The Manuscript MS 12326 of the Bnf was copied in the second half of the XVth century for Pierre Villa, member of the Villa family, hailing from the Piedmontese town of Chieri. His family emblem is visible on the first folio of that manuscript and furthermore an anagram of his name „priere vaille“ appears six times on the same folio. From 107 to 1755 the manuscript was owned by the baron Guillaume-Paschal De Crassier and after his death sold at a public auction, when the manuscript reached the Bibliothèque national in Paris.
This Manuscript is a collection of technical recipes, divided into 73 chapters: Chapter I: melting of crystal Chapter II and L: shape and construction of the oven Chapter III: preparation of glas Chapters IV-XIII: treatment of diffenrent Gemstone, like sapphire, zircon, garnet, topaz, ruby, emerald, diamond and pearls as well Chapter XIV: test for counterfeit gemstones Chapter XV: fabrication of Venetian imitations Chapters XVI-XVII: heating of stones and glas Chapters XVIII, XIX, XLVII: glue for glas or shattered stones Chapters XX-XXXII: cut, polishing and perforation of stones Chapters XXXIII-XLIV, XLVIII and LI: gilding, enamel and painting on glas Chapter XLV: lead mirrors Chapter XLIX: unbreakable glas Chapters LII-LIV: lime, ivory and bone Chapters LV-LXXIII: pigment recipes, several for blue
