A portion of the colophon from this portfolio, which was published by the artist, is loosely translated from the French as: "This engraved bestiary consists of 15 cut-out burins by Abram Krol and is preceded by a text extracted from the Proprietatibus Rerum ("On the Order of Things") of Barthelemy de Glanvil, known as Bartholomaeus Anglicus, translated by Jehan Corbichon in 1372 and established after the edition of Jehan Cyber published in Lyon in 1486."
Each animal is embossed into the paper from a shaped plate or block, which has been lightly inked in a pale golden brown, and engraved lines and textures simply - but effectively - provide each creature with unique and often humorous charictaristics, as with this owl.