Laughing Carp
Title
Laughing Carp
Subject
Text from Psalms 136 and 137 with zoomorphic fish line fillers
Description
This gorgeous thirteenth-century leaf was once part of a “Laughing Carp” psalter, named for the charming line fillers drawn as fish with various expressions. This manuscript was broken by biblioclast Otto Ege and was included in his Fifty Original Leaves from Medieval Manuscripts, Western Europe, XII-XVI Century (c. 1950). It is not known if this particular leaf is from a copy of Original Leaves that was broken and sold leaf-by-leaf (an ironic possibility) or if it is a leaf from the manuscript that was never included in a copy of Original Leaves.
Creator
Justin Hanisch (photographer)
Source
Psalter in Latin
Date
ca. 1250
Language
Latin
Coverage
Likely from Germany
Citation
Justin Hanisch (photographer), “Laughing Carp,” Bruce Peel Special Collections Library Online Exhibits, accessed July 11, 2025, https://omeka.library.ualberta.ca/items/show/3298.