An early edition of an anonymous chapbook written probably towards the end of the sixteenth century, on which Robert Greene may have founded his play "The honorable historie of Friar Bacon and Friar Bongay." Many different editions and versions of the chapbook were published over the next two centuries, probably rewritten by different authors. There were two principal versions distinguished by length and completeness; this is the shorter version.

Primarily a fictional collection of anecdotes, though presented as if true. Bacon's life as scientist and magician is told to humorous and didactic effect, and also perhaps with some allegorical purpose based on the politics of the day: Bacon assists the English army against France, builds a defensive wall around England (suggestive of the Armada), and defeats the German sorceror Vandermast in a contest of magic. Reference to the religious struggles of the sixteenth century may also be implied in Bacon's rivalry with Friar Bungay and his "penitent death."