Chaekgeori (Korean: 책거리; Hanja: 冊巨里), translated as “books and things”, is a genre of still-life painting from the Joseon period of Korea that features books as the dominant subject. The chaekgeori tradition flourished from the second half of the 18th century to the first half of the 20th century and was enjoyed by all members of the population, from the king to the commoners, revealing the infatuation with books and learning in Korean culture.
That came via Peco and Ruth Gaskovski, who also open with this:
All civilization comes through literature now, especially in our own country. A Greek got his civilization by talking and looking, and in some measure a Parisian may still do it. But we, who live remotely from history and monuments, we must read or we must barbarise.
from The Rise of Silas Lapham by William Dean Howells, 1885