Displaying secrecy in George Gascoigne’s <i>The Adventures of Master F.J</i> .*

George Gascoigne’s The Adventures of Master F.J. (1573/1575) is best known for its elaborate fiction production and the scandal 1573 publication supposedly caused due to being read as a roman à clef. This article considers version narrative his 1575 prefatory comments on it in context Elizabethan intelligence practices. Interpreting republication works sign success rather than consequence censorship, I argue that at heart complex lies paradoxical endeavour recommend himself government informer through writing. display abilities necessary an pervades very fabric text, he simultaneously puts into practice reveals skill keeping, encoding, transmitting disclosing secrets. contradictory performance concealment disclosure results which meanings are both obscured partly decoded. manifests itself especially narrative’s production, use roman-à-clef strategies foregrounding indirect means communication, including coded representation sexual encounters.