Specimens and collections as primary sources in the early history of paleontology: an historiographical issue

Within the history of geological sciences, the study of paleontological collections has proved to be of a great importance in order to trace and reconstruct the development of a scientific discipline and its methodology, related in particular to the establishment of geological theories, paleontological classifications, as well as the institutional role of paleontology. Some cases on the importance of the ‘use’ of specimens as historical-scientific primary sources, related in particular to the early history of paleontology from the 17th to the 18th century, reveal the extent of an open research field within the historiography of the Earth sciences.