  Kontsevich's formality theorem and the consequent star-product formula rely
on the construction of an $L_\infty$-morphism between the DGLA of polyvector
fields and the DGLA of polydifferential operators. This construction uses a
version of graphical calculus. In this article we present the details of this
graphical calculus with emphasis on its algebraic features. It is a morphism of
differential graded Lie algebras between the Kontsevich DGLA of admissible
graphs and the Chevalley-Eilenberg DGLA of linear homomorphisms between
polyvector fields and polydifferential operators. Kontsevich's proof of the
formality morphism is reexamined in this light and an algebraic framework for
discussing the tree-level reduction of Kontsevich's star-product is described.
