Philip James Bailey, Festus: An Epic Poem - Paperback

by Philip James Bailey (Author), Mischa Willett (Editor)

Philip James Bailey's Festus was an artistic sensation in the Victorian period, a best-seller across the Anglophone world and broadly influential on other writers. This edition marks the first time it has been published in over 100 years, featuring the poem's first lineation and a contextualization of its scientific and theological imagery. Scholars and students will benefit from a general introduction to Bailey's life and work with a thematic guide to the poem that made him famous and appendices containing illustrations from period lithography.

Back Jacket

Presents for the first time Philip James Bailey's epic masterpiece in a readable, modern volume. Philip James Bailey's Festus was an artistic sensation in the Victorian period, a best-seller across the Anglophone world and broadly influential on other writers. This edition marks the first time it has been published in over 100 years, featuring the poem's first lineation and a contextualisation of its scientific and theological imagery. Scholars and students will benefit from a general introduction to Bailey's life and work, with a thematic guide to the poem that made him famous and appendices containing illustrations from period lithography. Mischa Willett is Assistant Professor in English at Seattle Pacific University.

Author Biography

Philip James Bailey was an English Spasmodic poet, best known as the author of Festus.

Mischa Willett is Assistant Professor in English at Seattle Pacific University. A specialist in nineteenth-century aesthetics, Romantic poetry, and the Spasmodic movement, he writes essays, reviews, and original poetry as well. His newest books are The Elegy Beta (Mockingbird, 2020) and Phases (Cascade Books, 2017). More information can be found at www.mischawillett.com