Sheverin!!!
Way to lick off all the icing!!!
Wouldn’t that be a complete HOOT if Palencar DID know? The locations might be discovered and the hunt officially ended!
You could topple the whole structure in one fell swoop! I think someone needs to visit SLC in March–or Baltimore in May–he’ll be there. Who’s up for it?

how do we get ahold of priess widow. i need to know this when i pull one out of the ground in the next few months

I gave you the address above. Either use it or contact Bantam Books. I do not think it would be a good idea to contact Preiss’s family.

I agree with Shecrab:
I think it would be insensitive to ask his family for ANY kind of information, or to ask if the gems are still a valid prize.  If you unearthed a casque I would see it differently.  His family is probably glad to hear that we are still searching for these.  It is a fitting memorial to him.  Find a casque, then ask if there is still a prize.  If there isn’t don’t pout.  The casque may itself be of value, at the very least should be valuable to the finder.  If I found one I wouldn’t be selling it.  This isn’t or at least shouldn’t be about monetary compensation.
Any other hunt this old would have been closed by now, or am I wrong in thinking so?
–Rngo

gad you’re feeling better ck,  you were missed, it was so quiet around here.
was hoping you were on a hunt

I know it was probably suggested in jest, but I for one would be extremely disappointed if this hunt ended any other way than by using our noggins to figure out where the casques were buried. Asking JJP for the answers just isn’t cricket.

It sounded like a serious suggestion, which is why I wanted to make it clear:
IF I happen to go to a con where JJP is a guest, YES I will be seeking him out, but it will be with other business at hand.  YES, if opportunity was there I would like to ask him about Castle Hat.  But I agree with you Forrest, I would certainly NOT ask about any painting for an unfound casque.  I would feel that it would be harrassment on SOME level.  And I know my book dealer friend that I normally accompany to help sell books would be embarrassed if I did or said anything that was out of place to a professional.  JJP has already said that he “is under contract.”  Case should be closed.  Forrest:  If you are suggesting that even asking about the already found pieces is in bad taste, then I will take that under heavy advisement, and trust me:  I will think before I speak.  And as of now, I don’t see an opportunity on my end to meet him in the near future.

Forrest:
I DO think though that perhaps he MAY be willing to talk some about “Castle Hat” if it’s the only piece from The Secret that is posted on his website.  There must be some reason that he picked that particular one.  Maybe not asking him to reveal any secrets of the painting in the process, but some history on that one?  Shecrab has my mind whirrling on that picture from a “biography” standpoint now, which isn’t going to help us.  Go figure.  Turn me into questioning an unhelpful question.

shseverin11

I think I remember that someone approached Palencar about possible clues in the images and he responded that he was still under contract with Preiss’ company so he couldn’t say anything. Since then, I believe BP’s assets have been liquidated and his company dissolved. Technically, Palencar wouldn’t be under contract any more. Has anyone tried to contact him since?  I know that he doesn’t know the location of the casques but he may be able to identify some of the buildings and clues in the images.

I once had the %$#*@’s to contact JJP and asked him to maybe help with some clues that were no longer there, parks that had been renovated and landmarks torn down.  How embarrassing on my part.  I’m still cringing.  He responded with a kind and heartfelt email.  He remains loyal to BP and the work they did together.  What he may or may not know will stay with him.  (exact locations were a true secret, even from him).  This was pretty neat, he closed with a quote from Einstien.  “The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious”.  He said that it is inspiring that the quest is still going on and he reminds us that “elves can be tricksters you know”.

Is anyone currently leaning towards the City of St. Louis? Which image and verse?

JoshCornell

No St Louis…all have been solved, not found, but solved…except MTL…and even then, the speculated location is not one that can be discounted. but it hasn’t been fully corroborated via breaking all the clues either.

EVEN THOUGHT BYRON PRIESS TOLD JOHANN that he was right about ST Louis but not the location of the dig
JOSH. What did Pries mean when he wrote this email
You have such a brilliant acumen

I forgot you knew exactly what Priess was thinking
How do you know this????

WHY ARE YOU POSTING HERE IF YOU SOLVED THEM ALL
CALL JOSH GATES AND SURELY HE WILL DO AN EPISODE ALL ABOUT YOU
CANT WAIT TO SEE THE EPISODE SO I CAN KNOW ALL YOU KNOW

SO Josh Gates James Renner Egbert Fenix and everyone else on this forum are idiots except you ?
AM I correct in my analysis of your posts

I was actually wondering that myself.
I really don’t know.

Okay, from this recent spate of repostings it seems that BP did, in fact, verify that there are casques in Houston, St. Louis, and somewhere in Canada. We know there were casques in Cleveland and Chicago. That there are also casques in San Francisco, Charleston, Roanoke, St. Augustine, New Orleans, and Milwaukee is nearly beyond doubt. That’s 11. But if all those are true we can’t also have *both* New York City and Boston, because then the casques would outnumber the P’s and V’s.

Trohn

If necessary, we can utilize the lawyers that ATT uses

Egads!  Nooo!  I’ve already dealt with those lawyers and was not pleased with the outcome.
I just didn’t know if I could post emails between BP and myself without his permission.

I didn’t anticipate that this suggestion would be controversial. These messages are already posted throughout this forum; I just thought it would be convenient to put them all together. As an alternative, can folks simply post links to the already-existing messages? I didn’t feel like trawling all the forums to find them, but if you already know where to locate them…

slaps – I started this discussion here specifically to avoid proliferation of new threads, and because some of BP’s messages were already posted here. Can we get down to discussing his words?? Surely we can squeeze something more from them.

I do not believe you can copyright a conversation.  Regardless, without Preiss around to press charges, I doubt his estate would care at this point…
wilhouse

Well, in that case, here are all of the emails from BP that I still have.  I don’t know if they will shed any new light but here they are anyways.  For clarity sake, I have inserted 3 *’s (***) in front of and after his responses…
1)  {when asked about a Canadian casque}
Re: “The Secret”‏
From:
[email protected]
You may not know this sender.Mark as safe|Mark as unsafe
Sent: Mon 4/07/03 2:09 PM
To:
[email protected]
***thanks! yes, there is a treasure in Canada.***
—————————————————————————————————————
2)
Re: “The Secret”‏
From:
[email protected]
You may not know this sender.Mark as safe|Mark as unsafe
Sent: Tue 4/08/03 8:21 AM
To:
[email protected]
In a message dated 4/8/2003 3:44:26 AM Eastern Standard Time,
[email protected]
writes:
I hate to bother you again but you seem to have avoided the
question as to the status of the jewels availability.  Dont worry, if you
say they are no longer available, I will still wrack my brain over this book
until at least one of the riddles is solved.  Thanks again for your time and
such a wonderful adventure.
*** jewels still available! ***
———————————————————————————————
3)
Re: “The Secret”‏
From:
[email protected]
You may not know this sender.Mark as safe|Mark as unsafe
Sent: Wed 4/30/03 1:49 PM
To:
[email protected]
;
[email protected]
;
[email protected]
;
[email protected]
In a message dated 4/29/03 11:38:33 PM,
[email protected]
writes:
<< Mr. Preiss, I just wanted to let you know that the word the jewels are still available have definitely generated new interest in this hunt. A group of us have once again become emersed in this wonderful adventure. I was wondering....Is there a closing date for this hunt and will the solutions ever be released? Also, we feel we may be closing in on a couple of the locations and I was wondering if we still mail in our solutions to the adress in the back of the book? >>
*** the address is 24 West 25th Street. Ny NY 10010 Attention Byron Preiss. ***
—————————————————————————————————————-
4)  {when asked about how to submit a location in writing}
Re: possible solution – The Secret‏
From:
[email protected]
You may not know this sender.Mark as safe|Mark as unsafe
Sent: Sun 8/31/03 10:21 PM
To:
[email protected]
In a message dated 8/31/03 4:37:48 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
[email protected]
writes:
?  Can it simply be something like:  City, USA / so-n-so park / next to the statue of  Mr. X?  Or must it be take exactly 5 steps west of the 3rd tree and dig?  Just curious as to we really think we are getting very close to 2 of them.
*** it’s been so long..just email me the MOST you can..and precise–you will have to take a picture of the spot at which you think the casque is buried!
lost the email of the treasure hunt buff to do a new book..please resend! ***
——————————————————————————————————————
5)  {I did not believe the above response was from BP and this was my follow up}
Re: possible solution – The Secret‏
From:
[email protected]
You may not know this sender.Mark as safe|Mark as unsafe
Sent: Tue 9/02/03 11:02 AM
To:
[email protected]
In a message dated 9/1/2003 12:33:28 AM Eastern Standard Time,
[email protected]
writes:
state above that “you will have to take a picture of the spot at which you think the caque is buried”…but, if I was close enough to take a pic, dont you think I would dig it up myself?  Please let Mr. B Preiss respond to my query.
Thank you,
Robert
*** yes, this was from me. i thought you were saying that the casque might be unaccessible or that something might have been built on the site in the intervening years. i have polaroids of all the sites–so I was suggesting that you photograph the site you think it is–even if it has changed–and i would match it up with yours. ***
——————————————————————————————–
6)  {this one is a little cryptic}
Re: The SECRET‏
From:
[email protected]
You may not know this sender.Mark as safe|Mark as unsafe
Sent: Sun 5/30/04 10:08 PM
To:
[email protected]
In a message dated 5/28/04 1:19:59 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
[email protected]
writes: << p;

Thanks fox! There are a couple (few?) more out there that we’re still missing.

Very cool Fox!  Thank you.  I take from BP’s reponse that at the very least, in 2004 (date of his email), that a possible casque in NY was not destroyed within the confinds of the old WTC.  Which means that he remembers (geez..remembered, GRHS) exactly where his NY casque was buried and it was not buried at ground zero or the surrounding area that was subsequently demolished prior to 2004 for the purpose of rebuilding Downtown NYC.  Furthermore, at that point, if the dig site had changed in anyway, like being tarred over or removed permanently, he would have had to put us in that direction somehow.  Agree?
If my reading of his brief email is correct, ***not so***, than any more of a response from him would have given you TMI, also that the casque site in NYC is alive and well!!!
(and not at washington Square)

Pretty much agree with everything you say Boogie.  I too took his response to mean that YES, there is a casque in NYC and NO, it was not around hollowed ground zero.  He had also said (not sure if it was in my emails or someone elses) that there was NO casque in Central Park.  JPJ is alive and kicking baby!!!

thanks guys, it’s great you did this, but even better if it had it’s own thread with category title, so it would be easy to find.

Fox,
What did he mean by “lost the email of the treasure hunt buff to do a new book..please resend!”

Fox/Kato-
I have the belief that the location to this is the stage of the Lost Colony play.
There is a prop ship that is to the left/back of the audience.  This prop ship is a
tall mast representation.  It does move on and off the stage for its purposes within
the drama.  (First seen – highest object rising above the trees.  last touched – when getting onto
the beach.)
The path in July and August is the walk from the box office to the stage,
where the audience is escorted by the players.  The gardens and the other historic
landmarks are open year round.
I believe that near the prop house is a replica of the armor left behind and found rusted.
Problem is that the museum iimages of the dress of the time do not match up with the image.
I would love for someone to get photos of this area(s) behind the stage.

Fox:  Its seems very unlikely that the casque could be buried in the Elizabethian Gardens, which is privately owned and administered.  You can’t dig inside the gardens, and BP probably couldn’t either in 1981.  I believe the “dark forrest” the plaque is refering to is outside the Elizabethian Gardens, and probably refers to the adjacent Fort Raleigh Historic site upon which the Waterside Theatre is located.  The “dark forrest” plaque is definitely a clue linking verse 11 to the immediate area, but neither I nor anyone else has been able to locate something from Image 3 that is a “marker,” which leads you to the casque. That is what I mean as a nexus. I believe that if the casque is buried on Roanoke Island, it is probably in the maritime forrest of the Fort Raleigh National Historic site rather than inside the Elizabethian Gardens.

Kato

Yet the maritime forrest on Roanoke Island is just that: thousands of trees, sand, and driftwood.

Why do you keep referring to the maritime forrest?  For “dark forest” ?  I thought we had all agreed that this phrase was a direct tie in to the Elizabethan Gardens which says exactly that on an entrance plaque.
Also, what is your nexus that you are trying to hash out?  Maybe some fresh eyes may make the connection for you….

Egbert

However, I am very excited to have just learned (through a telephone call) that a special guest will be posting on these boards soon, and I just thought you should all stay tuned…………..   🙂
Hope all is well with everyone.

With this extended absence from these boards…I would say the special guest has already posted Sir Egg

FYI
http://www.vice.com/read/the-35-year-lo … n-treasure

didnt know you were still around Johann
yes, as Johann has confirmed…what I posted was exactly as BP sent it…misspellings and all.  I do not know when Johann got the original from BP but after hearing of it….Sir Egg sent me that on  Fri, 21 May 2004.
I too have recently been looking at Tower Grove park.  Even before knowing J was also looking there.  There is just something about that park.  Forest Park would be the logical location tho.
FB:  I pretty much agree with your list of cities…. 13… hmm.  Have to ax one of them…but which one?  Process of elimination time:
100% = Chicago and Cleveland (found) down to 10 now.
St Louis seems to be verified by BP.  down to 9.
Seems to be obvious whether by P or V:
-Houston
-Charleston
-Roanoke or somewhere near Wright Memorial
-Milwaukee
-Canada somewhere
-New Orleans
-Boston
questionable to pretty concrete:
-San Francisco (cant see anywhere else the P could be)
-St Augustine (or at least somewhere in FL)
-NY City (P12 sure seems to fit NY but are we wrong?)  will have to dig thru old emails but I kind of remember BP stating that my theories of Central Park were wrong but he somehow confirmed city was right.
Looks like it is time to go over the P’s & V’s with a fine toothed comb again and see what concrete St Louis tie ins we can find.

Fox – I would regard St. Augustine and San Franciso as virtually certain, mainly because of the many verse confirmers for the former and image confirmers for the latter. I am not as convinced about Boston (even if those
are
Paul Revere references, that doesn’t have to mean Boston, and Thucydides and Xenophon occur all over the place). NYC is still conjectural at this point.
And are we 100% certain there is one in Canada??
I hate to say this, but could BP’s memory about location be trusted after 20+ years? I seem to remember that he expressed a lapse of memory once.

image one—-San fran
image two—Charelston
image three–North Carolina
image four—Cleveland
image five—-Chicago
image six—–Florida
image seven–New orleans
image eight–Houston
image nine–St Louis
image ten—Milwaulkee
image eleven—Boston or Canada
image twelve–NYC
May I suggest, if Canada is a fact, trying to match the Boston verse to fit Canada.  What is up with Canada?

boogie – Never thought I’d say this, but I agree with your list. And your suggestion.

still think beantown is the obvious fit …. especially with the last few lines directly referring to Revere.
Yes, I think it was confirmed, verified, etc… that there is 1 casque in Canada.
Still up in the air w/ P’s 9 & 11 going back and forth between Gateway & Beantown.
Why cant P12 be Canada? … w/ a Niagra tie in?

The 74 in the water argues for NYC. I believe you were the first point out the latitude/longitude clues, fox

forest_blight

boogie – Never thought I’d say this, but I agree with your list. And your suggestion.

Yeee-oooouch!  that smites!

Bumping this up w/ my post because I dont know where else to put it.
We cant forget (which apparently we all have) that it was verified some time ago that St. Louis IS a location.  Here is an email sent to me by Sir Egg about correspondence between BP & Johann.
“(From BPreiss)
Very impressive work esp since the book is 20 years old.  I think you deserve to  know that you are correct about st. Louid,but not correct about the location.thanks for all your excellent work.”
Which P or V is beyond me tho.

Two questions:
1. Is this a copy and paste of the original, misspellings and all?
2. What was the “location” in question (so we can rule it out)?

More questions…..
How old is that email?  4 years?
Was the original post on this deleted?
and…
If this is true, (St. LouiD)LOL, why aren’t we all digging in on the only other known
fact
about the secret? (other than Cleveland, Chicago, as well as NO Central Park)
edit:oops, Houston is fact too, uh, right?

Yes, that is how the email from BP appeared.  It was obviously some time ago.
I would love to have us work hard on the St. Louis idea.  Honestly, I am stumped on St. Louis.  I originally thought it was in Tower Grove Park on Grand Blvd. in South St. Louis.  I pinpointed an exact patch of ground.  So, when BP told me it was not the correct location, did he mean not that patch of Tower Grove Park or not Tower Grove Park at all?  I don’t know.  I have worked much on a Forest Park theory, as outlined in a couple pic and verse threads, but my digging has turned up naught but dirt.  Alas.

Cool, thanks Johann.  Image 9 or 11?

If this is indeed a fact,
then can we take what we know about
the images and link a long and lat to an
image for St Louis??  (90, 39)
As I am sure Johanna has said,
Forest Park is a large nice park
which has hosted a World’s Fair.

Image 9, 39, in the hair on forehead.

BP also stated there was treasure in Canada.

That would give us 13 treasure sites. One must be wrong. Currently we have:
Certain (or virtually so)
San Francisco
Houston
St. Augustine
Charleston
Roanoke
Cleveland
Chicago
Milwaukee
St. Louis
A Canadian City
Really good evidence
New Orleans
New York City
Boston

angle-less

hello i just signed on to this website. i found out about this puzzle on a youtube video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwNPKb9ol8Y
Im just wondering if any others have been found. all i know is image 4 verse 4 and image 5 verse 12.

No. None of the others have been successfully recovered. Depending on who you ask, some may be lost due to rennovation and changes through the decades at various proposed treasure sites.

MrSeabass

Heh, I like how I have no idea what erexere is talking about yet this reply could work for any of his posts.

Yes there are a few responses… “Are you serious” and “Not again” top the list.

FOX!!!

maltedfalcon

yes in the two found instance
you travel several miles along a road without turning from an iconic image in the painting.
Then you turn left and left again to reach the destination…

so for the charleston one you’d come down “king street” (the lion being the icon”, go all the way to the end, and turn left into white point gardens

I think I still have some of these, somewhere — eastern and western wildflowers, and eastern trees.

forest_blight

Is it about an intrepid band of treasure-seekers who finally solve a complex, decades-old riddle and win a fortune in jewels? If so, can I be in it??

Does it have a treasure hunter who convinces a local zoo to use a bulldozer to help hunt for treasure, but instead busts a water line and floods the zoo??
wilhouse

now that i would read wilhouse! i think shecrab is staying away from a comedy however.

How about a mystery/thriller?  Mad scientist-type author buries ceramic boxes, leaves clues, dies, no solutions can be found, and about 50 people from around the world frantically search for the worthless treasures.  Nah, too unbelievable.

fox

now that i would read wilhouse! i think shecrab is staying away from a comedy however.

yeah…this time I am. But not next time….
I think it actually might make a viable plot.
BUahahahahaha!!!

that’s just wrong

This has nothing to do with
The Secret
, but it may be of interest to many here. Stercox and I have posted our complete solution to “Quest: In Search of the Dragontooth” (by Michael Green) in a different forum. Those of you who have tried that hunt may be interested in the results of our 4+ years of work on that hunt.
http://www.quest4treasure.co.uk/forum/http://test.quest4treasure.co.uk/phpbb3/viewforum.php?f=9.0

Well, thanks Slaps, but it’s more of a disappointment. Green kept *not* replying to our solution messages, so we eventually gave up and posted the whole thing online. No Dragontooth for us, and not even the consolation of knowing we were right.

Wow, good work! (I picked up a copy of that along with
The Secret
. At least I won’t have to worry about that one now…)

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Thanks shecrab and Mark.  I will try one of those.
digger7

http://www.bricktowerpress.com/
note the link for BPVP.
maybe we ought to contact him to look through the stuff for the secret folder!
wilhouse
check that, I did!

This is a test—there has been no activity for over a week, and I just wanted to see if everything was still working!!

I have posted a few comments in the verse 10 thread but not sure who the moderator is but they have not been put in. Who do I need to contact to get my comments added to the thread?

OK I feel you, certainly pointing out the words
no more
in italics must have just been a
slip up
or something.

I have a general question for discussion….
We know that Ted Mann was a senior editor at the National Lampoon, and Sean Kelly wrote op-ed pieces for the NY Times. Byron Preiss himself was a book publisher and this was his baby. I would think that some care went into the editing of this book, especially crucial parts like the entry form and instructions.
In the back of the book, the instructions and “rules” so to speak, there is the phrase with italics as it appears in the book…
“
Every
treasure casque is buried underground, at a depth of
no more
than three to three and one-half
feet
.”
I pose this question.
If something is
NO MORE
than 3 and 1/2 feet deep…it’s certainly NOT no more than 3 feet deep. Why would you even say THREE to Three and one half feet…all you need to say is 3 and one half feet. He even emphasized the words
no more
with italics to give us a precise depth, and then gives us a vague one.
Wasted words? Humor (in the instructions?) or was it a slip up? Was it on purpose?
Even if he buried 1 a little deeper than the rest, you would still just say no more than X depth…unless you switched the phrase to “at a depth of 2.5 to 3.5 feet” or something of the nature.
This has always bothered me, any thoughts?

Your concern about the specificity is, I think, why it was written as “no more than 3 to 3.5 feet.” I think it was uncertain to Preiss how far down he dug (i.e., he never measured – he just dug a hole and put the casque in it without knowing its depth). A useful comparison that elicits this ambiguity is observed when asking why Preiss used “no more than” as opposed to “not more than” when describing the depth.
Consider this…
The casque is no more than 3.5 feet down.
The casque is not more than 3.5 feet down.
The first sentence lends itself to uncertainty about the exact depth… it’s more casual, an estimate. It would not be unusual to include a range in an estimate; thus, “no more than three to three and one-half feet” makes sense here.
The second sentence lends itself to certainty about the exact depth. If Preiss was certain about the depth (i.e., he measured when he dug), he might have used this phrase instead: “The casque is not more than three and one-half feet.”

Sure, but if your choice of words is “No More” and you emphasize that, and you weren’t sure if you put it down 3 feet or 3 and a half feet, then to correctly complete the phrase you would choose the lowest depth and not both…no?

decibalnyc

Sure, but if your choice of words is “No More” and you emphasize that, and you weren’t sure if you put it down 3 feet or 3 and a half feet, then to correctly complete the phrase you would choose the lowest depth and not both…no?

If you were trying to be as precise as possible without actually knowing, you would use “no more than” and a range as close to what you thought was true. For instance, if he knew it was no more than “three and one-half,” he would have said it. But he didn’t measure each hole with a tape, IMHO. So, he is essentially making his best guesstimate. He is saying, “no more than 3 feet, give or take.” If he truly had no idea, he would have said, “not more than 10 feet.” But, I think he was trying to be helpful by saying, look y’all… if you dig down 3 or 3 and a half feet (cause he knows we ain’t measuring either), and it ain’t there, then it ain’t there.
If he knew exactly and had measured, he would say “not more than” and a specific number.