Charles Cowden Clarke (15 December 1787 – 13 March 1877) was an English author who was best known for his books on Shakespeare.

Charles Clarke taught Keats his letters and encouraged his love of poetry.

[2] Clarke became a music publisher in partnership with Alfred Novello, and married in 1828 his partner's sister, Mary Victoria (1809–1898), the eldest daughter of Vincent Novello, who was to become known for her Concordance to Shakespeare, a work that she began in the year following their marriage.

In 1849 Vincent Novello with his wife moved to Nice, where he was joined by the Cowden Clarkes in 1856.

Among Mrs. Cowden Clarke's other works may be mentioned The Girlhood of Shakespeare's Heroines (3 vols., 1850–1852), and a translation of Hector Berlioz's Treatise upon Modern Instrumentation and Orchestration (1856).