This first systematic synthesis of French civil law abandoned the structure of the Code civil.
It introduced, among others, German legal notions such as rules of evidence as well as theories of joint property and vindication to French law.
Originally a translation of Karl-Salomon Zachariä's Handbuch des französischen Civilrechts, the work became increasingly independent from its German template, being republished as late as 1964–73 in an incomplete 7th edition.