About the FS Lincoln Database

The F.S. Lincoln collection is a group of photographs from the early years of the Restoration taken by Mr. Fay S. Lincoln (known professionally as F.S. Lincoln). The collection consists of black & white negatives and prints taken by Mr. Lincoln in preparation for the publication of The Restoration of Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia, a series of articles appearing in the December 1935 and November 1936 issues of The Architectural Record. Both issues featured a portfolio of buildings and gardens in the newly restored historic area of Williamsburg.

The collection is organized into series by format. Series included in the collection are negatives; bound matted and signed prints; unbound matted and signed prints; and small albums. Within each format, items are organized according to the numbering system assigned by Mr. Lincoln. The first three digits of numbers assigned to the images correspond to a particular building or subject category. For example, all images of the Capitol have numbers beginning with 325 and all miscellaneous views have numbers beginning with 365. After these first three digits, Lincoln added a P for print and then a successive number for each view. For example, the first view of the Capitol is number 325P1. An “LC” prefix has been added to all image numbers by the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation to identify the images as coming from the Lincoln Collection. More about the collection…

To search the database, enter a keyword or search term. You will see a list of negatives which match the term. Click on an individual negative to show the full record, which includes the following fields:

The negatives and prints can be found in Visual Resources at the John D. Rockefeller Jr. Library.