Cope, E. D. (Edward Drinker), 1840-1897

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Vertebrate paleontologist Edward Drinker Cope became the leading theorist of the neo-Lamarckian movement in American biology. He sold his fossil collection to the American Museum of Natural History in 1894.

From the guide to the Edward Drinker Cope Field diaries, 1872-1874, 1876-1877, 1879, 1881-1885, 1892, 1872-1892, (American Philosophical Society)

Zoologist, paleontologist and educator. Member Society of Friends. Professor at Haverford College (1864-1867) and University of Pennsylvania (1891); president (1896) American Association for the Advancement of Science.

From the description of Papers, 1848-1940 (bulk 1855-1896). (Haverford College Library). WorldCat record id: 25540988

Naturalist and paleontologist, member of the National Academy of Science, professor of zoology and comparative anatomy.

From the description of Letters, 1846-1897. (American Museum of Natural History). WorldCat record id: 22577217

From the description of Letters, 1846-1897 [microform]. (American Museum of Natural History). WorldCat record id: 40976844

Edward Drinker Cope was a vertebrate paleontologist. He was the leading theorist of the neo-Lamarckian movement in American biology. He sold his fossil collection to the American Museum of Natural History in 1894.

From the description of Field diaries, 1872-1874, 1876-1877, 1879, 1881-1885, 1892. (American Philosophical Society Library). WorldCat record id: 122489518

Vertebrate paleontologist.

Cope was the leading theorist of the neo-Lamarckian movement in American biology. He sold his fossil collections to the American Museum of Natural History in 1894.

From the description of Papers, 1846-1897. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 155485103

Vertebrate paleontologist.

Cope was the leading theorist of the neo-Lamarckian movement in American biology. He sold his fossil collection to the American Museum of Natural History in 1894.

From the description of Notebooks, 1846-1897. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 155509625

Vertebrate paleontologist.

Cope was the leading theorist of the neo-Lamarckian movement in American biology. He sold his fossil collections to the American Museum of Natural History in 1894.

From the description of Papers, 1872-1900. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 155509630

Edward Drinker Cope was born on July 28, 1840 to Alfred and Hannah Edge Cope, who were wealthy Philadelphia Quakers. His father hoped Edward would become a farmer and much of his education was obtained by private tutors. He also attended Westtown School and in 1860, he attended Dr. Joseph Leidy’s class on comparative anatomy at the University of Pennsylvania. Cope’s interest in the natural sciences began at an early age and in 1858, he began volunteering at the Academy of Natural Sciences, where he catalogued the reptilian collection. He also studied in Washington, D.C. with Professor Spencer F. Baird, concentrating his attentions on the herpetological collections at the Smithsonian Institute. By the time that he entered the University of Pennsylvania at the age of 20, he had already been published thirty times. In 1863, his father sent him to Europe in order that he be spared participating in the Civil War and his interest in the natural sciences increased as he visited natural history museums in Berlin, Leyden, Munich, Vienna, Paris and London.

In 1864, Cope returned to Philadelphia and was hired to teach comparative zoology and botany at Haverford College. He remained a professor there until 1867 when he resigned in order to pursue scientific exploration and writing. In 1884, he served as curator of the National Museum in Washington, D.C. and in 1891, he was professor of geology at the University of Pennsylvania. He also served as the president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1896. During his career, Cope led and/or participated in geological surveys, both state and federal (the United States Geological Survey), of the western states of the United States. Through his exploration and work with surveys, Cope made known "more than 600 speciesand many genera of extinct vertebrates new to sciences, many of which he had personally discovered in the Cretaceous strata of Kansas or the Tertiary of Wyoming and Colorado," (Osborn, page 129).

At the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, Cope served as curator from 1865 to 1873, as corresponding secretary from 1863 to 1876, and as a member of the Council in 1879. He resigned from the Academy, after a conflict regarding the fundamental organization of the organization, in 1883.

Cope was a “founder of the Neo-Lamarckian school of evolutionary thought, [which] believed that changes in developmental (embryonic) timing, not natural selection, was the driving force of evolution,” (UCMP). At the time of his death on April 12, 1897, Cope had discovered and described over 600 new species and contributed over 1300 papers to scientific literature.

Bibliography:

Haverford College Quaker and Special Collections. Edward Drinker Cope papers, 1848-1940 (bulk 1855-1896), Ms. Coll. 956.

Osborn, Henry Fairfield. "Biographical Memoir of Edward Drinker Cope, 1840-1897," National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America Biographical Memoirs, Volume III, 1929.

University of California Museum of Paleontology. “Edward Drinker Cope (1840-1897),” http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/history/cope.html (accessed November 29, 2011).

From the guide to the Edward Drinker Cope papers, 1859-1907, (Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia)

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
creatorOf Ward, Lester Frank, 1841-1913. Correspondence, 1865-1913, "Clark" to "Dolbear". Brown University Archives, John Hay Library
creatorOf Cope, E. D. (Edward Drinker), 1840-1897. Correspondence with Henry Charles Lea, 1882-1884. University of Pennsylvania Libraries, Van Pelt Library
referencedIn Letters of scientists, 1655-1973. American Philosophical Society Library
creatorOf Cope, E. D. (Edward Drinker), 1840-1897. Letters, 1846-1897. American Museum of Natural History
creatorOf Cope, E. D. (Edward Drinker), 1840-1897. Diaries, 1872-1893. American Museum of Natural History
referencedIn Additional papers, 1870-1912. Houghton Library
creatorOf Moultrie, James. Palaeontology. Tracts. American Museum of Natural History
creatorOf Steere, Joseph B. (Joseph Beal), 1842-1940. Steere, Joseph B. papers, 1861-1941. Bentley Historical Library
referencedIn Lesley, J. P. (J. Peter), 1819-1903. Papers, 1826-1898. American Philosophical Society Library
referencedIn J. Percy Moore papers, 1847-1963 Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia
creatorOf Cope, E. D. (Edward Drinker), 1840-1897. Diaries, 1872-1893 [microform]. American Museum of Natural History
referencedIn Marsh, Othniel Charles, 1831-1899. Papers, 1817-1899 Yale University Library
referencedIn Eakins, Thomas, 1844-1916. Letter : Paris, to Benjamin Eakins, Philadelphia, 1868 Sept. 18. Bryn Mawr College, Mariam Coffin Canaday Library
referencedIn American Philosophical Society Archives. Record Group IIg, 1887-1891 American Philosophical Society
referencedIn Scientists Collection, 1563-1973 American Philosophical Society
creatorOf Cope, E. D. (Edward Drinker), 1840-1897. Papers, 1848-1940 (bulk 1855-1896). Haverford College Library
referencedIn Wheatley, Charles Moore, 1822-1882. Papers, 1840-1882. American Philosophical Society Library
creatorOf Wenrich, David Henry, 1885-1968. Papers, 1897-1946. University of Pennsylvania, Archives & Records Center
referencedIn Bessey, Charles E. (Charles Edwin). Papers of Charles E. Bessey, 1865-1915. Library of Congress
creatorOf Cope, E. D. (Edward Drinker), 1840-1897. [Ichthyological papers / Cope] The Field Museum Library, The Field Museum of Natural History
creatorOf Cope, E. D. (Edward Drinker), 1840-1897. [Miscellaneous papers] Princeton University Library
referencedIn Alpheus Hyatt II Papers, 1854-1958 Syracuse University. Library. Special Collections Research Center
referencedIn Lawrence, George N. (George Newbold) Papers, ca. 1860s-1870s, Circa 1860s-1870s American Philosophical Society
referencedIn Fowler, Henry Weed, 1878-1965. Reminiscences on old naturalists, 1959. American Philosophical Society Library
referencedIn Alexander Winchell Papers, 1833-1891 Bentley Historical Library
referencedIn American Philosophical Society Archives. Record Group IIi, 1897 American Philosophical Society
creatorOf Cope, E. D. (Edward Drinker), 1840-1897. [Collected papers chiefly on extinct vertebrates, herpetology and ichthyology]. University of Chicago Library
referencedIn Thomas Davidson papers, 1857-1948, 1857-1902 Yale University. Department of Manuscripts and Archives
creatorOf Notebooks, 1846-1897. New York State Historical Documents Inventory
referencedIn Lesley, J. Peter, 1819-1903. Papers, 1826-1898 American Philosophical Society
referencedIn Sumner, Charles, 1811-1874. Correspondence, 1829-1874 Houghton Library
referencedIn Joseph Beal Steere Papers, 1861-1941 Bentley Historical Library
creatorOf Edward Drinker Cope Field diaries, 1872-1874, 1876-1877, 1879, 1881-1885, 1892, 1872-1892 American Philosophical Society
creatorOf Cope, E. D. (Edward Drinker), 1840-1897. Field diaries, 1872-1874, 1876-1877, 1879, 1881-1885, 1892. American Philosophical Society Library
creatorOf Macauley, E. W. Correspondence to Daniel Garrison Brinton, 1891. University of Pennsylvania Library
referencedIn Jacob Stauffer Papers, 1844-1879, 1844-1879 American Philosophical Society
referencedIn Davidson, Thomas, 1840-1900. Thomas Davidson papers, 1857-1948 (inclusive), 1857-1902 (bulk). Yale University Library
creatorOf Cope, E. D. (Edward Drinker), 1840-1897. Letters, 1846-1897 [microform]. American Museum of Natural History
referencedIn American Philosophical Society Archives. Record Group IIh, 1892-1896 American Philosophical Society
creatorOf Edward Drinker Cope papers, 1859-1907 Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia
referencedIn Putnam, Frederic Ward, 1839-1915. Papers, 1807-1971 (bulk: 1855-1935) Peabody Museum Archives, Harvard University
creatorOf Cadbury, Richard, 1825-1897. Morris-Shinn-Maier collection, 1720-1975. Haverford College Library
referencedIn Stauffer, Jacob, 1808-1880. Correspondence, 1844-1879. American Philosophical Society Library
referencedIn Frazer family. Papers, 1779-1979 (bulk: 1860-1909) University of Pennsylvania, Archives & Records Center
creatorOf Steere, Joseph Beal, 1842-1940. Joseph B. Steere papers, 1861-1941. Bentley Historical Library
creatorOf Papers, 1872-1900. New York State Historical Documents Inventory
referencedIn Marsh, Othniel Charles, 1831-1899. Othniel Charles Marsh papers, 1817-1899 (inclusive). Yale University Library
creatorOf Papers, 1846-1897. New York State Historical Documents Inventory
referencedIn American Philosophical Society Archives. Record Group IIf, 1866-1886 American Philosophical Society
referencedIn Charles M.(Charles Moore) Wheatley papers, 1840-1882, 1840-1882 American Philosophical Society
referencedIn Lawrence, George Newbold, 1806-1895. Papers, ca. 1860s-1870s. American Philosophical Society Library
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. corporateBody
associatedWith Agassiz, Alexander, 1835-1910. person
associatedWith Agassiz, Louis, 1807-1873. person
associatedWith American Museum of Natural History. Dept. of Vertebrate Paleontology. Cope Collection. corporateBody
associatedWith American Museum of Natural History. Dept. of Vertebrate Paleontology. John Day Collection. corporateBody
associatedWith American Museum of Natural History. Dept. of Vertebrate Paleontology. Pampean Collection. corporateBody
associatedWith American Philosophical Society. corporateBody
associatedWith Asher, J. B. person
associatedWith Bell, Alexander Graham, 1847-1922. person
associatedWith Bessey, Charles E. (Charles Edwin), 1845-1915. person
associatedWith Braithwaite, J. Bevan (Joseph Bevan), 1818-1905. person
associatedWith Brown, Anna M. person
associatedWith Carlin, W. person
associatedWith Carus, Julius Victor, 1823-1903. person
associatedWith Chase, Pliny E., 1820-1886. person
associatedWith Cope family. family
associatedWith Cope family. family
associatedWith Cope family. family
associatedWith Darwin, Francis, Sir, 1848-1925. person
associatedWith Davidson, Thomas, 1840-1900. person
associatedWith Dean, Bashford, 1867-1928. person
associatedWith Eakins, Thomas, 1844-1916. person
associatedWith Ellis, Havelock, 1859-1939. person
associatedWith Fowler, Henry Weed, 1878-1965. person
associatedWith Frazer family. family
correspondedWith Frederic Ward Putnam, 1813-1915 person
associatedWith Gaudry, Albert, 1827-1908. person
associatedWith Gould, Benjamin Apthorp, 1824-1896. person
associatedWith Guyot, A. (Arnold), 1807-1884. person
associatedWith Haeckel, Ernst, 1834-1919. person
associatedWith Hazard, Frank. person
associatedWith Henry, Joseph, 1797-1878. person
associatedWith Hill, R. S. person
associatedWith Hill, R. S. (Russell S.) person
associatedWith Holmes, Oliver Wendell, 1809-1894. person
associatedWith Huxley, Thomas Henry, 1825-1895. person
associatedWith Hyatt, Alpheus, 1838-1902 person
associatedWith Janvier, Thomas Allibone, 1849-1913 person
associatedWith Lawrence, George Newbold, 1806-1895. person
associatedWith LeConte, Joseph, 1823-1901. person
associatedWith Lesley, Allen person
associatedWith Lesley, J. P. (J. Peter), 1819-1903. person
associatedWith Macauley, E. W. person
associatedWith Marsh, O. E. person
associatedWith Marsh, Othniel Charles, 1831-1899. person
associatedWith McCosh, James, 1811-1894. person
associatedWith Mitchell, Maria, 1818-1889. person
associatedWith Moore, J. Percy, 1869-1965 person
associatedWith Newton, Alfred, d 1829-1907. person
correspondedWith Osborn, Henry Fairfield, 1857-1935 person
associatedWith Owen, Richard, 1804-1892. person
associatedWith Peary, Robert E. (Robert Edwin), 1856-1920. person
associatedWith Pepper, William, 1843-1898. person
associatedWith Poulton, Edward Bagnall, Sir, 1856-1943. person
associatedWith Remsen, Ira, 1846-1927. person
associatedWith Rhoads, James E. (James Evans), 1828-1895. person
associatedWith Romanes, George John, 1848-1894. person
associatedWith Smith, Daniel B., 1792-1883. person
associatedWith Spencer, Herbert, 1820-1903. person
associatedWith Stauffer, Jacob, 1808-1880. person
associatedWith Stauffer, Jacob, b. 1808 person
associatedWith Steere, Joseph Beal, 1842-1940. person
correspondedWith Sumner, Charles, 1811-1874 person
associatedWith Ward, Lester Frank, 1841-1913. person
associatedWith Wenrich, David Henry, 1885-1968. person
associatedWith Wheatley, Charles Moore, 1822-1882. person
associatedWith Winchell, Alexander, 1824-1891 person
Place Name Admin Code Country
Mexico
United States
Estate records
United States
West (U.S.)
Paris (France)
West (U.S.)
Paris (France)
West (U.S.)
West (U.S.)
West (U.S.)
Paris (France)
New York (State)--New York
Europe
West (U.S.)
West (U.S.)
Subject
Travel
Anatomy
Animals, Fossil
Dinosaurs
Evolution
Evolution (Biology)
Families
Fishes
Fishes, Fossil
Fossils
Fossils
Fossils
Geology
Geology, Stratigraphic
Herpetology
Ichthyology
Inheritance of acquired characteristics
Natural history museums
Paleontologists
Paleontology
Paleontology
Paleontology
Paleontology
Phylogeny
Reptiles
Scientific expeditions
Vertebrates
Vertebrates, Fossil
Vertebrates, Fossil
Vertebrates, Fossil
Zoological illustration
Zoology
Occupation
Paleontologists
Activity

Person

Birth 1840-07-29

Death 1897-04-12

Americans

English

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