Mark Lambert is the Senior Deputy Director for Heritage at the Texas General Land Office. James Harkins is the Deputy Director of Archives and Records. Brian A. Stauffer is the Director of Public Services and the author of Victory on Earth or in Heaven: Mexico's Religionero Rebellion. Patrick Walsh is a research specialist.

Texas Takes Shape is both a guide to the extensive and ever-increasing map collection of the Texas General Land Office and a remarkable study of maps of Texas and the Southwest. This handsome and colorful volume is a pleasure for the eye of the book collector but also a treat for the reader who wants to understand how maps framed understandings of the state and the region over several centuries.--Kenneth Hafertepe, Baylor University, author of The Material Culture of German Texans

Texas Takes Shape is a beautifully illustrated and designed book of the most comprehensive map collection relating to Texas. Texas is unique in the Union in that it retained ownership of its public land, and this book makes clear that the creative and judicious use of that land is, in many ways, the creation story of present-day Texas.--Ron Tyler, University of Texas at Austin, author of Texas Lithographs: A Century of History in Images

Texas Takes Shape is an astoundingly beautiful work of visual history. Surveying the Texas past through more than a hundred historical maps, this collection offers readers a remarkable new window into how individuals and empires have imagined, explored, and fought over the lands that became Texas. For anyone interested in understanding how maps have literally shaped the modern landscape of Texas, this is an absolute must-read.--Andrew J. Torget, University of North Texas, author of Seeds of Empire: Cotton, Slavery, and the Transformation of the Texas Borderlands, 1800-1850

Four members of the GLO's staff have selected more than one hundred [historical Texas maps] for inclusion in a stunning new volume, Texas Takes Shape...The result is that rarest of birds: a coffee-table book that advances an argument...The authors' provocative thesis--that maps not only reflect the past but have influenced it too--puts Texas Takes Shape into conversations about books by scholars and critics as well.-- "Texas Monthly" (8/6/2025 12:00:00 AM)

What's missing from your Texas history bookshelf? How about a gorgeous volume of old maps that helped define and develop our state, that also includes cogent historical context for each image?...This magnificent book cajoles the reader to linger over every page with a magnifying glass in hand. You don't want to miss any of the telling details.-- "Austin American-Statesman" (8/4/2025 12:00:00 AM)

[This book is] a comprehensive analysis of historical mapping in Texas from the early 16th century to today...presented in a way to take readers on a journey through history that defines and develops Texas through centuries of research and preservation...[It's] 'a perfect gift for every Texan out there.'-- "Temple Daily Telegraph" (7/7/2025 12:00:00 AM)

Detailed, artistic maps tell the story of Texas's evolving borders and landscapes. Great for history buffs, designers, and fans of vintage cartography.

-- "365 Things Austin" (11/20/2025 12:00:00 AM)

Each map is beautifully rendered and the accompanying essay is engrossing.

-- "Denton Record-Chronicle" (12/5/2025 12:00:00 AM)

Publisher: University of Texas Press

Pub date: 2025-07-01

Length: 360 pages