Festus: A Poem (Signed)

London: George Routledge ans Sons, Limited, 1893. Later Printing. Very 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)

A very good copy in the original publisher's dark blue cloth with gilt titles on spine Gilt publisher's name and blindstamped library emblem on front cover
[8] 794 pp Half title, frontis portrait, title page, dedication page, Original binding, with discreet reinforcement of endpapers Esdx-library (Nottingham), but the only indications are the library's bookplate on the front pastedown and a small embossed library stamp on the frontispiece Covers show slight scuffing, with small tears and chipping at spine ends Binding is sound A small card signed by the author has been pasted to the top of the front pastedown No other marks or damage to text at all 794 pp.