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"Bowdler" redirects here. For other uses, see Bowdler (disambiguation). Bowdler, a prominent Shropshire family descended from Baldwin de Boulers.

Thomas Bowdler (IPA /ˈbaʊdlə/) (July 11, 1754 – February 24, 1825) was an English physician who published an expurgated edition of William Shakespeare's work that he considered to be more appropriate than the original for women and children. The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA is a system of phonetic notation based on the Latin alphabet, devised by the International Phonetic Events 911 - Signing of the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte between Charles the Simple and Rollo of Normandy. Year 1754 ( MDCCLIV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or Events 303 - Galerius, Roman Emperor, publishes his edict that begins the persecution of Christians in his portion of the Year 1825 ( MDCCCXXV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland A physician, medical practitioner or medical doctor who practices Medicine, and is concerned with maintaining or restoring human Health Expurgation is a form of Censorship by way of purging anything noxious offensive sinful or erroneous usually from an artistic work William Shakespeare ( baptised He similarly edited Edward Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Edward Gibbon ( April 27, 1737 January 16, 1794) was an English historian and Member of Parliament. The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (known popularly as The History) was written by English Historian His expurgation was the subject of some criticism and ridicule and, through the eponym bowdlerise (or bowdlerize)[1], his name is now associated with prudish censorship of literature, motion pictures and television programs. A prude ( Old French prude) is a person who is described as being overly concerned with Decorum or Propriety. Censorship is the suppression of speech or deletion of communicative material which may be considered objectionable harmful or sensitive as determined by a censor

Contents

Biography

Bowdler was born near Bath, the son of a gentleman of independent means, and studied medicine at St. Andrews and at Edinburgh, where he took his degree in 1776, but did not practice, devoting himself instead to the cause of prison reform. Bath is a city in Somerset in the south west of England It is situated west of London and south-east of Bristol. The University of St Andrews is the oldest University in Scotland and third oldest in the English-speaking world, having been founded between The University of Edinburgh (Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann founded in 1582 is a renowned centre for teaching and research in Edinburgh, Scotland, UK. Prison reform is the attempt to improve conditions inside Prisons aiming at a more effective Penal system.

He was a strong chess player for his day, and played eight recorded games against the best chess player of the time, François-André Danican Philidor [1], who was confident enough of his superiority to Bowdler that he played with handicaps. Chess is a recreational and competitive Game played between two players. François-André Danican Philidor ( September 7, 1726 - August 31, 1795) was a French Chess player and Composer A handicap (or "odds" in Chess is a way to enable a weaker player to play on more even terms with a stronger one Bowdler won twice, lost three times, and drew three times; Philidor was usually blindfolded and playing multiple opponents simultaneously, and sometimes started without one pawn. The first recorded game to feature a double Rook sacrifice was played between Bowdler (white) and H. Conway at London in 1788. A rook, (♖ ♜ borrowed from Persian رخ rokh, Sanskrit rath, "chariot" also known as a castle is a piece in the In the game of Chess, a sacrifice is a move giving up a piece or pawn in the hopes of gaining tactical or positional compensation in other forms Field Marshal Henry Seymour Conway (1721 – 9 July 1795) was a British General and Statesman. [2]

In 1818, after retiring to the Isle of Wight, he published his Family Shakespeare, which had considerable success. The Isle of Wight is an English Island and county in the English Channel between three and five miles (8 km from the south coast of the He subsequently attempted to do the same with the works of historian Edward Gibbon, a project which was not as successful. Edward Gibbon ( April 27, 1737 January 16, 1794) was an English historian and Member of Parliament. Bowdler's edition of Gibbon's work was published posthumously in 1826.

He later settled in south Wales, where he died, and is buried at Oystermouth in Swansea. Oystermouth (a corruption of the Welsh name Ystumllwynarth) is an electoral ward and a Village in the Mumbles Community Swansea ( Abertawe "mouth of the Tawe " is a city and county in Wales. His large library, consisting of (unexpurgated) volumes collected by his ancestors Thomas Bowdler (1638–1700) and Thomas Bowdler (1661–1738), was donated to the University of Wales, Lampeter. A library is a collection of information sources resources and services and the structure in which it is housed it is organized for use and maintained by a public body an institution University of Wales Lampeter (Prifysgol Cymru Llanbedr Pont Steffan is a University

The Family Shakespeare

In Bowdler's childhood, his father had entertained his family with dramatic readings of extracts from Shakespeare. Later, Bowdler realised his father had been extemporaneously omitting or altering passages he felt unsuitable for the ears of his wife and children. Bowdler felt it would be worthwhile to present an edition which might be used in a family whose father was not a sufficiently "circumspect and judicious reader" to accomplish this expurgation himself[2].

In 1807 the first edition of the Family Shakespeare was published, in four duodecimo volumes, containing 24 of the plays. The size of a specific Book is measured from the head to tail of the spine and from edge to edge across the covers In 1818 was published The Family Shakespeare, in Ten Volumes; in which nothing is added to the original text; but those words and expressions are omitted which cannot with propriety be read aloud in a family. Each play is preceded by an introduction where Bowdler summarises and justifies his changes to the text. By 1850, eleven editions had been printed.

Bowdler was not the first to undertake such a project, and despite being considered a negative example, his efforts made it more societally acceptable to teach Shakespeare to new audiences. The poet Algernon Swinburne said, "More nauseous and foolish cant was never chattered than that which would deride the memory or depreciate the merits of Bowdler. Algernon Charles Swinburne (5 April 1837 – 10 April 1909 was a Victorian era English poet No man ever did better service to Shakespeare than the man who made it possible to put him into the hands of intelligent and imaginative children. "

Bowdler's commitment not to augment Shakespeare's text was in contrast to many earlier editors and performers. Nahum Tate as Poet Laureate had rewritten the tragedy of King Lear with a happy ending. Nahum Tate (1652&ndash July 30, 1715) was an Irish Poet, Hymnist, and Lyricist, who became England's Poet laureate in 1692 A Poet Laureate is a Poet officially appointed by a government and is often expected to compose poems for State occasions and other government events King Lear is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1603 and 1606 and is considered one of his greatest works A happy ending is an ending of the plot of a work of Fiction in which almost everything turns out for the best for the Hero or Heroine David Garrick had starred in a version of Othello which he altered to make Iago the lead role, renaming the play Iago to match. David Garrick (born 19 February 1717 in Hereford &ndash 20 January 1779) was an English Actor, Playwright, Iago is a Fictional character in William Shakespeare 's play Othello. In 1807, Charles Lamb and his sister Mary published Tales from Shakespeare specifically for children, with synopses of 20 of the plays, but seldom quoting the original text directly. Charles Lamb is the name of Charles Lamb (writer (1775-1834 a British essayist Charles Lamb (politician (1891-1965 a Canadian Mary Anne Lamb ( 3 December 1764 &ndash 20 May 1847) was an English writer the sister and collaborator of Charles Lamb. Tales from Shakespeare was an English children's book written by Charles Lamb with his sister Mary Lamb in 1807

Changes to Shakespeare

Some examples of alterations made by Bowdler:

Popular culture

References

Notes

  1. ^ The "-ise" form is more common in British English and New Zealand English, whereas "-ize" is preferred in American English. American and British English spelling differences are one aspect of American and British English differences. British English or UK English ( BrE, BE, en-GB) is the broad term used to distinguish the forms of the English language used in the New Zealand English ( NZE, en-NZ) is the form of the English language used in New Zealand. Phonology North American English regional phonology In many ways compared to English English, North American English is conservative in its Phonology.
  2. ^ Brown, Arthur (1965). "'The Great Variety of Readers'", in Allardyce Nicoll: Shakespeare Survey, 18, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 18. John Ramsay Allardyce Nicoll (1894 - 1976 was an English literary scholar and teacher The city of Cambridge (ˈkeɪmbrɪdʒ is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England Cambridge University Press (known colloquially as CUP is a Publisher given a Royal Charter by Henry VIII in 1534 ISBN 0-521-52354-0.  
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