This meticulous oil painting of old books found in the British Library is executed in oil on linen and stretched over a wooden frame.
Engelbert Kaempfer (German Engelbert Kämpfer; September 16, 1651 – November 2, 1716) was a German naturalist, physician, and explorer writer known for his tour of Russia, Persia, India, Southeast Asia, and Japan between 1683 and 1693. His History of Japan, published posthumously in 1727, was the chief source of Western knowledge about the country throughout the 18th and mid-19th centuries when it was closed to foreigners.
