Cambridge Library Collection – Earth Science: Catalogue of the Type Fossils in the Woodwardian Museum, Cambridge

The collections of fossils housed in this museum, now known as the Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences, are of international importance. The original collection was begun in 1728, and grew rapidly. This catalogue by Henry Woods (1868-1952), a graduate of the University of Cambridge who undertook curatorial work in the museum between his graduation in 1890 and his appointment as a Demonstrator in Paleobotany in 1892, was first published in 1891. It contains the specific names, classes and orders of 558 specimens in the museum which are ‘type specimens’ for particular species, and was primarily intended for scholars searching for the location of those specimens. Woods also included the names of individuals who had described each specimen, the name of the collection it was in and references for the specimen. His book provides a valuable record of important fossils in the collection at the time of publication.