Photographer unknown

Greene inscribed this photograph—the only known print of this image—to "Rosie," her nickname for the Philadelphia bookseller A.S.W. Rosenbach (1876–1952), her friend, professional colleague, and fellow expert on rare printed books. The undated photograph is likely from the 1910s; it is known to be no later than 1921 because a reproduction appeared in a newspaper article that year.

In “Mighty Women Book Hunters,” a chapter in his 1936 memoir A Book Hunter’s Holiday, Rosenbach expressed his esteem for Greene and noted her professional stature:

“This reference to the Morgan collection must inevitably bring up the name of its distinguished director, Miss Belle da Costa Greene, who has reached a height in the world of books that no other woman has ever attained. Miss Greene, besides possessing a genuine love of books, has a knowledge of customs and manners in the medieval period excelled by few scholars.”