À Strange Manuscript Found in a Copper Cylinder

James De Mille (1833 to 1880) was a Canadian writer and professor, born in Saint John, New Brunswick, who wrote adventure novels and humorous stories for magazines. A Strange Manuscript Found in a Copper Cylinder is the work for which he is best remembered. It was published after his death, first as a serial in Harper's Weekly and then as a book issued by Harper and Brothers in New York in 1888.

The book belongs to a long tradition of imaginary voyages, in which an unknown land is used to hold up a mirror to the writer's own society. De Mille uses the form to poke fun at human habits, from fashion and philosophy to the way people judge each other. The adventure itself, which begins with a find at sea and moves across the Antarctic and into a strange and hidden world, is told with energy and a sense of discovery.

The recording divides the novel into thirty-one parts, with a total running time of about nine and a half hours. For readers of Jules Verne, Rider Haggard and early science fantasy, it is a rewarding find, and it also offers a window into the Victorian taste for lost worlds. The satire is gentle, the invention is constant, and the fantasy is rooted in the curiosity and sense of humor of its author. Because the book was serialized and then issued in volume, its thirty-one parts have a pleasantly episodic quality, with each new stage of the journey bringing a different surprise. Listeners who enjoy tracing the origins of fantastic literature will notice themes that later writers developed in their own ways, and those who simply like a good story will have no difficulty following the thread.