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

Scholars of nineteenth-century culture will want to thank Mischa Willett for this beautifully curated critical edition of Philip James Bailey's Festus. Seldom read today, Festus was devoured by Victorian readers from all walks of life and was reverenced in literary circles. Willett's thoughtful introduction unfolds for us the magnificent strangeness, as well as the abiding interest of this remarkable work.

• AcknowledgmentsIntroductionBailey's Life and CareerEarly Reception and Influence: British and AmericanOrientation to Critical TopicsFurther ReadingA Note on the TextWorksFestus: a Poem (1845 American Edition)Dedication (1838)ProemScenes 1-35L'Envoi; Appendices1. Contemporary Critical Responses2. Illustrations

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

Scholars of nineteenth-century culture will want to thank Mischa Willett for this beautifully curated critical edition of Philip James Bailey's Festus. Seldom read today, Festus was devoured by Victorian readers from all walks of life and was reverenced in literary circles. Willett's thoughtful introduction unfolds for us the magnificent strangeness, as well as the abiding interest of this remarkable work.

• AcknowledgmentsIntroductionBailey's Life and CareerEarly Reception and Influence: British and AmericanOrientation to Critical TopicsFurther ReadingA Note on the TextWorksFestus: a Poem (1845 American Edition)Dedication (1838)ProemScenes 1-35L'Envoi; Appendices1. Contemporary Critical Responses2. Illustrations

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

Scholars of nineteenth-century culture will want to thank Mischa Willett for this beautifully curated critical edition of Philip James Bailey's Festus. Seldom read today, Festus was devoured by Victorian readers from all walks of life and was reverenced in literary circles. Willett's thoughtful introduction unfolds for us the magnificent strangeness, as well as the abiding interest of this remarkable work.

• AcknowledgmentsIntroductionBailey's Life and CareerEarly Reception and Influence: British and AmericanOrientation to Critical TopicsFurther ReadingA Note on the TextWorksFestus: a Poem (1845 American Edition)Dedication (1838)ProemScenes 1-35L'Envoi; Appendices1. Contemporary Critical Responses2. Illustrations