This is an eighteenth-century perspective view (also called "peepshow", or in the original German Guckkastendioramen) produced by German engraver and publisher Martin Engelbrecht. Printed on thin paper, from etched copper plates, and coloured in watercolour, it depicts a miniature contemporary library, complete with library users reading, discoursing, or simply admiring the shelves.

Martin Engelbrecht of Augsburg, Germany started creating these "miniature theatres" around 1730. He employed two artists, Jeremias Wachsmuth (1711-1771) and Johann David Nessenthaler (1717-1766), to produce designs for them. Typically five to eight cards would be inserted consecutively into a peepbox, which created a perspective image. His peepshows proved immensely popular - all the more so that he was the only publisher to produce them. They exist in three formats: approximately 180 × 220 mm, 90 × 140 mm, and 73 × 90 mm. The present item is an example of the smallest format, which is also the rarest.