Classic example of endlessly ambitious work (7)

I believe the answer is:

epitome

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'classic example' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'endlessly ambitious work' is the wordplay.
'endlessly ambitious' becomes 'epi' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'work' becomes 'tome' (tome is a kind of work).
'epi'+'tome'='EPITOME'

'of' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for epitome that I've seen before include "Personification" , "Ideal example" , "Abstract" , "Embodiment or perfect example" , "Essence or embodiment" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.

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