Curator & Collector

Photograph of British Museum acquisition astrolabe taken from the BBC

“He had an astrolabe to match his art / And calculating counters laid apart / On handy shelves that stood above his bed”–Chaucer’s words, taken from our favourite Canterbury Tale, “The Miller’s Tale,” refer to an instrument that has been described, according to the BBC, as a medieval “pocket calculator.” One such astrolabe, one of only eight of its kind in the world, was discovered in Kent in 2005. Later, it was sold in an auction to an anonymous telephone bidder, after which the UK government moved to legally prevent the piece from being exported. Now, thanks to large grants from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the Art Fund, the British Museum Friends, and others, the British Museum has now acquired the fascinating and rare device in an auction.

Readers can note that the “Canterbury Astrolabe Quadrant,” as this piece is known, could calculate “the date of Easter [and] determine the times of sunrise and sunset, the time in equal and unequal hours or the geographical latitude – to name but a few of the many functions.”

The piece is particularly interesting to us because it brings together, by association, the Canterbury Tales, Medieval history, and astronomy, along with some of the modern issues of cultural patrimony and museum fundraising. Again, the success of the British Heritage Lottery is noted, and the absence of anything of the sort here in Canada is equally noted. Museum directors are encouraged to press for the creation of something similar here, too.