Each individual speculum is a constellation of several components:

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- A Libellus Apologeticus (LA) or General Prologue to the Speculum Maius;

- A short prologue to the specific speculum (i.e. Naturale, Doctrinale or Historiale);

- A list of chapter titles of this specific speculum;

- The text itself of this specific speculum, which is divided into books and chapters. Opposed to     this, the three books of the (apocryphal) Speculum Morale (Mor) are divided into distinctiones.

- A résumé of other specula, which is incorporated into the text. Given the physical size of a      single speculum (at least two manuscript volumes), Vincent of Beauvais had previewed that only few people could afford a full copy of the Speculum Maius. For this reason, Vincent provided each authentic speculum with a résumé of one or more other specula. In this way, the reader could get an impression of the contents of the other specula.

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Of most of these components, different versions exist; and of some of them, even different redactions:

• 4 versions of the Libellus Apologeticus (LA-1, LA-2, LA-3 and LA-4); of the last version, 3 redactions are known (LA-4A, LA-4B, LA-4C);

• 2 versions of the short prologue to the Speculum Historiale (Phist);

• 3 versions of the text of the Speculum Naturale (Nat-1, Nat-2, Nat-3); the differences between the versions testify to drastic revisions covering long stretches of text;

• 5 versions of the text of the Speculum Historiale (Hist-1, Hist-2, Hist-3, Hist-4, Hist-5); here too, the differences between the versions testify to drastic revisions covering long stretches of text;

• Connected with these versions of the text, the lists of chapter titles exist in different versions;

• 2 versions of the résumé of the Speculum Naturale (Rnat-1, Rnat-2);

• 2 versions of the résumé of the Speculum Historiale (Rhist-1, Rhist-2). Rhist-1 also knew a limited independent diffusion, under the name Memoriale Temporum.

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To these components, Vincent added:

• A dedicatory letter to king Louis IX of France; this letter introduces the first version of the Speculum Historiale (Dijon version);

• An alphabetical index that accompanies the last two versions of the Speculum Historiale. The index to the fourth (St.-Jacques) version is much more detailed than the one to the fifth and final (Douai) version.

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Thus, the following constellations characterize the specula and their versions:

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Speculum Naturale, Tournai version (siglum: Na)

• Libellus Apologeticus (LA-2) + short description of the contents of 29 books of text, numbered as 2-30 + list of chapter titles of books 1-13 (the titles of books 14-30 have not been identified as yet);

• Text of the Naturale (Nat-1) consisting of 29 books, numbered as books 2-30; it seems that only the text of books 1-8 have survived;

• Résumé of the Speculum Historiale (Rhist-1).

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Speculum Naturale, Bruges version (siglum: Nb)

• Libellus Apologeticus (LA-4B) + Prologue to the Speculum Naturale (Pnat) + list of chapter titles;

• Text of the Naturale (Nat-2) consisting of 31 books, numbered as books 2-32;

• Résumé of the Speculum Historiale (Rhist-2).

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Speculum Naturale, Douai version (siglum: Nc)

• Libellus Apologeticus (LA-4C) + Prologue to the Speculum Naturale (Pnat) + list of chapter titles;

• Text of the Naturale (Nat-3) consisting of 32 books, numbered as books 2-33;

• Résumé of the Speculum Historiale (Rhist-2).

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Speculum Doctrinale (siglum: Do)

• Libellus Apologeticus (LA-3) + Prologue to the Speculum Doctrinale (Pdoct) + list of chapter titles;

• A short résumé on the Fall of man (Rmor);

• Text of the Doctrinale (Doct) consisting of 17 books, numbered as books 2-18; the text we know today, seems uncompleted.

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Speculum Historiale, Dijon version (siglum: Ha)

• Dedicatory letter to king Louis IX of France;

• Libellus Apologeticus (LA-1) + Prologue to the Speculum Historiale (Phist-1) + list of chapter titles;

• Résumé of the other specula (Rnat-1);

• Text of Historiale (Hist-1, books 1-15, to which the final 16 books of Hist-5 have been added) consisting of 31 books, numbered as 1-31.

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Speculum Historiale, Klosterneuburg version (siglum: Hb)

• Libellus Apologeticus (version unknown) + Prologue to the Speculum Historiale (version unknown) + list of chapter titles;

• Résumé of the other specula (version unknown);

• Text of the Historiale (Hist-2) consisting of 29 books, numbered as 2-30.

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Speculum Historiale, Vienna version (siglum: Hc)

• Libellus Apologeticus (LA-4A) + Prologue to the Speculum Historiale (Phist-2) + list of chapter titles;

• Résumé of the other specula (Rnat-2);

• Text of the Historiale (Hist-3, books 1-15, to which the final 16 books of Hist-5 have been added) consisting of 31 books, numbered as 1-31.

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Speculum Historiale, Saint-Jacques version (siglum: Hd)

• Libellus Apologeticus (LA-4C) + Prologue to the Speculum Historiale (Phist-2) + list of chapter titles;

• Résumé of the other specula (Rnat-2);

• An alphabetical index (long version);

• Text of the Historiale (Hist-4) consisting of 31 books, numbered as 2-32.

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Speculum Historiale, Douai version (siglum: He)

• Libellus Apologeticus (LA-4C) + Prologue to the Speculum Historiale (Phist-2) + list of chapter titles;

• Résumé of the other specula (Rnat-2);

• An alphabetical index (shorter version);

• Text of the Historiale (Hist-5) consisting of 31 books, numbered as 2-32.

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Speculum Morale [apocryphal] (siglum: Mo)

• A Prologue by the author of the Speculum Morale;

• Text of the Morale (Mor) composed of 3 books;

• List of the titles of the distinctiones.