Vincent of Beauvais includes at the end of the book 5 of the Speculum historiale a version of the Collatio Alexandri et Dindimi, titled De mutuis epistulis Alexandri et Dindimi regis super eorum philosophia, which he composed from a selection of extracts of the original work that he later modified textually in several ways in order to adapt them to their new context. This version was copied separately from the completed work and it was used as source of authority by other authors. On the other hand, Vincent took a large part of the excerpta of this version and inserted them thematically in books 5 and 6 of the Speculum doctrinale. The study and the edition of the version of the Collatio included in the Speculum historiale and the analysis of its relationship with the Speculum doctrinale allows us to reconstitute Vincent's methodology in composing the Speculum maius and contributes to our knowledge of the Fortleben of the Beauvais' encyclopedia.
