Thomas Bowdler

From Freepedia

Thomas Bowdler (July 11, 1754 – February 24, 1825), an English physician, is best known as the source of the eponym bowdlerize (or bowdlerise^[1]), the process of censorship by arbitrary deletion of "objectionable" material from a work of literature to "purify" it. Although the term is consistently used disapprovingly, some defend the process, either as a means of exposing children to works which might otherwise be considered too "adult" for them, or to "salvage" works which might otherwise be banned entirely. In modern times, the term is also used in reference to adaptations of a work from one medium to another (e.g. a comic book based on a novel, or a television broadcast of a movie).

Biography

Bowdler was born near Bath, the son of a gentleman of independent means, studied medicine at St. Andrews and at Edinburgh, where he took his degree in 1776, but did not practise, devoting himself instead to the cause of prison reform.

He was a strong chess player for his day, and played a game against the best chess player of his day, François-André Danican Philidor[2], who was confident enough of his superiority to Bowdler that he gave odds. The first recorded game to feature a double Rook sacrifice was played between Bowdler (white) and H. Conway at London in 1788.[3]

In 1818, after retiring to the Isle of Wight, he published his Family Shakespeare in 10 volumes, in which he "endeavoured to remove every thing that could give just offence to the religious and virtuous mind" and "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." The first edition of this text actually appeared in 1807 but was written by his sister Henrietta. It was, however, attributed to her brother until the twentieth century, since women were not expected to be able to identify anything which could give 'offence to the religious and virtuous mind.'

An example of the Bowdler's work can be seen in their version of Hamlet in which the death of Ophelia in Hamlet was euphemistically referred to as an accidental drowning rather than the deliberate suicide implied by Shakespeare. The work had considerable success, four editions having been published before 1824 (and others after his death, in 1831, 1853, and 1861).

This expurgation was the subject of some criticism and ridicule, and although Bowdler was not the first to undertake such a project, it permanently associated his name with the process as a negative example. On the other hand, 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. 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 subsequently attempted to do the same with the works of historian Edward Gibbon, a project which was not as successful.

He later settled in south Wales, where he died, and is buried at Oystermouth in Swansea. His large library, consisting of volumes collected by his ancestors Thomas Bowdler (1638-1700) and Thomas Bowdler (1661-1738), was donated to the University of Wales, Lampeter.

References

• Dr. Bowdler's Legacy: a history of expurgated books in England and America, by Noel Perrin. David R. Godine, Boston, 1969. ISBN 0-87923-861-5.

Notes

• ^  The "-ise" form is common in UK English, "-ize" is used in US English and sometimes also in UK English.