Several things first the presence of the proof marks, when the image from the original stone or plate was transferred to the larger production stone or plate the proof marks were removed from the transfers.
transfers: when the art on the original stone was done it was etched and inked with transfer ink then was printed on to a transfer paper (a paper sized with some time of gelatin surface) This was done multiple times and applied face down to the large stone in perfect alighnment to one another which is a whole other story.
If you look closely at the high res Bowerman card on LOC and look at the right side you will see that the register mark on the pink transfer was not removed.
2. I think comments have been made on the vivid colors which is indicitive of an image that has not "suffered" through the transfer process and the wear associated with a large press run. It looks like something run from the original art stone or plate.
3. Another aspect is the dead on register. This was likely run by one person on a small press, one small sheet at a time.
4. The last is the color anomolies. This looks to be an image in prototype phase just like the first image in the proof books.
What makes me think this is a continuous proof strip?
mostly to me It simply looks like a duck.......
