1601 Conversation - In the Time of the Tudors

1601 Conversation, As It Was The Social Fireside, In The Time Of The Tudors

This humorous risque work was first published anonymously in 1880 and only acknowledged by Twain in 1906.  Written as an extract from the diary of one of Queen Elizabeth’s servants, 1601 was, according to Edward Wagenknecht, “the most famous piece of pornography in American literature.” However, it was more ribaldry than pornography; its content was more in the nature of irreverent and vulgar comedic shock than of “obscene” erotica.