James De Mille

James De Mille (born August 23, 1833 in Saint John , New Brunswick , † January 28, 1880 in Halifax , Nova Scotia ) was a Canadian university professor and writer .

Life

De Mille taught classical philology as well as history and rhetoric at Acadia College in Wolfville (Nova Scotia) and Dalhousie College in Halifax and worked as a part-time writer. His work includes historical novels , satires and adventure novels for young people.

His most famous work today is A Strange Manuscript Found in a Copper Cylinder (published posthumously in 1888). It is a satirical anti-utopia that is set in a travel and adventure story of a sailor at the South Pole. The manuscript is sometimes seen as dependent on the literature of Henry Rider Haggard and Jules Verne ; however, these authors did not publish their fantastic travelogues until after De Mille's death in 1880. In this respect, De Mille stands independently as the author of this literary genre, popular at the end of the 19th century.

The Canadian government named De Mille a Person of National Historic Significance in 1937 .

Works (selection)

Poetry

Behind the Veil. 1893 (posthumously).

Novels

The Dodge Club; or Italy in MDCCLVIII. New York 1869.
The Lady of the Ice. New York 1870.
A Strange Manuscript Found in a Copper Cylinder. New York 1888 (posthumously).

Youth books

Lost in the Fog.
The Boys of Grand Pre School. 1870
Fire in the Woods. 1872
Picked Up Adrift. 1873

literature

Minerva Tracy: De Mille, James . In: Dictionary of Canadian Biography . tape 10: 1871-1880 . University of Toronto Press, Toronto 1972, ISBN 0-8020-3287-7 ( English , French ).

Web links

A Strange Manuscript… at Canadiana Online, to read or download (PDF, 7 MB); accessed on March 13, 2020

personal data
SURNAME	De Mille, James
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Canadian literary scholar and writer
DATE OF BIRTH	August 23, 1833
PLACE OF BIRTH	Saint John (New Brunswick)
DATE OF DEATH	January 28, 1880
Place of death	Halifax (Nova Scotia)