Record

Entry Type	Person
Surname	Bowdler
Forenames	Henrietta Maria
Also Known As	Harriet
Pre Title	Miss
Place	Bath
Epithet	author and expurgator
Dates	1750-1830
Gender Identity	Female
Biography	Henrietta (Harriet) Bowdler was born in 1750, the daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Bowdler, and sister to John, Thomas and Jane Bowdler. She anonymously published 'Sermons on the Doctrines and Duties of Christianity' in 1803. In 1807 she published 'The Family Shakespeare', also anonymously, an expurgated version of Shakespeare's plays from which everything had been removed 'that could give just offence to the religious or virtuous mind'. By 1809 it was rumoured that the book had been published by her brother Thomas Bowdler; he did not deny the rumours and subsequently edited the later editions, retitled 'The Family Shakspear'. By the 1820s, 'The Family Shakspeare' had become very popular, and remained in print into the 20th century. Its popularity led to the verb 'to bowdlerize' entering the language to refer to removing improper or offensive material from a text. Harriet Bowdler died in Bath in 1830.
Authorised Form of Name	Bowdler; Miss; Henrietta Maria (1750-1830); author and expurgator

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