BOSTON, MASS.- The Boston Athenaeum has launched its newest exhibition, Wild Flowers of New England, which features the photographic work of Massachusetts-based Edwin Hale Lincoln (1848–1938), highlighting his career dedicated to documenting and preserving New England’s wildflowers.
On display at the Boston Athenaeum from June 10 – September 5, 2025, Wild Flowers of New England presents, together for the first time in over a century, Lincoln’s botanical photographs, glass plate negatives, and his collected pressed specimens of flowers from his 1910-1914 self-published series of the same name. Through Lincoln’s preservationist lens, visitors will experience a meticulous photographic practice capturing botanical methodology, artistry, and the timeless allure and beauty of New England’s wildflowers.
“Lincoln approached his photography with a deep botanical knowledge, capturing plants’ true-to-life proportions and highlighting each flowers’ delicate details,” said Lauren Graves, Associate Curator at the Boston Athenaeum. “Following Lincoln’s call to save New England’s wildflowers, we are honored to represent his legacy of conservation to our members and the public through this exhibition.”
Wild Flowers of New England showcases depictions of trilliums, lilies, ferns, milkweed and other flora; including Lincoln’s historic series on American Orchids. The Athenaeum’s exhibition places over three decades of Lincoln’s work in conversation with artists and photographers of the past – including illustrator Isaac Sprague, and photographers Ogawa Kazumasa, Imogen Cunningham, and Karl Blossfeldt – to showcase the intertwined relationship between photography, nature, and conservation.
In tribute to Lincoln’s goal of preserving and documenting the New England ecosystem over 100 years ago, the Athenaeum coordinated with the Native Plant Trust in Framingham, Mass., to include the modern-day conservation status of the wildflower in the exhibition’s object labels. The Athenaeum hopes the botanical knowledge, artistry, and aesthetic ethos captured in the exhibition will inspire visitors to continue Lincoln’s legacy of conservation.
“The Athenaeum cherishes preserving history, celebrating the beautiful, and nurturing our members’ and visitors’ curiosity, and we’re excited about how this exhibition epitomizes all these facets of our mission, and more,” said Leah Rosovsky, Stanford Calderwood Director at the Boston Athenaeum. “Wild Flowers of New England connects us to a keen observer of nature, his distinctive photographic technique, and the precious and fragile natural beauty of the region we call home.”
During the run of Wild Flowers of New England, the Athenaeum will host several events related to the exhibition, including a chamber series performance with the Boston Festival Orchestra on June 12, a hands-on workshop with Bob Sances creating wild flower specimen books on June 14, and lecture on biodiversity and conservation by Tim Johnson, CEO of Native Plant Trust on June 17. More information on Athenaeum programs and event is available at: bostonathenaeum.org/events.
Edwin Lincoln Hale’s complete eight-volume series, Wild Flowers of New England, from which the Athenaeum’s exhibition gets its name, totals 400 prints and thousands of negatives from his pioneering photography career. Starting in the 1890s, Lincoln explored forests and fields around his home in the Berkshires, identifying and carefully removing wildflowers to bring back to his studio greenhouse, where he replanted and revived them to photograph each at its peak before returning it to its original habitat. His work aligns with a long tradition of botanical illustration, capturing plants with such scientific accuracy that botany professors used his photographs in lectures.
