"In 1880, John Hay, the humorist and statesman, had four copies printed, without a name attached (only one copy of this version is known to exist). Amazingly, the first book edition was printed in 1882 at West Point, by a friend of Clemens and Twichell, in an edition of 50 copies on handmade paper soaked in coffee, with special punches for the Old English spelling required. ... Further editions were printed during Twain's lifetime, although Twain did not claim the piece until 1906 in a letter."--Humor in America blog, June 20, 2013 Date, 1601: A short, ribald parody of Elizabethan England, written as a conversation between Queen Elizabeth, Shakespeare, Bacon, and others. Is Shakespeare dead?: This short, semi-autobiographical work is a study of Shakespeare's role in English literature which explores the controversy over the authorship of the Shakespearean literary canon via satire, anecdote, and extensive quotation of contemporary authors on the subject.