Fredson Bowers

Fredson Thayer Bowers (April 25, 1905 – April 11, 1991) was an American bibliographer and scholar of textual editing.

Life[]

Bowers was a graduate of Brown University and Harvard University (Ph.D.). He taught at Princeton University before moving to the University of Virginia in 1938.

Bowers served as a commander in the United States Navy during World War II leading a group of codebreakers.

In 1947 he led a group of faculty and interested local citizens in founding the Bibliographical Society of the University of Virginia, of which he served as president for many years. He founded its annual publication, Studies in Bibliography, which became a leading journal in the field.

Bowers was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1958. In 1969 he was awarded the Gold Medal of the Bibliographical Society (of London).

He retired in 1975 and at the time of his death, he was Linden Kent Professor of English Emeritus at the University of Virginia. His second wife, novelist Nancy Hale, died before him in 1988. Bowers had three sons and a daughter with his first wife: Fredson Bowers, Jr., Stephen, Peter, and Joan.^[1]

Bibliography of books written and edited[]

• Dog owner's handbook, 1936
• Elizabethan revenge tragedy, 1587–1642, 1940
• Randolph, Thomas, 1605–1635, 1942
• Notes on standing type in Elizabethan printing, 1946
• Criteria for classifying hand-printed books as issues and variant states, 1947
• Certain basic problems in descriptive bibliography, 1948
• Principles of bibliographical description, 1949
• George Sandys; a bibliographical catalogue of printed editions in England to 1700, 1950
• English studies in honor of James Southall Wilson, 1951
• Dekker, Thomas, ca. 1572-1632. Dramatic works of Thomas Dekker, 1953
• On editing Shakespeare and the Elizabethan dramatists, 1955
• Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892. Whitman's manuscripts: Leaves of grass (1860) A parallel text, 1955
• Bibliographical way, 1959
• Textual & literary criticism, 1959
• Principles of bibliographical description, 1962
• Hawthorne, Nathaniel, 1804-1864. Scarlet letter, 1963
• Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616. Merry wives of Windsor, 1963
• Bibliography and textual criticism, 1964
• Hamlet; an outline-guide to the play, 1965
• Hawthorne, Nathaniel, 1804-1864. Blithedale romance and Fanshawe, 1965
• Hawthorne, Nathaniel, 1804-1864. House of the seven gables, 1965
• Bibliography; papers read at a Clark Library seminar, May 7, 1966
• Beaumont, Francis, 1584-1616. Dramatic works in the Beaumont and Fletcher canon, 1966
• On editing Shakespeare, 1966
• William Shakespeare: Hamlet. Adapted by the staff of Barnes & Noble from an original work by Fredson Bowers, 1967
• Dryden, John, 1631-1700. John Dryden: four comedies, 1967
• Dryden, John, 1631-1700. John Dryden: four tragedies, 1967
• Two lectures on editing: Shakespeare and Hawthorne [by] Charlton Hinman and Fredson Bowers, 1969
• Hawthorne, Nathaniel, 1804-1864. Our old home: a series of English sketches, 1970
• Hawthorne, Nathaniel, 1804-1864. Wonder book, and Tanglewood tales, 1972
• Crane, Stephen, 1871-1900. Red badge of courage : a facsimile edition, 1973
• Marlowe, Christopher, 1564-1593. Complete works of Christopher Marlowe, 1973
• Fielding, Henry, 1707-1754. History of Tom Jones, a foundling, 1974
• Essays in bibliography, text, and editing, 1975
• Fielding, Henry, 1707-1754. History of Tom Jones, a foundling, 1975
• James, William, 1842-1910. Meaning of truth, 1975
• James, William, 1842-1910. Essays in philosophy, 1978
• James, William, 1842-1910. Pragmatism, a new name for some old ways of thinking ; The meaning of truth, a sequel to Pragmatism, 1978
• James, William, 1842-1910. Some problems of philosophy, 1979
• James, William, 1842-1910. Will to believe and other essays in popular philosophy, 1979
• Introductions, notes, and commentaries to texts in The dramatic works of Thomas Dekker, 1980
• Nabokov, Vladimir Vladimirovich, 1899-1977. Lectures on literature, 1980
• Nabokov, Vladimir Vladimirovich, 1899-1977. Lectures on Russian literature, 1980
• James, William, 1842-1910. Principles of psychology, 1981
• Marlowe, Christopher, 1564-1593. Complete works of Christopher Marlowe, 1981
• James, William, 1842-1910. Essays in religion and morality, 1982
• Fielding, Henry, 1707-1754. History of Tom Jones, a foundling, 1983
• Kroll, Leon, 1884-1974. Leon Kroll, a spoken memoir, 1983
• Nabokov, Vladimir Vladimirovich, 1899-1977. Lectures on Don Quixote, 1983
• Fielding, Henry, 1707-1754. Tom Jones, 1985
• Elizabethan dramatists, 1987
• Jacobean and Caroline dramatists, 1987
• Hamlet as minister and scourge and other studies in Shakespeare and Milton, 1989
• Principles of bibliographical description, 1994
• Fielding, Henry, 1707-1754. History of Tom Jones, a foundling, 1994
• Fielding, Henry, 1707-1754. History of Tom Jones, a foundling, 2002
• Essays in bibliography, text, and editing, 2003

Notes[]

References and further reading[]

• Encyclopedia Virginia: Fredson Bowers
• Library of Congress bibliography
• Tanselle, G. Thomas (1993), "The Life and Work of Fredson Bowers", Studies in Bibliography, 46: 1–154
• Battestin, Martin C., "Fredson Thayer Bowers: A Checklist and Chronology", Studies in Bibliography, 46: 155–184
• Mirjam M. Foot, Bookbinders at Work: Their Roles and Methods (New Castle, DE: Oak Knoll Press, 2006) ISBN 1-58456-168-8 (about the work of W. W. Greg and Fredson Bowers)