In 2019 the University acquired almost 10,000 Lincolnshire postcards, which had been collected over 60 years by the late David Robinson OBE, who died in June 2018. He was a well-respected Lincolnshire historian, writer, lecturer and editor of the Lincolnshire Life magazine. This collection includes postcards of Lincoln, Skegness, Boston, Crowland, Grantham, Mablethorpe, Sutton on Sea and dates back to the 1890s. Most are in black and white or sepia but some were hand tinted, such as the Coade stone lion in the Arboretum when it was vandalised with painted stripes in May 1909 (Ref ROBINSON/185-187 postcards in the Zibby Garnett Library).
Archivist Susan Payne will continue adding details to the Special Collections catalogue and Conservation students have been cleaning and jacketing the postcards for future preservation. The collection is of value for the images on the postcards but also a glimpse into the social history of the senders.
Images, above & below: A selection of postcards in the David Robinson collection
Details are gradually being added to the Special Collections catalogue. The originals can be viewed in the Zibby Garnett Library and a digital copy will be available when copyright permission or expiry is verified.
Please contact the Special Collections Librarian for more information and to discuss your research requirements.
Unfortunately, we are unable to include digital reproductions of the David Robinson Postcard Collection due to copyright restrictions.
Copyright usually lasts for 70 years from the end of the year in which the photographer dies and is passed to the heirs with the rest of the estate. With the David Robinson Collection, it can be difficult to establish the copyright status of individual images, since many of them were taken by anonymous freelance photographers.
Please contact the Special Collections Librarian if you wish to view any items within the collection.
