Gold books and other royal gold objects of the Nguyen Dynasty are on display at the Vietnam National Museum of History in Hanoi from March 31.

The museum puts on show 22 out of its collection of 94 gold books of the 13 Nguyen Kings, along with a dozen royal objects, according to the Museum’s Deputy Director Nguyen Van Doan.

The books, made of such precious metals as gold or silver, were used to record significant royal events and rituals, such as coronation, enthronement, among others. They were compiled by the kings or high-level courtiers themselves.

According to experts, the dynasty’s first gold book, measuring 24.5 cm and 13.5 cm was made at the order of King Gia Long for his father in 1806.

It consists of two thick cover pages and four thinner inside pages, which were subtly decorated with dragon-in-cloud patterns and weighed a total of 1.4 kg.

The show will last until August.

VNA