A Strange Manuscript Found in a Copper Cylinder: Volume 3

James De Mille (1833-1880) was a professor at Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia, and an early Canadian writer who published numerous works of popular fiction from the late 1860s through the 1870s. He attended Horton Academy in Wolfville and spent one year at Acadia University. He then travelled with his brother to Europe, spending half a year in England, France and Italy. On his return to North America, he attended Brown University, from which he obtained a Master of Arts degree in 1854. He married Anne Pryor, daughter of the president of Acadia University, John Pryor, and was there appointed professor of classics. He served there until 1865 when he accepted a new appointment at Dalhousie as professor of English and rhetoric. His most popular work with contemporaries, and the work for which he is known today, is A Strange Manuscript Found in a Copper Cylinder, which was serialized posthumously in Harper's Weekly in 1888. Other works included: Helena's Household (1867), Cord and Creese (1869), The Lady of the Ice (1870) and The American Baron (1872).

With its curious mixture of adventure, natural history and satire this early Canadian novel has become a landmark work of fantasy and science fiction.

JAMES DE MILLE was born in Saint John, NB, in 1833, and educated at Acadia College, Wolfville, NS, and Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island. He taught classics at Acadia College, and rhetoric and history at Dalhousie College in Halifax. He had a successful career as a prolific and popular novelist. He died in 1880, and his best known novel, "A Stange Manuscript Found in a Copper Cylinder," was first published posthumously in 1888.