William Shakespeare

The Family Shakespeare, Volume Three, the Histories, by Thomas Bowdler: the Family Shakespeare in Three Volumes: in Which Nothing is Added to the ... with Propriety Be Read Aloud in a Family William Shakespeare

The Family Shakespeare is one of the most famous works ever written. There is even a word introduced by it into the English language: "Bowdlerized". The American Heritage Dictionary defines bowdlerize as: "To remove material that is considered offensive or objectionable from (a book, for example)". The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines bowdlerize to mean: 1. to expurgate (as a book) by omitting or modifying parts considered vulgar 2. to modify by abridging, simplifying, or distorting in style or content Thomas Bowdler (1754-1825) was a recognized authority on Shakespeare. He was also a recognized chess player who contested several chess matches against François-André Danican Philidor (1726-1795), who was considered to be the strongest chess player in the world at that time and is now regarded as having been the first unofficial world chess champion. Basically, the author or really the editor Thomas Bowdler went through all 36 recognized plays by William Shakespeare and cut out all the dirty or scary parts, so as to make them suitable to be read to children. The book was enormously successful at first, going through several printings. However, eventually, the book was subjected to calumny and ridicule, precisely because it cut out all the scary or controversial parts. Bowdler's name has since became associated with censorship of literature, motion pictures and television programs. For example, in Hamlet, when Ophelia is believed to have committed suicide, in the Bowdlerized version, she clearly drowns by accident.