A Strange Manuscript Found in a Copper Cylinder

James De Mille (1833 - 1880)

"A Strange Manuscript Found in a Copper Cylinder" is the most popular of James De Mille's works. It was serialized posthumously in Harper's Weekly, and published in book form by Harper and Brothers of New York City in 1888. This satiric romance is the story of Adam More, a British sailor. Shipwrecked in Antarctica, he stumbles upon a tropical lost world of prehistoric animals, plants, and a cult of death-worshipping primitives. He also finds a highly developed human society which has reversed the values of Victorian society. Wealth is scorned and poverty revered; death and darkness are preferable to life and light. Rather than accumulating wealth, the natives seek to divest themselves of it as quickly as possible. At the beginning of each year, the government imposes wealth (the burden of "reverse taxation") upon its unfortunate subjects as a form of punishment. A secondary plot about the four yachtsmen who find the manuscript forms a frame for the central narrative.
(Condensed from Wikipedia)

Genre(s): Fantasy Fiction

Language: English

Section Chapter Reader Time
Play 01 The Finding of the Copper Cylinder Bob Graff
00:15:39
Play 02 Adrift in the Antarctic Ocean Bob Graff
00:17:02
Play 03 A World of Fire and Desolation Bob Graff
00:17:31
Play 04 The Sight of Human Beings Bob Graff
00:22:43
Play 05 The Torrent Sweeping Under the Mountains Bob Graff
00:16:22
Play 06 The New World JimmyLogan
00:23:34
Play 07 Scientific Theories and Scepticism Eddie Winter
00:24:46
Play 08 The Cave-Dwellers Eddie Winter
00:17:18
Play 09 The Cavern of the Dead Eddie Winter
00:17:38
Play 10 The Sacred Hunt Gayland Darnell
00:15:17
Play 11 The Swamp Monster Gayland Darnell
00:18:11
Play 12 The Baleful Sacrifice Gayland Darnell
00:13:32
Play 13 The Awful "Mista Kosek" Gayland Darnell
00:16:44
Play 14 I Learn My Doom Gayland Darnell
00:14:53
Play 15 The Kohen is Inexorable Gayland Darnell
00:16:54
Play 16 The Kosekin Craig J. Whitehorne
00:16:41
Play 17 Belief and Unbelief Eddie Winter
00:26:46
Play 18 A Voyage Over the Pole Eddie Winter
00:19:13
Play 19 The Wonders of the "Amir" Eddie Winter
00:20:07
Play 20 The Dark Maiden Layelah the quiet fox
00:16:45
Play 21 The Flying Monster Eddie Winter
00:19:41
Play 22 Escape Ralph Snelson
00:18:45
Play 23 The Island of Fire Ralph Snelson
00:19:14
Play 24 Recapture Ralph Snelson
00:23:37
Play 25 Falling, like Icarus, into the Sea Ralph Snelson
00:13:09
Play 26 Grimm's Law Again Ralph Snelson
00:16:11
Play 27 Oxenden Preaches a Sermon Ralph Snelson
00:11:20
Play 28 In Prison Ralph Snelson
00:18:04
Play 29 The Ceremony of Separation Eddie Winter
00:17:34
Play 30 The Day of Sacrifice Eddie Winter
00:19:00
Play 31 Conclusion Eddie Winter
00:11:54