Shūko jisshu
Shūko jisshu is a Japanese illustrated book of 1800 compiled by Matsudaira Sadanobu (1759-1829), published in Japan and offering a collection of portraits and decorative art for a learned readership. Its pages show black-and-white line drawings of seated figures in robes and court headwear, framed in ruled boxes with the subject's name written in the margin. A designer might take from them the economy of single-weight contour lines, the flat dark masses of garment shapes, and the way a plain frame and caption column organise each page.
