Edwin Hale Lincoln Photograph Collection

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After serving as a drummer boy for the Union Army during the Civil War, Edwin Hale Lincoln (1848-1938) worked as both a commercial and amateur photographer throughout his long career. Associated with the Arts and Crafts movement, Lincoln began his career in the mid-1870s, identifying himself as a landscape photographer. Using a large format camera on a tripod, Lincoln was also known for his photographs of residential architecture and of yachts and other sailing vessels. For most of his career, he would capture his images on 8 x 10-inch glass-plate negatives that were then contact printed on platinum photographic paper -- a format known for its extensive tonal range and image permanence. This process resulted in black and white images of great clarity and beauty.

A devoted naturalist, Lincoln began photographing New England plant life in the 1890s, a project that would culminate in several self-published works, including the eight-volume Wild Flowers of New England. Transcendent in scope and obsessive in detail, to do justice to the wildflowers Lincoln would dig them up and transport them to his home in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, to be photographed under controlled lighting. When satisfied with the capture, he would return the wildflower to its natural habitat.

Active to the end, Edwin Hale Lincoln was struck and killed by an automobile at the age of 90 while out walking near his home.

Critical funding to support long-term preservation of and enhanced public access to Boston Public Library collections, including this one, was provided by the Associates of the Boston Public Library