Land Office, making this one of the earliest Texas maps to claim such a basis in direct survey data. The lower right inset extends the map’s scope to include the Rio Grande and territory westward toward the Pacific.
The map’s historical importance, confirmed provenance, and extreme rarity position it as a cornerstone piece for any advanced collection of Texas or Republic-era Americana.
Hunt and Randel executed the map and guide in Houston, leveraging unprecedented access to official survey records in the General Land Office, as certified by John P. Borden, Texas’s first Land Commissioner. Their work set new standards for accuracy, departing from earlier, largely speculative Texas maps by directly incorporating recent surveys and delineating the most recent county boundaries—thirty-one in all, including the newly established Harrison County as of early 1839. They are credited with documenting, for the first time on a printed map, the newly laid-out capital city of Austin on the north bank of the Colorado River.
According to Streeter: "The first general guide to Texas...It must have been a useful book for intending settlers, and its contemporary account of existing conditions makes it a valuable book now. The map is important.... It shows, probably for the first time, the newly laid out town of Austin on the north bank of the Colorado."
Condition
Moderate blistering to cloth, scattered staining, a bit of adhesive on the rear cover, spine fraying, corners bumped, edges rubbed resulting in discoloration. Heavy foxing and damp staining to the endpapers and text block, offset toning at the rear endpapers, hinges repaired at the gutters, rear hinge cracked. Map professionally backed with archival tissue, repairing several areas of loss, including (but not limited to) Milam, Jefferson, Montgomery, and Patricio counties; scattered staining and foxing; some offset toning at the folds.
Reference
Clark I:183; Graff 2017; Howes H-809; Raines, p. 122; Streeter 1348.
Background on Creator
Richard S. Hunt and Jesse F. Randel were pivotal figures in the cartographic documentation of the Republic of Texas, distinguished for their collaboration on the 1839 "Map of Texas, Compiled from Surveys on Record in the General Land Office of the Republic". This map was issued to accompany their Guide to the Republic of Texas, widely regarded as the first comprehensive guidebook for prospective settlers and a significant historical resource.
Little is known of their personal biographies beyond their documented efforts in Texas cartography and literature. Both men were evidently qualified and trusted with the region’s official records, as evidenced by testimonials from Texas government officials and contemporary publishers. Their landmark map became a model for subsequent Texas maps and remains of exceptional historical and collector interest.