Festus: A Poem (3 separate editions)

London: 1-William Pickering, 2 & 3. George Routledge and Sons, Limited, 1903. Later Printings. Good. This is a group of three separate editions of the 19th century classic long poem, Festus A mini-archive, if you will of the publication history, The very popular work, which was originally published in 1839, went through multiple expansions and revisions, and these volumes show some of that publication history They are:
1 An 1852 edition from the original publisher, but expanded from the 1839 original
[6] 562 [1] with half title, title page and dedication page Original dark green publisher's cloth with gilt titles and designs on spine and front cover, Blindstamped pattern on both cover Small tears at spine ends, but otherwise covers are in very good condition Ex-library (Nottingham) with typical library labels on front cover and front pastedown and small library ink stamps on title page and several other pages But the book appears little used, with no other marks or damage to text at all Hinges cracked but still intact Overall good+
2 An 1893 edition, copied from the 1889 50th anniversary edition, which represents the final version
[8] 794, [1] with half title, frontis portrait (retaining glassine protective page), title page and dedication page Original publisher's green cloth, with gilt titles and elaborate design on spine and gilt bordered title on front cover Both covers blindstamped with elaborate designs Ex-library (Nottingham), with library labels on front cover and ffep Small library ink stamps on title page and a few other pages But appears little used, and has no other marks or damage to text at all A 1" tear at top of spine edge, but otherwise only mild scuffing Hinges cracked but intact Overall good+
3 A 1903 deluxe, thin paper, edition of the 1893 version In green full leather with gilt titles and disign on spine and front cover A blindstamped library emblem on front cover Leather quite faded, scuffed and spine splitting, but binding still intact Ex-library, but only indications are library labels on the front pastedown and ffep and the blindstamp on the front cover Hinges are cracked but binding is still intact
[4], 794 pp with half title and title pages Text is clean and unmarked and undamaged Biographical clippings about the author from another source are tipped in between the half title and title pages Overall covers are poor, but the rest is good

From Wikipedia:
Philip James Bailey (1816-1902) was an English spasmodic poet, best known as the author of Festus, first published anonymously in 1839, and then expanded with a second edition in 1845 A vast pageant of theology and philosophy, it comprised in some twelve divisions an attempt to represent the relation of God to man, and to postulate "a gospel of faith and reason combined"Among the admirers of Festus was Tennyson Henry Wadsworth Longfellow imitated it in The Golden Legend (1851) Bailey himself described his approach with the neologism "omnist" Margaret Fuller was an enthusiast for the work, if with critical reservations
The subsequent poems of Bailey, The Angel World (1850), The Mystic (1855), The Age (1858), and The Universal Hymn (1867), were failures The author then incorporated large extracts of these into the later editions of Festus, which ultimately extended to over 40,000 lines when the final edition was published in 1889 At one time his work was immensely popular, admired for its 'fire of imagination' (Elizabeth Barrett Browning) 562, 794, 794 pp.