The Bowdler Shakespeare
In Six 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
6 Volume Paperback Set

'The Family Shakspeare: in which nothing is added to the original text, but those words and expressions are omitted which cannot with propriety be read in a family.' These words on the title pages of this edition gave rise to the verb 'to bowdlerise' - to remove or modify text considered vulgar or objectionable. Although the first edition was in fact created by Henrietta Maria Bowdler (1750–1830) and published in 1807, the many subsequent editions were published under the name of her brother Thomas (1754–1825), who devoted his time to prison reform and chess, as well as the sanitising of Shakespeare. The Bowdlers' work became enormously popular as the scandal-ridden Regency gave way to Victorian respectability. This six-volume set is a reissue of the 1853 edition.

Reviews & endorsements

'These are fascinating and valuable publications, for the Shakespeare historian, for the student of the history of editing and of the book … Cambridge [University Press] should be congratulated for reissuing these volumes, and for the venture as a whole; and so, in a curious, self-defeating way, and still unacknowledged way, should Henrietta Bowdler herself.' Cahiers Élisabéthains

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Product details

• Date Published: December 2009
• format: Multiple copy pack
• isbn: 9781108001076
• length: 3200 pages

• dimensions: 250 x 325 x 156 mm
• weight: 5kg
• availability: Available