Beldomie Tower, a country seat near the town of Ryde in the
Isle of Wight, was the residence of Edward Vernon Utterson,
Esq., well known as an ardent admirer and collector of ancient
English poetry. He erected a press in his own house, and
amused himself with striking off from time to time many curious
and scarce pieces of our old poets, between the years 1840 and



BE. 19

1843. Those reprints for his private friends seldom exceeded
twelve to twenty copies, and are highly valued by the possessors,
not only for their rarity but also for their intrinsic value. A list
of them is given in the Appendix to Bonn's edition of " Lowndes'
Bibliographer's Manual/'' 1864, The first proof-sheet from this
press was pulled on June 21, 1840.
