Robert Indiana kept a series of illustrated journals during the late 1950s and 1960s, in which he discusses the development of his work as well as his daily life on Coenties Slip.

In his journal entry for August 17, 1962, Indiana mentions two calls from the art critic Gene Swenson. The first was to ask him if he was attending Stephen Durkee's party that evening, and the second announcing that he would be reviewing Indiana's upcoming show at the Stable gallery (for ARTnews). Indiana notes that his show would thus be in sympathetic hands, "surely, some tender grapes from heaven!" He writes that Swenson also insisted that the "article on [the] group of us" was still in the works and would be published in September (the article "The New American ‘Sign Painters'" in ARTnews), meaning good and steady coverage for him: "September story, October review, November Art in America 3-man story. And Janis' show [International Exhibition of the New Realists] is due in November, so [that] might mean some mention of my name in December."

Indiana records applying a second coat of black paint (Blockx vine) to the inner areas of The Melville Triptych, noting it was a full day's job. The page also includes a small sketch of Die, a small diamond-shaped painting.