Central to the advertising art of the cigar industry, progressive proof books were produced by means of stone lithography, an artistic and commercial process by which an engraved stone is used in order to print each color of a total image separately. The majority of cigar labels were produced by using six or fewer stones, while labels requiring as many as twenty-two stones have also been reported. Prior to printing a label, image registration and color layout were checked by means of running a set of proofs. These proofs contain the particular sequence of colors in which cigar labels were printed, as well as a final sample of the label resulting from each of the separately printed colors. The proofs were bound together and used as reference books by commercial printers, and are today the remnants of a detailed, time-consuming, and long-abandoned printing process. The variety of themes and subjects recorded in lithographic labels and advertisements are a valuable contribution to the historical and cultural record. The collection was assembled by Mr. Raymond Kane, Dr. Stanley Greenberg, Dr. Neil Greenberg, and Mr. Morris Greenberg.
From the description of Kane-Greenberg lithography collection, 1870-1939. (University of South Florida). WorldCat record id: 744465720
