Lincoln, F. W. Jr.

[Ephemera, Trade cards] F. W. Lincoln Jr. & Co. MATHEMATICAL INSTRUMENT MAKERS & NAUTICAL STATIONERS 126 Commercial Street BOSTON

Boston, Massachusetts: F. W. Lincoln Jr. & Co. circa 1860. 2 3/8 x 3 1/2 inches. Buff wove paper printed in black ink. Nicely engraved trade card with remnants of glue on rear. No doubt produced to include in books sold by Lincoln in their business. Carpenter & Allen SG. printed just below lower border. Very Good. [28348]


A nice early label for this Boston instrument maker/retailer. A review of sold (mostly nautical) scientific instruments online shows at least three labels for this firm, with the (presumably earliest and most common) with a large Eagle at the top. Webster's signature database at the Adler Planetarium notes the following locations and dates for the firm: "62 Commercial Street (1839-53); at the Sign of Mercury and Quadrant, 136 Commercial Street (1853-58); 126 Commercial Street (1856-58); all in Boston, Mass."

Carpenter & Allen are most likely Reuben Carpenter and Ezra T. Allen who are listed as "engravers and plate printers" at 247 Washington Street, Boston in an 1860 Boston directory. Lincoln (with partner Hutchison) is listed in the same directory still at this address.

"Frederick Walker Lincoln, Jr. was born at Boston on February 27, 1817 according to his monument in Mt. Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts. His grandmother was Deborah Revere, daughter of Paul Revere. When he was thirteen years old, he was apprenticed to Gedney King and his son and successor, Charles Gedney King. In 1839 Mr. Lincoln went in business for himself. He continued for forty-three years as a maker of nautical and surveying instruments. In 1883 he sold the business, F. W. Lincoln Jr. & Co., to Charles C. Hutchinson who had been a partner since 1858. He continued the business under the firm name of C. C. Hutchinson until his death in 1913. The firm was then taken over by his successors until 1940 under the same name. In December 1857, Mr. Lincoln became Mayor of Boston. He was elected Mayor each year serving until December 1864. In 1882 he accepted the position of Manager of the Boston Storage Company, the position he held at the time of his death on 13 September 1898."

Literature:
Smart, Charles E. The Makers Of Surveying Instruments In America Since 1700 Troy, New York: Regal Art Press. 1962. Page 227.
The Boston Directory, embracing the City Record, Generall directory of the Citizens, and a Business Directory for the year commencing July 1, 1860. Boston: Adams, Sampson & Co. (pages 84 and 265).

Not in Davis and Dreyfus (Finest Instruments ever made, a Bibliography of Medical, Dental, Optical, and Pharmaceutical Company Trade Literature; 1700-1839). Not in Romaine.

ITEM SOLD