THE ERNEST DE BAYET FOSSIL COLLECTION AT THE CARNEGIE MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: A LATE 19TH CENTURY PALEONTOLOGICAL COLLECTOR LABEL INVENTORY

The Ernest de Bayet fossil collection, acquired in 1903 by museum founder Andrew Carnegie for the Carnegie Museum of Natural History (CMNH) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is the CMNH Invertebrate Paleontology (IP) section’s most valuable European collection. Bayet, a Belgian collector, amassed one of the premier privately held collections of the late 19^th century through purchase from other collectors as well as his own field work. It is believed to include tens of thousands of specimens from six continents; all major biological taxa through the Phanerozoic Eon are represented. Some of the collection’s most spectacular fossils continue to be used in CMNH exhibition halls. Up to 200 specimens have been designated as primary types and figured specimens in peer-reviewed publications.

Now celebrating the 120^th anniversary of its acquisition, researchers at CMNH IP are examining the collection’s rich archival data for the first time since 1904 to assess its broader scientific and historic value. Using original specimen labels, historical correspondence from CMNH and other organizations in Europe and the United States, and primary references including research articles and obituaries published in present and past scientific journals, the authors have identified over four dozen original collectors, public institutions, and natural history dealers that contributed to the Bayet collection. These collectors varied widely across geologic specialty, profession, geography, and social class, revealing a broad range of participants in the field of paleontology as it transitioned from amateur-dominated to professional in the late 19^th to early 20^th centuries. An inventory of collector label images and data is presented here that may be used to identify and corroborate collectors from similar collections at other institutions in the United States and Europe.