Bailey was born on 22 April 1816 in Nottingham, the only son of Thomas Bailey by his first wife, Mary Taylor. He was brought up on the poetry of Lord Byron. Educated in Nottingham, he was tutored in classics by Benjamin Carpenter, a Unitarian minister. Aged 15, he matriculated at Glasgow University. Dropping the idea of becoming a Presbyterian minister, he began in 1833 to study law in a solicitor's office in London. On 26 April 1834 he entered Lincoln's Inn, and was called to the bar on 7 May 1840, but never practised law.[1]
In 1836 Bailey retired to his father's house at Old Basford, near Nottingham, to write. In 1856 he received a civil list pension in recognition of his literary work. In 1864 he moved to Jersey, and travelled. In 1876 he returned to England, settling first at Lee near Ilfracombe, and in 1885 at Blackheath. Finally he retired to Nottingham.[1] In June 1901, he received the honorary Doctor of Laws (DLL) from the University of Glasgow.[2]
Bailey is known almost exclusively by his one voluminous poem, 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".[4]Margaret Fuller was an enthusiast for the work, if with critical reservations.[5]
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), but, like the other works of the Spasmodic school of which Bailey was considered the father, it is now little read.[6]
Works by Philip James Bailey at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
Festus poem
April 15, 2024
philip, james, bailey, this, article, about, poet, musician, whose, full, name, same, philip, bailey, april, 1816, september, 1902, english, spasmodic, poet, best, known, author, festus, study, rope, walk, nottinghamborn, 1816, april, 1816nottingham, englanddi. This article is about the poet For the musician whose full name is the same see Philip Bailey Philip James Bailey 22 April 1816 6 September 1902 was an English spasmodic poet best known as the author of Festus Philip James BaileyPhilip James Bailey in his study at the Rope Walk NottinghamBorn 1816 04 22 22 April 1816Nottingham EnglandDied6 November 1902 1902 11 06 aged 86 Nottingham EnglandOccupationPoetNotable workFestus Contents 1 Life 2 Works 3 See also 4 Notes 5 References 6 External linksLife editBailey was born on 22 April 1816 in Nottingham the only son of Thomas Bailey by his first wife Mary Taylor He was brought up on the poetry of Lord Byron Educated in Nottingham he was tutored in classics by Benjamin Carpenter a Unitarian minister Aged 15 he matriculated at Glasgow University Dropping the idea of becoming a Presbyterian minister he began in 1833 to study law in a solicitor s office in London On 26 April 1834 he entered Lincoln s Inn and was called to the bar on 7 May 1840 but never practised law 1 In 1836 Bailey retired to his father s house at Old Basford near Nottingham to write In 1856 he received a civil list pension in recognition of his literary work In 1864 he moved to Jersey and travelled In 1876 he returned to England settling first at Lee near Ilfracombe and in 1885 at Blackheath Finally he retired to Nottingham 1 In June 1901 he received the honorary Doctor of Laws DLL from the University of Glasgow 2 Bailey died of influenza on 6 September 1902 He was buried in Nottingham Rock aka Church Cemetery after a service at St Andrew s Church Nottingham 3 Works editBailey is known almost exclusively by his one voluminous poem 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 4 Margaret Fuller was an enthusiast for the work if with critical reservations 5 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 but like the other works of the Spasmodic school of which Bailey was considered the father it is now little read 6 In 2021 Edinburgh University Press published a critical edition of Festus edited by Mischa Willett 7 See also editPanarchy SpasmodismNotes edit a b Lee Sidney ed 1912 Bailey Philip James Dictionary of National Biography 2nd supplement Vol 1 London Smith Elder amp Co Glasgow University Jubilee The Times No 36481 London 14 June 1901 p 10 Retrieved 5 January 2024 via Newspapers com Club Manchester Literary 1903 Papers Herbert F Tucker 2008 Epic Britain s Heroic Muse 1790 1910 Britain s Heroic Muse 1790 1910 OUP Oxford p 344 ISBN 978 0 19 923298 7 Meg McGavran Murray 2008 Margaret Fuller Wandering Pilgrim University of Georgia Press p 230 ISBN 978 0 8203 3659 6 The Oxford Companion to English Literature 6th Edition Edited by Margaret Drabble Oxford University Press 2000 Pp59 Philip James Bailey Festus edinburghuniversitypress com Retrieved 27 October 2021 References editChisholm Hugh ed 1911 Bailey Philip James Encyclopaedia Britannica 11th ed Cambridge University Press nbsp Cousin John William 1910 Bailey Philip James A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature London J M Dent amp Sons via WikisourceExternal links edit nbsp Quotations related to Philip James Bailey at Wikiquote nbsp Media related to Philip James Bailey at Wikimedia Commons Works by Philip James Bailey in eBook form at Standard Ebooks Works by or about Philip James Bailey at Internet Archive Works by Philip James Bailey at LibriVox public domain audiobooks nbsp Festus poem Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Philip James Bailey amp oldid 1197681975, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
