Hortus Deliciarum

The Hortus Deliciarum is an encyclopedia of Herrad of Landsberg ( = Herrad of High Castle, Herradis Landsbergensis, Abbess of High Castle Herrad of Landsperg, † 1195).

The first demonstrably authored by a woman encyclopaedia comes from Herrad of Landsberg, which was 1167-1195 Abbess of the Convent High Castle on the Mount Sainte-Odile (Alsace ). She has written 1175-1195 Hortus Deliciarum (English: Garden of delights ).

The illustrated with 350 miniatures encyclopedic in Latin summarizes the theological and secular knowledge of that time together for the instruction of nuns. The original burned in 1870 during the siege of Strasbourg during the Franco-German War in the university library, where it was deposited since 1723; only tracings, including a now almost as valuable facsimile of 1818, have been preserved.