It was written at a time when other encyclopedic descriptions of the world were being produced and translated, such as the Summarium Heinrici, the Hortus deliciarum (Herrad of Landsberg), the Liber exceptionum (Richard de Saint-Victor, Jean Châtillon), the De proprietatibus rerum (Bartholomeus Anglicus), and the Speculum naturale (Vincent of Beauvais).
The work De proprietatibus rerum was written at the school of Magdeburg in Saxonia and intended for the use of students and the general public.
This organization had been developed in the 13th century by Vincent of Beauvais in his Speculum naturale and had also been used by Bartholomaus Anglicus in his De proprietatibus rerum and by Thomas of Cantimpré in his Liber de natura rerum.