[1] The Merry Devil enters the historical record in 1604, when it is mentioned in a contemporary work called the Black Booke.

The play was entered into the Stationers' Register on 22 October 1607, and published the next year, in a quarto printed by Henry Ballard for the bookseller Arthur Johnson (Q1 – 1608).

Publisher Humphrey Moseley obtained the rights to the play and re-registered it on 9 September 1653 as a work by William Shakespeare.

In a separate storyline, a group of thieves plans to serve the Duke of Norfolk while hiding from keepers.

The performance was a staged reading of a text adapted by John Richardson to include references to the history and contemporary landmarks of the Canadian Edmonton.