A Strange Manuscript Found in a Copper Cylinder
ISBN 978-1515037941 | | |
A Strange Manuscript Found in a Copper Cylinder is the most popular book by the Canadian writer James De Mille. It was serialized posthumously and anonymously[1] in Harper's Weekly,[2] and published in book form by Harper and Brothers of New York City during 1888. It was serialized subsequently in the United Kingdom and Australia, and published in book form in the United Kingdom and Canada. Later editions were published from the plates of Harper & Brothers' first edition during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The satirical and fantastic romance is set in an imaginary semi-
It was unfortunate for De Mille's reputation as a writer that this work was published after
Plot summary
The main story of the novel is the narrative of the adventures of Adam More, a British sailor shipwrecked on a homeward voyage from
A secondary plot and framing device concerns four
Critical reception
Contemporary reviews of the novel, unaware that it was written earlier, were coloured by the prior release of , 21 May 1888, notes that "if the author of 'A Strange Manuscript' were living he would find it a quite hopeless task to persuade people that he had not read and imitated She and King Solomon's Mines"
while a review in the
See also
- Lost World (genre)
References
- ^ Tracy, Minerva (1972). "De Mille, James". In Hayne, David (ed.). Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Vol. X (1871–1880) (online ed.). University of Toronto Press.
- ISBN 0-306-81373-4.
- ^ "Literary Notes". The New York Times. May 14, 1888. p. 3. Retrieved 15 January 2009.
- ^ De Mille, James (2011). Daniel Burgoyne (ed.). A Strange Manuscript Found in a Copper Cylinder. Peterborough: Broadview Press. pp. 337–342.
A scholarly edition of the work was published by the Centre for Editing Early Canadian Texts (CEECT) (see below). This edition is the source of the information provided by this article.
- Bleiler, Everett (1948). The Checklist of Fantastic Literature. Chicago: Shasta Publishers. p. 27.
Bibliography
- A Strange Manuscript Found in a Copper Cylinder was first published in nineteen installments in Harper's Weekly, Vol. 32, from January 7, 1888 (No. 1620) to May 12, 1888 (No. 1638). Each installment was accompanied by an illustration by Gilbert Gaul.
- De Mille, James. A Strange Manuscript Found in a Copper Cylinder. First American Edition. Harper and Brothers, New York, 1888.
- De Mille, James. A Strange Manuscript Found in a Copper Cylinder. First British Edition. Chatto and Windus, London, 1888.
- De Mille, James. A Strange Manuscript Found in a Copper Cylinder. First Canadian Edition. Robinson, Montreal, 1888.
- De Mille, James. A Strange Manuscript Found in a Copper Cylinder. New Canadian Library Edition. McClelland and Stewart, Toronto, 1969.
- De Mille, James. A Strange Manuscript Found in a Copper Cylinder. Edited by Malcolm Parks. Carleton University Press, Ottawa, 1986. ISBN 0-7735-2167-4(paperback)
- De Mille, James. A Strange Manuscript Found in a Copper Cylinder. Edited by Daniel Burgoyne. Broadview Press, Peterborough, 2011. ISBN 978-1-55111-959-5.