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A tacuinum is a kind of encyclopaedia of natural sciences in which plants, animals and minerals are described in alphabetic order by sections, with particular reference to their healing properties. In this manuscript, watercolour drawings in the upper part of each page illustrate the text which is laid out in two columns in the lower register. At the beginning of each section, the initial letter encloses a half-length human figure and a sumptuous border of flowers and leaves, often embellished with elegant architectural motifs, human figures or animals, such as that on folio 36. The entire decorative scheme is attributed to Giovannino de' Grassi and his assistants.
The manuscript was made for Emperor Wenceslas of Luxembourg (reigned 1378-1400). The manuscript later entered the library of Matthias Corvinus, King of Hungary, one of the richest and most outstanding collections of the second half of the fifteenth century, which was broken up on the death of the King.
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