The well-known writer and literary critic Charles Nodier, who was a close friend of the Duc d´Orleans, who had died shortly beforehand, was responsible for the text. The illustration work featured three of the most prominent exponents of artistic Orientalism, the two painters Adrien Dauzats and Gabriele Descamps and draughtsman Auguste Raffet. But the work was also a milestone in regard to reproduction graphics. “The Portes de fer will forever remain the masterpiece in the history of modern French wood engraving.” (Henri Bouchot, 1887)