What does bowdlerizing mean

...asks M Scott. Bowdlerize means to remove the parts from a work of literature that might be considered offensive or indecent, and is used to describe any ridiculously priggish form of censorship. It comes from Thomas Bowdler (1754-1825).

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Who was he
A retired English doctor and a fearsome campaigner in the Society for the Suppression of Vice.

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What did he censor
In 1807, a four-volume edition of Shakespeare's work was published, entitled The Family Shakespeare. To ensure that it was fit for this purpose, the anonymous editor assured readers that, 'nothing was added to the original text; but those words are omitted which cannot with propriety be read aloud in a family.'

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Such as...
'Out damn'd spot' became the less-offensive 'Out crimson spot'.

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Ouch! What else
Juliet's speech, in which she declares her love for Romeo, was cut in half, and King Lear's speech of madness ('Ay, every inch a king') from reduced 22 lines to seven.

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If it was anonymous, why do we think it was Bowdler
Later, in 1818, a ten-volume edition was published. This time, 'T Bowdler' was credited as the editor.

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Was Shakespeare the only author to suffer the wrath of Dr Bowdler
No, in 1885 an expurgated version of Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbons was published under Dr Bowdler's name. However, this was also the year that Bowdler died, and there's reason to believe that he wasn't actually the person behind the censorship.

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Who was
His sister Harriet, a middle-aged spinster, was the most likely culprit. This might explain why the first volume was published anonymously. As it was so successful, her brother identified himself as the editor.

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And now
And now he takes all the blame as the inventor of bowdlerizing.

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By Hermione Gray