Green’s Atlas and Diary Almanac.

G. G. Green.

Green’s Atlas and Diary Almanac.

Woodbury, NJ:

G. G. Green,

1881.

Smith Brothers. 19-section wood-engraved block. Commissioned by G. G. Green of Woodbury, NJ.

This wood-engraved block was used as the border for the color-printed cover of a late-19th-century American almanac. Made at the order of publishers G. G. Green of Woodbury, NJ, the relief block was cut by Smith Brothers of Philadelphia, as can be seen when examining its lower right-hand corner. The block is a composite of 19 different pieces of endgrain wood. Endgrain wood is necessarily smaller than plank—and therefore, the pieces needed to be joined in some fashion to create a larger printing surface.

From the collection of Rare Book School