1601 Read online

  anticipated this possibility, had sufficient foresight to secure

  endorsement of his plan by the Council, and so outwitted Elizabeth, who

  was playing a two-faced role, and Cecil, one of the greatest statesmen

  who ever held the post of principal minister. Perhaps it was this

  incident to which the company referred, which might in part explain

  Elizabeth's rejoinder. However, he had been restored to confidence ere

  this, and had served as ambassador to France.

  "TO SAVE HIS DOTER'S MAIDENHEDDE"

  Elizabeth Throckmorton (or Throgmorton), daughter of Sir Nicholas, was

  one of Elizabeth's maids of honor. When it was learned that she had been

  debauched by Raleigh, Sir Walter was recalled from his command at sea by

  the Queen, and compelled to marry the girl. This was not "in that olde

  daie," as the text has it, for it happened only eight years before the

  date of this purported "conversation," when Elizabeth was sixty years

  old.

  PARTIAL BIBLIOGRAPHY

  The various printings of 1601 reveal how Mark Twain's 'Fireside

  Conversation' has become a part of the American printer's lore. But more

  important, its many printings indicate that it has become a popular bit

  of American folklore, particularly for men and women who have a feeling

  for Mark Twain. Apparently it appeals to the typographer, who devotes to

  it his worthy art, as well as to the job printer, who may pull a crudely

  printed proof. The gay procession of curious printings of 1601 is unique

  in the history of American printing.

  Indeed, the story of the various printings of 1601 is almost legendary.

  In the days of the "jour." printer, so I am told, well-thumbed copies

  were carried from print shop to print shop. For more than a quarter

  century now it has been one of the chief sources of enjoyment for

  printers' devils; and many a young rascal has learned about life from

  this Fireside Conversation. It has been printed all over the country,

  and if report is to be believed, in foreign countries as well. Because

  of the many surreptitious and anonymous printings it is exceedingly

  difficult, if not impossible, to compile a complete bibliography. Many

  printings lack the name of the publisher, the printer, the place or date

  of printing. In many instances some of the data, through the patient

  questioning of fellow collectors, has been obtained and supplied.

  1. [Date, 1601.] Conversation, as it was by the Social Fireside, in the

  Time of the Tudors.

  DESCRIPTION: Pamphlet, pp. [ 1 ]-8, without wrappers or cover, measuring

  7x8 inches. The title is Set in caps. and small caps.

  The excessively rare first printing, printed in Cleveland, 1880, at the

  instance of Alexander Gunn, friend of John Hay. Only four copies are

  believed to have been printed, of which, it is said now, the only known

  copy is located in the Willard S. Morse collection.

  2. Date 1601. Conversation, as it was by the Social Fireside, in the

  time of the Tudors.

  (Mem.--The following is supposed to be an extract from the diary of the

  Pepys of that day, the same being cup-bearer to Queen Elizabeth. It is

  supposed that he is of ancient and noble lineage; that he despises these

  literary canaille; that his soul consumes with wrath to see the Queen

  stooping to talk with such; and that the old man feels his nobility

  defiled by contact with Shakespeare, etc., and yet he has got to stay

  there till Her Majesty chooses to dismiss him.)

  DESCRIPTION: Title as above, verso blank; pp. [i]-xi, text; verso p. xi

  blank. About 8 x 10 inches, printed on handmade linen paper soaked in

  weak coffee, wrappers. The title is set in caps and small caps.

  COLOPHON: at the foot of p. xi: Done Att Ye Academie Preffe; M DCCC LXXX

  II.

  The privately printed West Point edition, the first printing of the text

  authorized by Mark Twain, of which but fifty copies were printed. The

  story of this printing is fully told in the Introduction.

  3. Conversation As It Was By The Social Fire-side In The Time Of The

  Tudors from Ye Diary of Ye Cupbearer to her Maisty Queen Elizabeth.

  [design] Imprinted by Ye Puritan Press At Ye Sign of Ye Jolly Virgin

  1601.

  DESCRIPTION: 2 blank leaves; p. [i] blank, p. [ii] fronds., p. [iii]

  title [as above], p. [iv] "Mem.", pp. 1-[25] text, I blank leaf. 4 3/4

  by 6 1/4 inches, printed in a modern version of the Caxton black letter

  type, on M.B.M. French handmade paper. The frontispiece, a woodcut by

  A. E. Curtis, is a portrait of the cup-bearer. Bound in buff-grey

  boards, buckram back. Cover title reads, in pale red ink, Caxton type,

  Conversation As It Was By The Social Fire-side In The Time Of The Tudors.

  [The Byway Press, Cincinnati, Ohio, 1901, 120 copies.]

  Probably the first published edition.

  Later, in 1916, a facsimile edition of this printing was published in

  Chicago from plates.