Very much the product of its time, Canada's first science fiction novel recounts the strange adventures of a sailer cast ashore among a race of cannibals who regard death as the greatest blessing they can bestow. Part swashbuckling adventure, part love story and part examination of accepted values turned inside out, this novel is important both as a landmark in the development of Canadian science fiction and as a captivating piece of literature. A Strange Manuscript Found in a Copper Cylinder was originally published in London, England, by Chatto & Windus in 1888. In America, the story was serialized in Harper's and subsequently published by Harper Brothers late the same year. It was republished in Canada by McClelland & Stewart in 1969.