Introduction

Biography

Edgar was the son of hym­nist John Bow­ring.

Educated at Uni­ver­si­ty Col­lege, Lon­don, he was a trans­lat­or, au­thor and ci­vil ser­vant, serv­ing as li­bra­ri­an and re­gis­trar to the Board of Trade (1848–63), sec­re­ta­ry to the Roy­al Com­mis­sion for the Ex­hi­bi­tion of 1851, and Mem­ber of Parliament for Exe­ter (1868–74).

Works

He trans­lat­ed two small vol­umes of Ger­man hymns, se­lect­ed by Queen Vic­tor­ia (one vol­ume on the death of the Du­chess of Kent, the oth­er on the death of Prince Al­bert), and pri­vate­ly print­ed for her use.

His oth­er works include:

• Free Trade and Its So-Called Soph­isms, with Lord Ho­bart, 1850
• The Po­ems of Schill­er, 1851
• The Po­ems of Goe­the, 1853
• The Most Ho­ly Book of Psalms Li­ter­al­ly Ren­dered in­to Eng­lish Verse, 1858
• The Po­ems of Heine Com­plete, 1861
• The Works of Fred­er­ick Schill­er, Volume V: The Po­ems of Schill­er, 1875
• The Tra­ge­dies of Vit­tor­io Al­fi­eri, 1876
• The Dra­ma­tic Works of J. W. Goe­the, with Wal­ter Scott et al., 1880
• Germany. A Win­ter Tale, 1887