1601: Conversation as it was by the Social Fireside in the Time of the Tudors

by Mark Twain

"1601: Conversation as it was by the Social Fireside in the Time of the Tudors" by Mark Twain is a satirical squib written in 1876 and first published anonymously in 1880. Presented as a diary entry from Queen Elizabeth I's cup-bearer, the piece records a bawdy conversation between the queen and famous Elizabethan writers including Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, and Walter Raleigh. The dialogue explores scandalous topics through vulgar humor and irreverent comedy. Once considered unprintable and circulated only in private editions, this ribald work remained underground until the 1960s.