This astrolabe was discovered by Edward Lee, a farmer’s son living near Cobden, Ontario, in 1867. He was clearing trees with a team of oxen when something metallic glinted in the sun, revealing the astrolabe. It is believed by some to have been lost by the explorer Samuel de Champlain, the founder of New France. We know Champlain portaged through the area in May of 1613, on a journey up the Ottawa River. We know also that the astrolabe is an authentic piece, made in France in the year 1603. What we don’t know is whether it was lost by Champlain. At no point in his journal does he complain of losing such a device and there is no way of ascribing it with certainty to any individual owner.

Astrolabes were used by cartographers, mariners and explorers of the day to determine latitude (distance north-south). Champlain would undoubtedly have carried one. However it has been pointed out that Champlain was a skilled cartographer whose very accurate measurements (as recorded in his journal) could not have been made with a device as small and inherently inaccurate as the Cobden astrolabe. Perhaps he carried it as a spare. Or perhaps it was lost by some other early 17th century traveller.

Since it was found, the astrolabe changed hands many times before it was purchased by the Canadian government from the New York Historical Society in 1989. It is now part of the collections of the Canadian Museum of Civilization. Whether owned by Champlain or some other early traveller, the Astrolabe is a unique witness to an early period in Canadian history.

Wes Colclough