This large antique printing block recently came out of the estate of the late Honorable Ambassador Philip Habib, the former US Ambassador to South Korea. (Please see his biography below).

The block had been presented to the Habibs as a gift from a Korean dignitary, and it hung in the entryway of the Ambassador’s Residence in Seoul during the Habib’s four-year mission. After the Habibs returned to the US, it hung in the entryway of their house near San Francisco. The block is carved on both sides with Chinese Han characters (rather than the Korean Hangeul. It dates from the Yi Dynasty, and may actually predate the creation of Hangeul.

The block measures 17-5/8” by 9-3/4” and is about an inch thick at its thickest. On either side of the printing block is a wooden end-piece about 1-3/8” square, to which is attached a hanging cable on one side. That brings the overall size to 20-5/8” by 11-7/8”. The wooden block is entirely covered in black ink that has long since been absorbed into the wood. One side of the block has gold ink on the printing surface, the other side has silver ink.

The condition of the block is good. There is an old, natural and stable crack in the wood (caused by the natural movement of wood, not damage) that crosses the center of the block more than half way. Since there is ink in the crack, I presume it is a very old crack. There are a few smaller, tight cracks and a few scattered losses to the borders, as may be seen in the photos below. There are a couple of small daubs of paint on the bottom-back. The piece displays beautifully.

Philip Habib (1920-1992) was a career diplomat whose accomplishments spanned 40 years, after serving in World War Two. He was the US Ambassador to South Korea, Assistant Secretary of State, Under-Secretary of State, the US Special Envoy to the Paris Peace Talks and to the Camp David Peace Accords, as well as many other diplomatic missions. He single-handedly brokered the peace between Israel and Lebanon during their 1982 conflict, for which President Reagan awarded Habib the Presidential Medal of Freedom -- the highest civilian honor that can be given to a US citizen. He was also given the Legion d’Honneur by France and a host of other honoraria from all over the world. After retiring from the State Department, he taught at Stanford University. A biography was published about Ambassador Habib in 2000, and in 2006, the US Post Office issued a stamp in his honor. Warren Zevon wrote a song about him called “The Envoy”, from his album of the same name. The US State Department has a room named after him, the Korean Ambassador’s resident is “Habib House”, and the New York Times, in their obituary of Habib, called him “the outstanding professional diplomat of his generation”.

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On May-08-08 at 19:25:13 PDT, seller added the following information:

Please note: I have received an e-mail from an eBayer whose opinion it is that this block is not Yi Dynasty but rather, early 20th century. I do not have the expertise to accurately determine the age of the printing block; my description merely repeats what I had been told about it by Mrs. Habib who, at almost 90 years old, may be mis-remembering events of almost 40 years ago. Please bid accordingly. Unfortunately, since a bid has been placed, I am not allowed to change the listing title or description, only add to it. If bidder "frean2112" wishes to remove their bid, they are welcome to do so. All subsequent bids will be considered binding. Thank you for understanding.