The Four Ages of Man. Historical artwork showing the Four Ages of Man as: Childhood, Adulthood, Middle Age, and Old Age. The artwork is from a 15th century edition of one of the world's first encyclopedias, Des proprietes des choses (On the Properties of Things). The original encyclopaedia was written around 1240 by Bartholomeus Anglicus, a Franciscan monk and scholar who worked in Paris, France.