The paper codex handschrift-Serrure (Brussels KBR, II 144) codicologically and substantively consists of a number of parts: the first part (f. 1r–165v) is written by the hands A, B and C; the hands w, x, y and z each added a small text. The second part (f. 166r–169v) was copied by hand D. All hands are from the sixteenth century, only hands y and z are from the seventeenth century.
Most of the codex is by hand A (f. 1r–113v), who possibly wrote around 1555 in the Dutch-German border area between Sittard, Maastricht and Aachen. The copyist used written sources for his collection of texts; he partly determined the systematic division of the text groups and chose clearly contemporary secular and spiritual texts with themes such as love and friendship, honor and happiness, wealth and poverty, death and life. Some Latin inscriptions and pseudo-Latin texts could indicate student use. The part of hand A mainly contains rhymed sayings and epigrams, sacred and secular songs, proverbs, love questions with answers, cisioiani, farcical sermons and parodies of prescriptions. Many texts are intended to be didactic or moralistic.
After the texts of hand A a few leaves were originally left blank (f. 114r–121r). Then hand B (f. 121v–148r) wrote a large number of High German riddles, which are also known from the Straßburger Rätselbuch. After that hand C wrote on the leaves left blank (f. 114r–120r) love songs and spells. This hand C also wrote a collection of prescriptions after the riddles of hand B (f. 149v–165v). Finally hand D (f. 166r–169v) wrote a smaller collection of prescriptions for horses. It is unclear if this last quire was added to the codex when it was bound. Hands B, C and D all wrote at the end of the sixteenth century in a Dutch-German border dialect that can be found somewhat more northerly than the dialect of hand A.