John Bowle (writer) facts for kids
John Bowle (born 1725, died 1788) was an English clergyman and a very smart scholar. He is mostly remembered today for his special edition of the famous book Don Quixote, written by Miguel de Cervantes in the early 1600s.
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Life of John Bowle
John Bowle was born on October 26, 1725, in a place called Idmiston in Wiltshire, England. His friends sometimes called him "Don Bowle." He went to Oriel College, Oxford for his education and became a Master of Arts in 1750.
In 1776, he was chosen to be a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries. This group studies old things and history. John Bowle became a priest and worked as the vicar (a type of church leader) in Idmiston. He passed away there on his 63rd birthday, October 26, 1788. His wife, Elizabeth, had died earlier in 1759.
John Bowle was a very knowledgeable person. He knew a lot about French, Spanish, and Italian books. He had a huge and valuable collection of books, which was sold after he died. He was also part of a club called the Essex Head Club, started by the famous writer Samuel Johnson.
His Important Works
The Don Quixote Edition
John Bowle is best known for his special edition of Don Quixote. In 1777, he wrote a long letter to his friend, Thomas Percy, explaining his plan for this new edition. He wanted to add many notes and explanations from other Spanish and Italian books, poems, and stories. He also planned to include a dictionary of difficult words and indexes to help readers. He even wrote a short life story of Cervantes for a magazine in 1781.
Bowle was the first person to treat Cervantes and Don Quixote like a classic work, similar to ancient Greek or Latin writings. He added many scholarly tools to the book, which was very new for his time. Because he was so far ahead, many people didn't fully appreciate his work back then. However, today, his edition is seen as the very first scholarly version of Don Quixote. It was even reprinted in 2006!
His edition came out in 1781. It had six volumes (parts). The first four parts contained the story, the fifth had all his notes, and the sixth had the indexes. The entire work was written in Spanish. Most people in England didn't like his edition very much. But in Spain, people like Juan Antonio Pellicer praised it.
Later, in 1784, Bowle wrote some letters complaining about how his work was received. This led to a disagreement with Joseph Baretti, who wrote a harsh book criticizing Bowle's edition. This was because Bowle had made some negative comments about Baretti earlier.
In 2003, a journal called Cervantes dedicated a whole issue to John Bowle. On the cover was the only known picture of him. In 2006, Bowle's edition was reprinted for the first time since 1781, with new introductions by Eduardo Urbina and Daniel Eisenberg.
Other Writings
In 1765, John Bowle published a book called Miscellaneous Pieces of Antient English Poesie. This book included William Shakespeare's play King John and some poems by John Marston. He also helped other writers with their books, like James Granger's History and George Steevens's edition of Shakespeare. He wrote about old French pronunciation, musical instruments, church records, and even playing cards for a magazine called Archaeologia.
Memorials
There are special wall tablets inside All Saints Church in Idmiston. These tablets remember John Bowle, his wife, and other members of his family.
Works of Bowle
- Introduction by Daniel Eisenberg (in Spanish)
- Text of the 1781 edition
