List books on treasure hunting or that contain armchair treasure hunts.

Additional material

[ Editor: about _Treasure_ (UK) by Dan James, listed above, and treasure
hunt clubs, sent to treasure@questrel.com in November 1994. ]

TREASURE by Dan James

Supply outside the UK

Apparently the publishers of Treasure in the UK are returning cheques
to their senders wishing to purchase copies of TREASURE outside of the UK,
their reason being that they did not have any copies left, and were not
expecting to receive any until March '95.

I spoke to my contact there this morning who told me that they had made
a decision not to supply copies of the book outside the UK.

Their reason being, and I quote, "We don't want anyone winning the
competition over the computer." As if they have any idea what that means.
I am trying to set up a distribution channel to the US via the
Gold Puzzler News. If you have not heard of them their information follows.

The Gold Puzzler Newsletter is a US based club for treasure hunters
of the Masquerade style.

They can be reached at:

The Gold Puzzler Newsletter (GPN)
P.O. Box 1177
Lakeside
CA 92040

The lady to get in touch with is Nikki.

As a member you receive 4 newsletters a year (this is under revision at
the moment more and bigger) plus on your first subscription you receive
a copy of the Captain Kidd treasure hunt mentioned below.

Captain Kidd and the Missing Crown

Trustco Bank and The Kaaterskill Foundation have launched a treasure
hunt entitled Captain Kidd and the Missing Crown by Jack Hashian
creator of The Lost treasures. The prize is a $50,000 gold Ducal Crown
of King Henry V which is on exhibit at the West Side Branch of the
Trustco Bank in Catskill, New York. The puzzle sells at $7.95 plus
$1.00 p&p. It can be purchased from The Kaaterskill Foundation,
P. O. Box 551, Catskill, NY 12414

If you haven't heard about the UK treasure hunt club here's the info:

The Armchair Treasure Hunt Club
P.O. Box 341
Uxbridge
Middlesex
UB10 9QT

As a member you receive 6 newsletters a year and at least 1 BURIED
treasure.

Subscription 16.50 pounds sterling a year. All cheques to be
sterling or euro.

As it is currently quite difficult to pay between countries the two
clubs are trying to arrange some sort of cross membership deal and maybe
a merger to make it possible to pay for both at the club nearest you.

-- Mark Parry <MParry@mertcplc.demon.co.uk>

[ Editor: the publisher's description of the book, included in the same
mail: ]

TREASURE

A MAGICAL, BRAIN-TEASING JOURNEY THROUGH MIDDLE ENGLAND
IN PURSUIT OF A FABULOUS FORTUNE

Devised, written and illustrated by Dan James

Middle England is the place
A fortune is the prize
Join Tallifer your minstrel guide
To find out where it lies...

Somewhere in Britain a glittering treasure lies hidden - waiting
to be discovered by anyone with the ingenuity, determination and
patience to seek it out.

Tallifer, minstrel and close confidant of William the Conqueror,
is reduced to ghostly status by a mortal wound at the Battle of
Hastings. Prior to his death he made a secret expedition to the
five counties of Middle England, concealing treasure along the
way. Under the obligation to fulfil a vow to his lord and master,
he attempts to retrace his steps to find the treasure and, like
the reader, discovers that this is no ordinary task.

There are over forty intriguing clues to be solved in this
exciting historical fantasy, with a gripping narrative and highly
detailed, intricate pictures. A complete solution reveals the
location of the treasure itself, but solving individual clues
brings its own rewards.

Devised by Dan James, a skilful puzzle-master, artist and writer,
and founder of the Armchair Treasure Hunt Club, this enthralling
game takes place across five counties, in some of Britain's most
beautiful countryside.

It promises to be a treasure hunt on an unparalleled scale, with
more clues and substantial prizes than have been offered in
previous publications of this kind, and puzzles that can be
solved by amateur and expert treasure hunters alike.

Published by Studio Editions

Publication Date September 29th 1994

Price 8.99 pounds sterling

[ Editor: an online hunt, the Swatch net.hunt of April 1996, from its
Web page (http://www.swatch-art.com/net_hunt/nhindex.htm), sent to
treasure@questrel.com by Mark Parry in March 1996: ]

The Swatch net.hunt is a unique cyberspace-adventure leading you
through the expanses of virtual reality. Your big challenge is to find
10 pieces of a mosaic of Zapping, the Nam June Paik Swatch Art Special
1996. The individual pieces are hidden on 10 sites world-wide.
You will be the hunter and become a cybernaut.
The mega-event starts on April 1, 1996.

Who can take part?
The spirit of net.hunt is exactly like the spirit of Swatch and the
Internet: democracy, globality and interactivity! You can participate -
no matter where you live, who you are, what you do!  All it takes is
team spirit.  How heroic would the Three Musketeers have been if they
had acted independently? So you have to form a team consisting of three
members (physical human beings!!) who must be from three different
countries. Then you can register this team online and name your gang.

How does it work?
Swatch will hide the 10 pieces of the mosaic all over the Internet. One
new piece at exactly 0.00 CET on the following dates (1 piece per date):
April 1 (no joke!), 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14. You can join the
game on any of these dates - even if you missed the start! We give you
a Easter-break with a surprise! To help you finding the sites where the
pieces are hidden Swatch will give some hints. Click on Mosaic to get
the daily hint for the new piece. When you have found all the pieces of
the mosaic, send an e-mail.

Who wins?
The first team in time to find all ten pieces of the mosaic (according
to the time on the incoming e-mail protocol) is the winner of the top
prize.

What can I win?
WATCH out for the top prize: each member of the winning team will have
the opportunity to visit one of his team-members - no matter where he
lives. Swatch will cover all of the travel expenses for the mutual
visits. By now every cyber-hero knows: the further away your team-mates
live the more exciting the prize will be for you. By the way: the
connection between continents is also an advantage in the game itself
because of the world-wide time difference. The winning team is the one
that never sleeps! What happens if you are pretty quick, but not the
very first team? The members of the teams from the 2nd to the 10th
place will win a Swatch Art Special 1996. The teams ranked 11 to 100
will get a cyber T-Shirt for each participant!

FRENCH TREASURE HUNT

Sur la trace de la Chouette d'Or is a Masquerade style treasure hunt
book with a one million franc (100,000 pounds sterling, 150,000 US
dollar) prize. It has been running for 18 months.

The book cost 99 francs (10 pounds sterling, 15 US dollars) and is
available from editions max valentin
130-132 bd Camelinat
92240
MALAKOFF

Max Valentin (author) can be contacted via Minitel a french computer
network.

** NEWSFLASH **

Emmanuel Worsfold the bronze statue buried by The Armchair Treasure
Hunt Club three years ago has been found.

The next club treasure, a faberge (excuse my spelling) style egg has
been buried and the hunt will be launched in the next newsletter due
out next week.

-- Mark Parry <MParry@mertcplc.demon.co.uk> (January 1995)

[ Editor: the listing above gives the price as 95F; Parry gives 99
francs. ]

[ Editor: on "The Secret" (Byron Preiss, 1982), from a letter by
svwilson@aol.com forwarded by Mark Parry, March 1996. ]

I spoke to the publisher, Byron Preiss [Editor: spelled "Priess" in the
original], about two years ago and, as you may know, he has no
intention of calling an end to the hunt, publishing the answers, or
verifying that the casques are still in place after all these years.
And the book is out of print, right?  He did tell me that the clues are
in the paintings and poems, not in any other part of the book.

I'll tell you what I know.  One of the paintings shows a gnomish-looking
guy with a castle on his head.  One of the poems ends with the word
"Hush."  Byron Preiss told me that those two were associated with the
prize buried in Chicago.  Armed with that data, I looked into some
books about that city.  I discovered that one of the city's oldest
buildings -- one of the few to survive the Chicago Fire -- is a
white-and-blue tower which is depicted in the gnome painting (they put
vanes on it and turned it into a windmill).  And I believe the words
Congress, Ten, Thirteen, and Central -- from the poem -- are streets
near the lakefront.  So that gives us things to look for: landmarks and
street names.

-- svwilson@aol.com, via Mark Parry <MParry@mertcplc.demon.co.uk>

[ Editor: a 1994 posting by Mark Parry of the Armchair Treasure Hunt
Club, with his list of treasure hunt books as it stood then.  The list
overlaps the one above but adds the status of each prize and one
title (Tiger Kub) not listed above. ]

In article <310u1g$1629@bigblue.oit.unc.edu>
           dswhite@gibbs.oit.unc.edu "David White" writes:

> This is more of a historical than puzzle-type question, but I've been
> intrigued recently reading Kit William's _Masquerade_ puzzle book as well
> has his nameless one.  I'm too young to remember anything about the book
> and the time it was written, but the idea of a country-wide (or
> world-wide) treasure hunt intrigues me.

It obsesses me!

> I was wondering if anyone had any information about puzzle books like Kit
> Williams'.

Kit Williams is a craftsman. Having completed Masquerade he had no interest
in Treasure Hunting.

> Is he still alive, and if so, what does he do now?

Yes, he paints.

> Has he made any since?

No apart from the untitled book

> Has anyone else written any?

Yes see list below

> What was it like during the months that his 2 books were out in England?
> was it just a minor thing, or was the whole country interested in looking
> for the treasure?

When Masquerade was launched it took over the country.
No-one had ever seen the like before. Over 2,000,000 copies were sold.
People went treasure hunting crazy over night.

> Can/will such a thing ever be done again?

See future at the end of the list

After Masquerade the next book to catch the imagination was Conundrum.
This caused a lot of problems as many of the treasures were buried
near ancient monuments, which caused the lunatic fringe to ignore
the warning that no treasures were buried on the sites of ancient
monuments and dig the monuments up.

Treasure hunting or Armchair Treasure Hunting as it is more often
referred to went down hill from then on.

In 1992 we formed a club in Great Britain catering for all those
people for whom the desire to dig up buried treasure needs to be
satisfied. We bury our own treasures and produce a newsletter
six times a year. We are gradually raising the profile of Armchair
Treasure Hunting to the extent that in September our founder
Dan James will be launching a new book with a quarter of a million
pound prize.

If you are interested in the club you can contact me via Email
at Mparry@mertcplc.demon.co.uk or write to:

The Armchair Treasure Hunt Club
PO Box 841
Uxbridge
Middlesex
UB10 9QT
England

This is a list of all of the Treasure Hunt books that I know of.

To qualify for the list there has to be a prize that is either
buried or hidden.

1979
        Title:                Masquerade
        Author:                Williams, Kit
        Publisher:        Jonathan Cape
        Prize:                Golden Hare
        Status:                Discovered

1982
        Title:                Longboat Treasure Hunt
        Author:                Unknown
        Publisher:        Longboat Butter Company
        Prize:                15 Silver Longboats
        Status                Discovered

        Title:                The Golden Key
        Author:                Shaw, Don
        Publisher:        William Maclellan
        Prize:                Golden Key + #50,000
        Status:                Withdrawn by author. Plans to relaunch.

        Title:                The Last Fairy
        Author:                Hancock, Fred
        Publisher:        Fantasy Publications
        Prize:                Golden Wand & Fairy
        Status:                Discovered

        Title:                The Piper Of Dreams
        Author:                Fenby, Terry Pitts
        Publisher:        Hodder & Stoughton
        Prize:                Golden Flute
        Status:                Discovered

        Title:                With Interest
        Author:                Betts, David
        Publisher:        Treasure Books
        Prize:                Royalty Fund & Interest
        Status:                Discovered

1983
        Title:                Spirit Of The Stones
        Author:                Worsley, John
        Publisher:        Sheerjewel Ltd
        Prize:                41 Diamond Shrouds + Cash Fund
        Status:                Time limit over, some diamonds undiscovered

        Title:                The Will
        Author:                Unknown
        Publisher:        Tricore Associates
        Prize:                #25,000 in Gold
        Status:                Unknown

1984
        Title:                Conundrum
        Author:                Shaw, Don
        Publisher:        Hamlyn / Cadburys
        Prize:                12 Gold Eggs
        Status:                Discovered

        Title:                Treasure
        Author:                Krypton, Dr
        Publisher [Editor: "Author:" in the original]:        Warner Brothers (N.Y.)
        Prize:                Gold Horse & $500,000
        Status:                Time limit over.

1985
        Title:                The Golden [Editor: spelled "Goden" in the original] Arrow
        Author:                Holmes, Armstrong
        Publisher:        Home Ales Brewery
        Prize:                #5,000 Gold Arrow
        Status:                Discovered

        Title:                The Golden Brain
        Author:                Spitting Image
        Publisher:        Faber & Faber
        Prize:                #1,000 Gold Brain
        Status:                Discovered

1986
        Title:                Quest For The Stone
        Author:                Betts, David
        Publisher:        Treasure Books
        Prize:                Increasing cash fund
        Status:                Ongoing

        Title:                So You Think You Know All About Cheshire
        Author:                Thompson, Debbie
        Publisher:        R.E.T. Publications
        Prize:                #500 Silver Cat
        Status:                Discovered

1987
        Title:                The Lost Cross Of Gold
        Author:                Osborne, Peter
        Publisher        Paragon Books
        Prize:                #200 Gold Cross
        Status:                Discovered

1989
        Title:                Helium Dream
        Author:                James, Dan
        Publisher:        Amethyst Books Ltd
        Prize:                Gold Heart
        Status:                Discovered

1991
        Title:                Lake District Hunt
        Author:                Thompson, Dick
        Publisher:        Puzzles By Post
        Prize:                #1,000 Bankers Draft
        Status:                Time limit over

1993
        Title:                To Search and Prosper
                        The Treasure Trail
        Author:                Park, Keith
        Prize:                #25,000
        Publisher:        KBP

Unknown
        Title:                Tiger Kub and the Royal Jewel
        Author:                Don James
        Prize:                Jewel
        Status                Unknown

Future September 1994
        Title:                TREASURE
        Author:                James, Dan
        Publisher:        Studio Editions
        Prize:                250,000

** Please note where you see # read pounds sterling.

-- Mark Parry <MParry@mertcplc.demon.co.uk>  (July 1994)

[ Editor: an earlier mail from Mark Parry (September 1994) on the same
subjects as his November 1994 mail in this entry; only the parts not
already there are given. ]

** New British Treasure Hunt **

Only 10 days to go until the launch of Treasure the new treasure
hunt book by Dan James. First Prize 250,000 pounds sterling.
Available in the UK from all good bookshops price 8.99 pounds
sterling.

[...]

The Gold Puzzler Newsletter (GPN)
P.O. Box 1177
Lakeside
CA 92040

As a member you receive 4 newsletters a year plus on your first
subscription you receive a copy of the Captain Kidd treasure hunt
mentioned above.

Subscription USA $24.00 US Dollars, Canada $30.00 US Dollars rest of
the world $32.00 US Dollars.

-- Mark Parry <MParry@mertcplc.demon.co.uk>