Sō Shiseki Picture Album (Sō Shiseki gafu), vol. 1

In Japan, the picture book was a genre in and of itself. Unlike Western picture books, often associated with children, Japanese publishers and illustrators treated the book as a site for recordkeeping, experimentation, and inspirations. Sō Shiseki traveled to Nagasaki to study painting under Chinese painter Shen Nanpin (1682-?). This is a collection of Shiseki's works, whcih includes the paintings by Nanpin he copied and studied. The practice of copyiing works was an integral part of training and an important way to establish a lineage.