The Family Shakespeare

The Family Shakespeare in Three 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. 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." Most of the editorial changes by Thomas Bowdler were not so radical as has been commonly supposed. In many ways, they improved upon the work of Shakespeare by making his words easier to understand by the modern reader. Bowdler has certainly been treated unfairly by history. No publication or performance of a play by Shakespeare follows the original script exactly, for the simple reason that the language has evolved and modern audiences would not understand it. Thus, there have been many editorial changes to Shakespeare. It is just that the other modern editors do not put their names on the cover and announce what they have done.