Book of Treasures

A compendium of the knowledge of the time, it is regarded as the first encyclopedia written in a modern European language.

[citation needed] Napoleon had intended to have the French text of the Book of Treasures printed with commentaries, and appointed a commission for the purpose.

It was at last published in the Collection des documents inédits (1863), edited by Polycarpe Chabaille from 42 mss.

It consists of three books: The artist's imagination fills the margin of 18 pages with one of the most highly developed and earliest series of arabesques in the history of European miniature.

The illustration of natural history employs traditional layouts dating to Romanesque bestiary.