Shakespeare Bowdlerized

The family Shakespeare in one volume: 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

Thomas Bowdler. The Family Shakespeare In One Volume: 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.
London: Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts & Green, 1863.

Thomas Bowdler (1754-1825), a physician, published this censored version of Shakespeare suitable for the delicate sensibilities of women and children. His last name has become a verb, “to bowdlerize” with the meaning, “To expurgate (a book or writing), by omitting or modifying words or passages considered indelicate or offensive; to castrate” (Oxford English Dictionary).