MrBackstop

I’ll try to find those side by side photos on this site when I get a chance and am away from my many customers at the moment.

I think we lost MrBack… to the porn bots.

If Thucydides is
North of Xenophon
Take five steps
In the area of his direction
I believe this has three key pieces of information:
1) IF = a prison, Chateau d’If was the place of exile for Edmond Dantes.  Falsely accused of being a Bonapartist, he would’ve been free had the truth been revealed by the letter which was destroyed by Villefort.
2) 2 objects, one is north of the other and is a metaphor for Thucydides in exile north of Athens.  Thucydides and Xenophon are similar in several respects, a clue that the 2 objects are also similar.  I believe they are both lamps.
3) the ambiguous personal pronoun, “his” may refer to either Thucydides or Xenophon since they are both of male gender.  It seems natural to apply the personal pronoun to the first subject of the main clause.  Stand at lamp-Xenophon and walk five steps towards lamp-Thucydides.

Sorry, forgot the link:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rnolan1087/426090098/

Also keep in mind “five steps” isn’t a very far direction unless the verse is saying “you start here and you’re darn close already”  The nearest patch of dirt to even dig in is at the very least Coply accross the street from the Library and crossing the street is certainly more than five steps.  Unless you count the courtyard, and there is very little chance he could have hidden it there.
I know that it has been brought up that renovation was done to the courtyard meaning if it was there that it’s not now.  Haven’t been in that courtyard, I highly doubt he could have buried it without hassle.  I’m for now assuming it was someplace else.

Ringo

Unless you count the courtyard, and there is very little chance he could have hidden it there.
I know that it has been brought up that renovation was done to the courtyard meaning if it was there that it’s not now.  Haven’t been in that courtyard, I highly doubt he could have buried it without hassle.  I’m for now assuming it was someplace else.

Shelock Holmes says that once you eliminate the impossible, then you are left with the possible,
no matter how unlikely.
Steps I believe does not indicate distance, but literally five steps taking you into the building.
(it is five steps up into the library from the side walk – this door takes you directly onto the
courtyard)
The courtyard has water, stairs, and a place for people to pass by.
It is next to the map (and globe) room.
And the courtyard IS the middle section.
Sorry to keep bringing up the discovery, but if you try to make the clues fit
a place that has been undisturbed, you are not treasure hunting – you are
chasing rainbows.

Thron:
I agree with you. and yet disagree.
Thank you for the Sherlock analogy, because it is VERY true.
The ONLY reason I don’t like the courtyard theory is because I think it would have been impossible for him to have buried it there.  I tend to think BP would not have wanted to be seen burying the casques.  Forget for a moment that the courtyard has been remodeled.  It is only accessible through the building, which means he would have had to bury it during library hours.  There is no part of the courtyard that is not obscured from view.  There are windows looking in on all four sides.  The courtyard is also very small, but the view out into it is great.  The few times I have been in the library I can’t help but look into the courtyard not just to see the courtyard but to view the architecture of the building itself.
There are things that would make a great fit, the archways within the building may be a good match for the archway or portal behind the figure in image #11.  “middle section” certainly puts the courtyard there.  Also the square shape in image could suggest the courtyard.
I’m not concerned with the work that was done to the courtyard, I’m concerned with the fact that BP would have literally been out in the open, and very visible.  Because of the likely hood of “getting away with it” I rule it out.
I LOVE the library, and when I do get to Boston I will certainly visit, and try to photograph the courtyard.  I’m willing to continue to explore it as an option, but I would want some proof not that he DID but that he COULD HAVE.  The “could have done it” is in my opinion such a slimm chance.  Does anyone know of any photographs online that show the courtyard at all before the renovation?  I wouldn’t care if they were arial view, from a window, or from within the courtyard.  I’m concerned with photos from preferably 25 years ago.  If such photos disprove me then I think we seriously explore the courtyard theory.  If there’s even a 50% he could have gotten away with it then it should be considered a PRIME location.  I know that if I were in his shows the idea of planting this item in the middle of an important library would tickle me pink.
I’m going to spend a good deal of my afternoon looking for library photos.  If someone beats me to it share the links. Throhn, I’m with you unless we can prove it impossible.

Thohn [and who like the BPL] :
I have so far found only one photo of the courtyard that can give an idea of the area back then.  This claims to be from the 1970s but there’s nothing that really defines it as such.  HOWEVER if may clue in that you could be right.  Notice that there’s some trees in this photo.  I would like to find some better images.  However, your point is well taken because there may have been enough coverage from folliage to cause an obstructed view and allow for a burial there.  I’m going to continue digging around for better photos from that time.  I’m still not convinced it would have been feasible to bury it unnoticed, but I’m starting to lean towards your theory.  But I want more proof that would have been possible before I’m willing to fully jump on board with it.

Yes indeed…welcome aboard Miss Elf.  Now is the time to invest in a shovel, a metal rod, a camera, and a good pair of walking shoes because you will be looking all over beantown for us as poor wilhouse has been doing in Houston.  Now that we have an insider, let’s narrow this one down and find it folks……

Yep…Here’s one photo of it at night. It is lit up, with white light:

bigmattyh i had the same idea you had except i figured “HILL” is the “TOWER” and “BEACON” is for “LIGHTS”
and “GREEN” could just mean “HILL” also
BEACON HILL
also a Mr. Greene owned Cotton HIll which is now Pemberton Square I think
i’m still thinking boston common and maybe the shaw monumentl because their weapons look like her hair and the angel could be our fairy and it has the big round ball thingies and the eagle.
i think shecrab mentioned somewhere that the “verses” are jumbled from going straight to the casques.
here’s a picture of the shaw monument, and it is right across from the state house on beacon street:
http://flickr.com/photos/historyofboston/2078347751/
and the backside looks like this: which could match the bottom of the picture:
http://flickr.com/photos/historyofboston/151439740/
and also the liberty mall steps and guild steps are over there on that side of the commons.

What if “Green” or “Greene” was the name of the architect or famous company that was in it at the time?
Or if perhaps “Tower” is the name, and we are to look for “green” as in a park or common area?

Any towers in Beacon Hill?

Unknown

Unknown:
“the green building” at MIT.

Actually, it’s called Green Tower.
As for architects or other personnel involved with a building of any kind, I’ve done quite a lot of searching and came up empty on that account.  MIT’s Green Tower is the closest you’ll get there, I’m afraid. I’ve looked in the past, and in the LONG past as well. Nothin’.
It’s been said before, but Beacon
could
mean tower, and Hill could mean the “green.” Beacon Hill-Green Tower. Or “green” could mean the park area (flat) that contains a tower–such as in village green. So a “green” tower could mean a tower on the green. The Bunker Hill monument would qualify there–certainly on a green and certainly a tower.

check out this photo of MIT at night.
http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2007/sox-1026.html
[notice in the photo just how close to the river it is.  makes the lines “Face the water, Your back to the stairs” fitting?]
Shecrab:
Do you know if the Bunker Hill Monument is lit at night?  I can’t find any nighttime photos of it.  If it IS lit, kind of like the Washinton Monument then perhaps the following line “in the middle section” would become more clear.  The tower being lit is what’s sitting “in the middle” of the lights?  I can’t find any photos of Bunker hill at night though to prove or disprove this idea.
I’m going to repeat myself….
BP must have had a LOT of fun with this.

It’s hosted @ harvard.edu so I guess student or lecturer.
Then just point to it with the Insert Image link above.
Mark

So it turns out I’m going to stay in town after all.  I’ve infected my friend Ben with the Secret bug, so the two of us are going to be doing some recon and taking some photos tomorrow in Boston.
AmyMisha – we might actually end up crossing paths with you on the Esplanade tomorrow.  If you see us, come say hi!  We look like this:

Yah, it’s gotta be hosted somewhere on the web.  Mine’s just on the server space they give us as students.  Then you just use the little BB image tags and paste in the url.

If you have problems finding somewhere to host it I can put it somewhere and just send you a link.
Email me the picture if you want.
Mark

how did you post a picture? many of us have tried unsuccessfully to do this!
wilhouse

If Thucydides is
North of Xenophon
Take five steps
In the area of his direction
Five steps somewhere in the north of Boston.
A green tower of lights
In the middle section
“Tower of flights” -> Terminal building. Here’s Terminal St in the north of Boston.
There’s also a more literal “green tower” here in the form of the
Tobin Memorial Bridge
, aka the “Mystic River Bridge”.
Near those
Who pass the coliseum
These have previously been identified as the marathon runners who pass in front of the coliseum-like Harvard Stadium. The bottom right of the above map shows
Marathon Tours
to the right of Barry Playground.
With metal walls
This is Old Ironsides Way, shown winding around to the left of Barry Playground.
Face the water
Your back to the stairs
Haven’t found these yet.
I like the sound of a “little mystic access area”. (Top left.) There are loads of tall lamps all around here.
Wonder what this feature is at the top of Barry Playground.
(Alternatively, I guess the next lines could be leading south towards USS Constitution and Revere Park.)

This is the “mystic access area”…
View from the marked spot…
Down the other end of 13th St from Marathon tours, there’s a “circle garden” which has got numerous sets of five steps, turrets, lamps, homes, and you’re facing the water. (It’s at Pier 8…Peridot…8th month.)
I like the Eaton’s-style check pattern. Looks quite new, and it would be fairly conspicuous digging it up…
I like this though…

cw0909

i need a refresher on which side the T and X names are on
zooming in you can see names,but not clearly
dartmouth street entrance
http://goo.gl/maps/7qX9d
Boylston st entrance
http://goo.gl/maps/S7J4x
blagden st
http://goo.gl/maps/HD5fV
and i dont remember when this was added,were the names on
this side too,and gone now
http://goo.gl/maps/sqYUt
http://goo.gl/maps/tYanV

The names Thucidydes and Xenophon are carved into the wall above the Dartmouth Street entrance. That entrance faces sort of east. I can try to give some sort of visual confirmation that T is south of X the next time I’m there.

i need a refresher on which side the T and X names are on
zooming in you can see names,but not clearly
dartmouth street entrance
http://goo.gl/maps/7qX9d
Boylston st entrance
http://goo.gl/maps/S7J4x
blagden st
http://goo.gl/maps/HD5fV
and i dont remember when this was added,were the names on
this side too,and gone now
http://goo.gl/maps/sqYUt
http://goo.gl/maps/tYanV

cw0909, I’ve seen the names Thucydides and Xenophon on other notable libraries around the country.  They aren’t duplicated on other walls and they just occur once.  I see no reason to believe they were on any other wall in the Boston location.
Maybe the clearest way to look at the lines is that Thucydides and Xenophon are on the north side of BPL, and the intention being that the word “If” represents what is north.
If is a conjunction and it is how Preiss is fooling us with his riddle.  CON-JUNCTION.  “Con” means to trick or cheat.  “Junction” is where roads meet.  With reference to the starting location of the two Greek historians, where does “five steps” take us in terms of counting of road junctions that allow north access?
We could consider walking either east or west along Boylston street.  Starting with the first north junction at Dartmouth we might continue east til we arrive at the fifth junction north which is Charles street or we might go west starting with Exeter street’s north junction and arriving at the fifth junction of Massachusetts avenue.
It is then up to us to determine what clue gets us one step closer to the casque from either the intersection of Charles St. or Massachusetts Ave.  The appropriate choice for the possessive pronoun “his” is Charles.  The next line “In the area of his direction” after coming to the “take five steps” conclusion might then be “Charles’ area”, which could lead to the area named Charlesgate Park where we would next look for a “green tower of lights”.
Skipping ahead for a moment to consider verse 3 lines 15-16, my absolute favorite place of interest is the front gates of the Hotel Somerset.  Here’s why:  the clue “18th day, 12th hour” is our instruction to look at the historically relevant “Tales of a Wayside Inn,” by Longfellow.  This includes the somewhat fictionalized account of “Paul Revere’s Ride,” Lines 2-3
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,
On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five;
I’m additionally in favor of the Hotel Somerset location, because this poem speaks of the warship named Somerset.  For fun I wonder if we’re suppose to catch the playful idea of the word in Paul Revere’s name, “revere”, which suggests a few possibilities, one of which being the synonym “worship”, which is in turn a homonym for “warship”, Lines 18-19
Where swinging wide at her moorings lay
The Somerset, British man-of-war;
So let’s recap, we’ve used the names on BPL to locate the street Boyslton and then counted five junctions to reveal Charles St., we then use that to conclude the name of a park area. It might be possible to actually take a specific path to this location from BPL:  Boylston east, left on Charles St., continue left on Beacon St. and arriving at the northeast corner of Charlesgate Park bound by W. and E. Charlesgate, Beacon and Newbury.  In this area of Charles’, Charlesgate Park, in front of Revere’s “warship”, Somerset, there’s one green light post in particular and I think the remaining visually appealing clues.
We’re now just up to line 6 of verse 3, “In the middle section,” could be anything “waist high”…anyone have ideas on how to continue this interpretation?

I don’t know the title, it’s not English, someone send it to me, along with lots of other art and misc material last year…
I was gonna post it in Image 3 thread, I’ll do that along with some other related context as well, hopefully by this weekend…

If anyone seriously considers the “2 C’s” area as a candidate, I think its important to understand it’s not just a random spot in Boston.  In my mind it’s not completely determined how we arrive at that spot or where we really start if there is in fact a path.  We all share the idea that BPL is the most sensible place, but there is an alternative or two to consider, which I won’t discuss here.  The thing tghat interests me most is the string of connections to Paul Reveres Midnight Ride.  That is a Longfellow poem.  In reading the poem there is a clear reference to the Somerset warship.  The 2 C’s right across from the building of the same name.  This is not a random assignment of significance.  If it means anything, it is to say we just learned of a location via research of a specific reference “eighteenth day, twelfth hour”.  That process did not occur in Chicago or Cleveland.  Although this Boston casque remains to be recovered, we might still consider how one or more approaches might be needed to interpret these verses.

I believe “In truth be free” is an instruction to align something.
Truth has a definition for being accurate.  It also has a usage in balancing or straightening a wheel.  Given we have some circular items here, maybe this is a possible take.
The other side of this is “in untruth be imprisoned”.  Does this bring the barred gate across the street into play?

All the letters are here to see
There is an ‘S’ on the gate across the street.  Now where can we find an ‘E’ and then another ‘E’?

What if “stairs” = “stares”?
People driving over Bowker wont be focused on you digging.  People exiting the SS gate to the sidewalk may stare in the direction of the Citgo sign for a moment and see your back as you dig…

All the letters are here 2C?

I haven’t abandoned the “2C” version completely.  We’re making a leap taking “to see” to “2 C”.  I’m not finding anything satisfying to the absolute literal “to SEE” unless it’s Charl
es
gat
e
, but then that’s a much greater stretch.
2 C is two leaps combined.  Let’s leave the word “to” alone and only change “see” to “C”.  Then it’s like Chicago’s M and B.
All the letters are here to C.  CITGO?
I noticed if it weren’t for some intervening greenery that you can stand right around the small box and the globe light and see the letters of the CITGO sign.  Further down closer to the green light post we have a building (looks like an old building) blocking except for the letters “-GO” and part of the red triangle.
Perhaps we shouldn’t need to modify the word at all; leaving it as “see” might fit perfectly with the nickname “see it go”.
I’m less enthusiastic about the nook between the two circles given this development.

there is one thing that is bothering me about this V,
It doesn’t seem to specify a place to dig

Sure it does.
When you’re in the right place, the V instructs you to
Take five steps / In the area of his direction
. Then
Face the water / Your back to the stairs
. Implied at that point is
dig
.

OK so is it verse 3 and pic 11?  i have friends in boston who live near BU and know the area very well …

I’m very curious about the fact that Roberto Clemente is the name of an actual
coliseum
.  (Those who pass the coliseum)
Those who pass might refer to those who are dead, passed away.  Clemente’s monument stands in the Fenway of the Emerald Necklace.

Glossiphoniidae

Trolley… hmmn… interesting. I’ve just been looking for a Hulk connection.

Hulk…is that meant to relate back to the Longfellow poem which describes the Somerset warship as a hulk?  Or is it tondo with the Colosseum in Rome as it relates to the Colossus, the giant statue?

With respect to baseball, a bat is used to hit the baseball.  The origin of the word ‘bat’ refers to it as a staff or cudgel and to beat or strike.  I continue to wonder if there’s a level of music theory at work here, since in music notation there is also a “staff”.
Another random notion, “one if by land, two if by sea”, -> “2 [IF] x C”, hmm…
2xC is like saying “two-hundred”.
The line “in truth be free,” might also be read “in alignment, no money”, so how about finding a spot near the 2Cs where you find something that obstructs view of the intertwined double-S on the Somerset gate? The Ss are on bars which might be interpreted as two $$, or money symbols.  This might bring the small pump house back into play.  Perhaps moving to a spot just to the point where your back is to stairs, facing water and the two $$ just become obscured by the corner of the building.  That place might even be exactly 5 steps away from some significant spot or setting where there’s a visual match to the image.

Five steps in an area seems like its designed to meet an important visual condition either preceeding or after the five steps are taken, if actual foot paces are to be explored.  The direction of these steps don’t seem to be indicated whatsoever.

take five streets (steps) down back street from BPL and it turns into charlesgate (his direction).

“If Thucydides is North of Xenophon”
I believe this may be an astronomy reference to give a direction to face. Is there a star or galaxy or cosmic grouping named after Xenophon and Thucydides?

shecrab

Another thing: isn’t Post Office Square a short distance from Copley Square?
Post office=letters (all the letters.)

Wanted to bump this old post from SheCrab… did any Boston searchers ever take a closer look at this idea? The Post Office idea seems reasonable enough to me. Just a couple observations/V3 thoughts:
-As much as it pains me to reference Google Maps imagery, or any theories from the Wiki site, the map view of the George Thorndike Angell Memorial next to Post Office Square does seem to “resemble” the Charlesbridge “2C” site that a lot of people seem to have focused on.
-Also, it looks like there’s a “Water Street” just north of Post Office Square… any possibility that a street name might be the reference point for “Face the water”, as opposed to an actual body of water?
At first glance, it looks like the Post Office Square area (now called the Norman B. Leventhal Park) has gone through a lot of renovation since 1981. Still, I’d bet that the Boston Public Library’s main branch would have some period photos of this area.

shecrab

Another thing: isn’t Post Office Square a short distance from Copley Square?
Post office=
letters
(all the
letters
.)

Wanted to bump this old post from SheCrab… did any Boston searchers ever take a closer look at this idea? The Post Office idea seems reasonable enough to me. Just a couple observations/V3 thoughts:
-As much as it pains me to reference Google Maps imagery, or any theories from the Wiki site, the map view of the George Thorndike Angell Memorial next to Post Office Square does seem to “resemble” the Charlesbridge “2C” site that a lot of people seem to have focused on.
-Also, it looks like there’s a “Water Street” just north of Post Office Square… any possibility that a street name might be the reference point for “Face the water”, as opposed to an actual body of water?
At first glance, it looks like the Post Office Square area (now called the Norman B. Leventhal Park) has gone through a lot of renovation since 1981. Still, I’d bet that the Boston Public Library’s main branch would have some period photos of this area.

I’m glad we have newer members of this board bringing this thread to the forfront.  This V seems to be the most obvious V leading us to a city.  It seems pretty certain this IS Boston with the last few lines referring to Paul Revere.  Maybe we should all once again focus on this one and see if we have or will come up with new directions.  Only if we were certain of a P with this one…..

and you can research that “coliseum with metal walls” which existed in Boston back in 1982 but which was recently demolished — if indeed the verse is being literal about a coliseum…

Choice

It’s hard to convince an inconvincible. It’s abundantly clear that you don’t agree with my puzzle solving method but this type of heuristic technique is used in technology routinely. Your internet security uses this algorithm.

I can be convinced if the information being presented leads to some logical next step. Something that helps define a path or better yet, an actual location. This doesn’t.
It has been speculated that Preiss had a time machine. In that case, I guess your internet security technology could be correct.
Would you rather I cheer you on and compliment your amazing intellect? Maybe the Preiss family or Josh Gates or the publisher will just award you the remaining gems because your theories are so solid. I would rather just call a spade, a spade.

Or you could just keep your opinions to yourself since they are like ani; everybody has one and everyone else’s stink.
You’re earning your tagline.
Bring something to the table.

from wiki – Readers in antiquity often placed the continuation of the stylistic legacy of the History in the writings of Thucydides’ putative intellectual successor Xenophon. Such readings often described Xenophon’s treatises as attempts to “finish” Thucydides’s History.

mariska

Do you mean these around Killian Court? because I can’t find T & X there, or are they on other buildings ?
Here’s a list of the names on the building that I could find:
https://libraries.mit.edu/archives/exhibits/names/index.html
( Also kind of interesting, the reasons why these names are chosen for these buildings are in these letters:
https://libraries.mit.edu/archives/exhibits/names/names-letters.html
)

Yes, they are in that same general area and the same style. The Xenophon was pretty clear, but I do remember the Thucydides written in Latin and the font wasn’t exactly what I expected. It seemed different to the eye.
Not confident of which buildings they were on, but there is a ton of those buildings with the inscriptions all around that courtyard. Memory (could be bad) tells me that there were more recent names like Kennedy and others there as well.
I will find them and post a picture the next time I am working in the area.

BINGO

Yes, they are in that same general area and the same style. The Xenophon was pretty clear, but I do remember the Thucydides written in Latin and the font wasn’t exactly what I expected. It seemed different to the eye.
Not confident of which buildings they were on, but there is a ton of those buildings with the inscriptions all around that courtyard. Memory (could be bad) tells me that there were more recent names like Kennedy and others there as well.
I will find them and post a picture the next time I am working in the area.

Interesting , I’d love to see pictures !
Here’s another list with the names on the buildings, more names than the other list, but still no T&X on there … It does says that the names are arranged to be near the particular department, so probably around the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences department…
https://libraries.mit.edu/archives/exhi … -tech.html

BINGO

Both names can be found engraved in the top of the many buildings at the MIT campus in Cambridge. The names are on completely different buildings. Many of those buildings (I am not familiar with the actual building names) have famous Mathematicians, Scientists, Writers, etc., much like the hundreds of names on the BPL. They are much larger engravings and I suspect that the names are related to the classes that are held within the building.

Do you mean these around Killian Court? because I can’t find T & X there, or are they on other buildings ?
Here’s a list of the names on the building that I could find:
https://libraries.mit.edu/archives/exhibits/names/index.html
( Also kind of interesting, the reasons why these names are chosen for these buildings are in these letters:
https://libraries.mit.edu/archives/exhibits/names/names-letters.html
)

If Thucydides is
North of Xenophon
Take five steps
In the area of his direction
Because Thucydides and Xenophon are names appearing on the outer wall of the Boston Public Library, which may only be a presumption of similarity to how M and B were set in stone in Chicago, the inclination to think of their names as only references to points in space presents an immediate conflict.  Thucydides the name in the stone is not north of Xenophon on the library wall.
My attempt to explain why these lines are so puzzling takes into consideration who Thucydides and Xenophon were in relation to one another.  They were both Athenians of Greece and both historians who wrote about the events of the Peloponnesian War.  Thucydides recorded events of the first 20 years while he was in exile and Xenophon’s Hellenica held record of the later part of the war of 27 years.  Once I took the time to learn a little about who these two Greek historians were, I’d expect it should be enough and the answer should be obvious.  The only thing that seems to work is that Thucydides was in exile and Xenophon was not.  During those 20 years, Thucydides lived on his property in Thrace, about 230 miles northeast of Athens.  In exile he was north of Xenophon.
If an exiled old man is
North of a younger man
It becomes something to consider that the John Boyle O’Reily statue is precisely 1000 meters from the corner of the Boston Public Library’s corner of Exeter and Boylston.  Standard city block lengths in that area of Boston are 200 meters.
Take five blocks (1000m)
In the area of an exiled man’s direction
At this point there might be no need to complicate things with establishing a younger man statue somewhere south of the John Boyle O’Reily.  Xenophon only served as a reference to sort out the necessary key concept of exile.
I feel like this should’ve been settled long ago.  We would then have had a clear sense of where to go next in the area.

I suppose a site that looks visually appealing on Google or Bing street view and some photographs could be completely and absolutely incomparible to a first hand account from someone who’s spent a good time at the site actively trying to “feel at home”.
As a exercise I’d like to think of the poem verse as outlining the fewest possible points of interest:
1) Guide us to a specific area in some standard or strangely acceptible way: name, address, description, or even something inferred.
2) Describe one, two or more point references that form a cohesive locating motif.
If Thucydides is
North of Xenophon
Starting place + cryptic:
Boston Public Library
Take five steps
In the area of his direction
cryptic:
5 blocks travel on Boyleston to the Boyle statue
A green tower of lights
non-cryptic
description, look for just that
In the middle section
narrowing:
Something, an area or an object to have at least three parts
Near those
Who pass the coliseum
crpytic:
Near where people would pass an amphitheater (a place of two semi-circles)
With metal walls
non-cryptic
Face the water
non-cryptic:
turn head towards place of water;
cryptic:
boldy or adventurously challenge the water =Leif Erikkson
Your back to the stairs
non-cryptic
Feel at home
cryptic:
implies making a stay or being very comfortable, may relate to the following line of hitting a homer in direction of CITGO, could mean an overhead area acting as a roof (home = having a roof over your head)
All the letters
Are here to see
non-cryptic:
actual alphabet letters, or postal letters;
cryptic:
place where you see well-educated people
Eighteenth day
Twelfth hour
literary reference:
The Landlord’s Tale by Longfellow
Lit by lamplight
In truth, be free.
wild theory:
interrogation, the threat of imprisonment = a wall with a barred gate for example.
According to my rotation of the perspective from Google street view while standing in one place, I can see it’s possible look in the direction of and see various elements that might conform to this break down of the verse: a green light tower, the CITGO sign, Leif Erikkson statue, the two semi-circles, some stairs, and a wall with bars belonging to the Somerset which was a word appearing in the Longfellow poem.
In terms of using the fewest possible elements purely as point reference, I’m most inclined to think the nearest dirt to the spot that accomplishes as many visual connections as possible.

Xieish

…
I have been on the ground at every reasonably suggested location in Boston. Charlesgate is not it, there are absolutely 0 matching images – I walked the entire Comm Ave Mall from the Public Gardens. the basins that look like the globes are not the right shape. There are actually 4 lights there, not 3, so it doesn’t form the pattern of crystal balls in the picture. The Charlesgate building, or anything near by, does not come close to matching the turrets on the box. The S on The Somerset building doesn’t match at all. You cannot see the Citgo sign from the proposed location. Etc.
…

In terms of precise matches, there’s little to go on, but I thought I’d point out the similarities and a variety of points of interest concerning the Charlesgate section nearest the Somerset, because there’s a big difference between you saying “absolutely 0” and the street view reporting a good number of similarities.
A curve of road as might be seen with a regular map, fixed to north orrientation:
Look north to see the top portion of the Charlesgate building in the distance:
Sections of space between the balusters along Charlesgate look like they were the template for the lower right portion of the illustration:
The green light tower: a rectangular shape base with skinnier post extending from the top.
There are two S’s on the Somerset Gate (the second is in reversed orrientation): there is one S and the hint of a second S (also in reversed orrientation) on the illustration.  There’s a grid of what looks like three distinct squares that I’m still curious about.
You say the CITGO sign can’t be seen from the area, Bing Maps and Google Maps street views suggest otherwise, but there are some tree branches obscurring the view, which might raise the question did those skinny branches grow that much in the last 30 years?
There are 5 globe lights in all: one to the south next to the hut (in grass), three in the paved section of depressions, and one just to the north in the fenced area (in grass).  There are three main orbs in the illustration and two bubbles, perhaps the bubbles represent the two globe lights that are floating higher than the three globes set lower in the brick paved section.
There’s a section of the sidewalk that might fit the line and box shape on the oculus:
There’s the idea that the oculus is the artist taking a straight layout of sidewalk and other elements and fitting them to the arc perspective.  (I wish I was more skilled with editing tools to show this.)
The presumption that ONLY exact matches will get us closer to a casque is an additional obstacle.  A looser perspective that allows the characteristic elements in the art to define the same characteristic elements seen in person might be a better way of discerning what’s been disguised by the artist’s creative layer.

gillyworx

I’m in San Francisco for the weekend and decided to do some hunting and found a plaque on the Asian museum in un plaza with both xenophon and thucydides on the side of the building….im heading back up there later today to check out the area again.i took a picture of the plaque but it’s too big of a file to post here

nice

Ive found thucydides and xenophon written on the sides of many buildings. Its not an uncommon architectural detail.

I wish that bird perch was a complete T. Cool jetliner approach tho.

Durian

Has anyone ever considered the possibility that the bubbles in the image are representative of airplane traffic near an airport? I’ve thought about this in connection with the Roanoke puzzle, and its obvious references to aviation…
Its interesting that Logan is so close to downtown Boston, and there is a Black Falcon Drive by the docks just across the water from the airport, as well as across from Fort Independence. Maybe the bubbles indicate a flight path?

I was sure you would be looking at that other cove
(pleasure bay) south of the Black Falcon Ave. that looks like a falcon talons next to the CASTLE Island and Fort Independence (be free).

Unknown

Unknown:
But there were parts of the verse that never got explained: couplet was one. I don’t believe they ever found out what that referred to.

Why are the words
those who pass
in the verse? Why was it not sufficient to instead write
Near the coliseum with metal walls
? What is special about
those who pass
?
I have difficulty with the idea that
metal walls
is a reference to Old Ironsides. In no way could Ironsides be referred to as a “coliseum” – it’s a ship, not a building. So
coliseum with metal walls
does not make sense to me as Old Ironsides.
On another thread, shecrab noted:
I think it has been mentioned that
Free speech, couplet, birch
parallel the names
Socrates, Pindar, Apelles
on the previous line. Socrates was associated with free speech, Pindar was a poet (hence couplet), and birch was a reference to ancient paintbrushes.

“one
IF
by land, two
IF
by sea”
I think the first word of the verse, “If” implicates the usage of this farmers lamplight coded message.
2 if by C.  I don’t regard the word “letters” as an alphabetical reference.  I think of it in the message sense.  To paraphrase, “all the lights are here to see”, since the lamp light was the message used to ready the resistance to British attack from the Somerset warship.

erexere

“one
IF
by land, two
IF
by sea”
I think the first word of the verse, “If” implicates the usage of this farmers lamplight coded message.
2 if by C.

this is actually quite an interesting justification, but continue your logic… since there is only one “if,” does that mean it is
not
by 2C? Kind of like how we thought “If T is north of X” was an equation, but we were missing the “then” statement… You weren’t supposed to go on because the first part of the equation was true. Funny how these two assumptions would link the lines that are formulaic wordplay of ‘if’ statements. Just musing.

I think the “if” portion of the Thucydides line had its own reason.  This could be it.
This leads me to consider the first word of the next line for its own purpose…”North”.  Perhaps this is the clue needed to see the Viking element and consider the Leif statue as the intended source for “his direction”.  The statue faces west.
Btw, Norse is North.

Unknown

Unknown:
I am just tired of people getting so stuck in their own theories that they refuse to help construct others’ (as opposed to destruct). It defeats the purpose of sharing information, of this board.

I, for one, am BONE tired of the same thing.
I would like to see your theory tested, because we pretty much exhausted the other theories in Boston, namely most of those at Copley Plaza and the Library. I can’t think how we can test it, however, unless some digging is done. If I didn’t live in Ohio, and Boston was not a 12 hour drive, I would be happy to help look and dig; unfortunately, it’s not very convenient for me.
I am also bone tired of these oblique references based on layer upon layer of word-manipulation, reverse engineering, and satellite imagery that would not have been part of the original concealment, and probably not been a part of the riddle in any way. When anyone DOES refute those types of ideas, the refutation is met with either (a) disbelief that one might even consider such a thing or (b) whining. Meaningful exchange goes right out the window in the face of such opposition.
Four21, I like your Mother’s Rest ideas. I think it incorporates a lot of the verse. I was not successful in finding any on-line pictures to support what you had already posted, to see if it has any support there–so until someone does go and photograph everything in the vicinity, and puts it where it can be evaluated, I’ll just have to trust your ideas; and wait for someone to actually dig.
At any rate, the reason for the silence is not necessarily because someone doesn’t agree.

shecrab

At any rate, the reason for the silence is not necessarily because someone doesn’t agree.

Cool, my suggestions clearly meet with more widespread approval than I’d realised.  🙂

(+1 for the digging idea.)

Hi Shecrab!  Hi White Rabbit!  Thank you both.
Shecrab, I absolutely am and will be reading through posts, I just wanted to pop in and say hi instead of just lurking around for ages. (as I often do on forums )
I understand these hunts may lead to nothing, I’m OK with that.
White Rabbit, Thanks for that.  Since I wrote the above, I’ve come across one of your earlier posts of it.  Verse as trail makes sense.  I often over-think riddles and such, maybe treasure hunts are the best place for me.
The reason the Boston location grabbed me is because I grew up in Somerville, MA, just outside of Boston.  The idea that there is/was a casque so “close” is very cool to me.  Admittedly, like many who live near Boston, I didn’t spend a great deal of time there.  I’m sure there are visitors who’ve a better knowledge of the city than I.

TRex,
Welcome to the best group of “mentally challenged” treasure hunters
you could possibly find on line!  (Did that come out right?)
I know that you will add to the flow of ideas…and maybe even be the
next “finder” of a coveted casque.  (No jewels are being awarded any more,
so the casque itself has become the prize.)
The Boston threads are many…Happy reading!
AP

TzalosRex, you will find many confirmers in Copley Square, from the design on the cathedral to the shape of the land itself. Since so much has been reconfigured there, however, it’s unlikely to yield a casque. But welcome to your ideas anyway!

Hi Tzalos….welcome.
The best thing to do is to (I know you’ll hate this) literally slog through all the posts on this forum and see how things are put together and what people have already proposed.  I would start with the two that have already been solved, the Cleveland and Chicago casques. Those are Image 4 with Verse 4, and Image 5 with verse 12. You can learn a great deal by going over those two and seeing what Preiss did to hide the casques.
Also keep in mind that this hunt is 30 years old and was published before many world-changing things happened: 9/11, Katrina, etc. Almost nothing will still be the same and that may make everything simply a moot point. The author has died, the prizes will not be given out, and after 30 years underground, even plexiglas falls apart. This hunt is probably a paper exercise only now, so don’t be afraid to post whatever you wish–no one is going to “steal” your prize away from you if you do.
Good luck with the research.

animal painter

Welcome to the best group of “mentally challenged” treasure hunters
you could possibly find on line!  (Did that come out right?)

TzalosRex

Could the lines in the verse refer to several different landmarks that could be used to sort of triangulate the location of the casque? Or, if painting 11 is the correct image, could the globes and the star be a map?  With the globes being the landmarks and the star being the casque location?

Hi Tzalos –
Welcome to
The Secret
forum, the world’s most patient band of armchair treasure hunters. 😉
The most common approach is to consider the verse as a trail within the city which includes various things within the images. For instance, in the case of the solved Chicago puzzle (Verse 12 / Image 5):
1
Where M and B are set in stone
– Symphony Hall (“Mozart” and “Beethoven” inscription, confirmed by Preiss)
2
And to Congress, R is known
– thought to be  Roosevelt University
3
L sits and left
– Lincoln statue
4
Beyond his shoulder
– Casque
The visual references for the Chicago image include various statues and other landmarks in the area of Grant Park such as The Bowman, Spirit of the Great Lakes, the front of Symphony Hall, and a fencepost near the location, as well as the Chicago Water Tower as a general “Chicago” clue.
* * * * *
With this in mind – although I still like the possible “Shaw” clue for the Hatch Shell in the opening lines of this verse, I’m currently seeing the Boston trail as something like:
Boston Public Library (Thucydides) ->
Commonwealth Ave (5 steps)
-> Boston Public Garden (the green) -> Beacon St (tower of lights, marathon) -> Arthur Fiedler Footbridge (metal walls) -> Walsh statue (Revere)
(Interesting suggestion about the nearby Bull & Finch.)
WR

Just wondering – I reread Johann’s great walk through of the Chicago find and noticed that the Jackson St. was found by the clue 10.
Could Thucy and Xeno be refernces to 20 and 24, perhaps 20th and 24th streets or avenues? I am not familiar with this area – someone who is?
wilhouse

thats not a bad idea, but heres the thing.  that first line “if Thucy….north of Xep”  its a logic statement, like in computer programming.  If that statement is true, then you take 5 steps in that direction.  Well, what if that first statement isnt true??  then we dont take 5 step?? likely not, so thats why i think that the first two lines are just location clues to the starting place. everyone understand ??

Loph, well it would be easy to determine.  if 20th st is north of 24th st (or ave or blvd or whatever), then you’re done.  If someone knows this location well enough to check it out on mapquest, we can figure it out.
wilhouse

I have to agree with you loph.  I think whatever Thuc & Xen are referencing, Thuc WILL be north of Xen.  The only other thing I can think of is if Thuc IS NOT north of Xen, then do the exact opposite “take 5 steps away from his direction.”
another possible starting place may be the Boston Public library as I stated to you earlier loph.  Go do a little digging into the 2 green statues flanking the entrance.  I posted long, long ago that I thought maybe they represented Thuc & Xen.  Take a compass and see if one is north of the other.  There is also a nice fountain nearby…”face the water”.  possible explanation of “all the letters are here to see”: could also be referring to the library……a man of letters is one who specializes in literature or writing as a profession…also one of knowledge.  Maybe the library has a large display of all the letters (men of) to see.
good luck in your quest loph….keep us all posted
!!

Any mention of the lettered paths in The Fens? Could be our letters to see.

a freinds kid that is 9, gave me an idea for
face the water, maybe a play on the word
as in water,lake, atlantic, pacific ect. for.
a street name or building name ect.
havent read all posts to the areas that have been
looked at, are any of these names in those areas

drunknerds

Alright secret lovers, I’ve been making some real headway on this verse:
All the letters are here to see
“All the letters” is the alphabet. Where do you see the alphabet? Children’s television shows.
So I did some research and found out that Preiss worked on some children’s show called, “Sesame Street.” I watched a few clips on Youtube, and it’s apparently about some mentally ill/challenged muppets living in a poor, run-down neighborhood. I did some Googling, and Boston has a large section of low-income housing, so we know we’re in the right city.
here’s where it gets interesting:
This is the logo for Sesame Street:
“All the letters are here to see…” Check out that trio of letters on the top: CTW. Now move the C to the end: TWC
TWC
…
…
Do you see it yet?
TW(O) C .
All the letters are here “Two C”
He has incorporated both a hom*nym puzzle and a word scramble puzzle in the
very same clue
!
He wants us to check out the 2C area of Charlesgate, one of the most popular sections, I believe first discovered by erexere!
It’s right there, in one line with two clues, both pointing right at 2C!
That’s not all that’s hidden there. Rearrange CTW again: WCT … Pronounce it aloud like it’s a word…
…
…
Do you hear it yet?
Wicket!
As in “wicket awesome,” a popular Bostonian saying that probably refers to a love for croquet or cricket or something!
More associations:
– There is a muppet named Polly Darton… The woman in image 11 looks like a brunette Dolly Parton!
– A lot of Bostonians look a lot like Muppets!
It’s there, we just have to keep tracking all the dig spots until some blind pig (it could be you, it could be me) sniffs out the treasure….
Do you smell it yet? I can feel it: It’s so close I can taste!
I’m currently scouring archived historical photos to see if there is a garbage can or a bird’s nest that was there in 1980 which would pinpoint a dig spot. Wish me luck!

I already explained this much better, you ignoramus. Everyone knows it’s sesame seeds which makes you think of McDonald’s and I already proved this verse is about Canadian prime minister John McDonald. But that’s just a very, extremely specific connection to put you on the opposite side of town from where I already proved it was, but I already explained that too, dummy.
That said, welcome to q4t! Really enjoying your fresh new perspective which is exactly what this hunt needs. Don’t listen to people who actually read threads or understand well-established mechanisms, just pick a random city and then put together some things out of whole cloth. Anyway, I need to get back to the St. Louis thread. Have fun floundering around here, amateurs.

Merlot Brougham

I already explained this much better, you ignoramus. Everyone knows it’s sesame seeds which makes you think of McDonald’s and I already proved this verse is about Canadian prime minister John McDonald. But that’s just a very, extremely specific connection to put you on the opposite side of town from where I already proved it was, but I already explained that too, dummy.
That said, welcome to q4t! Really enjoying your fresh new perspective which is exactly what this hunt needs.

Thanks! Personally, I think Preiss threw in the sesame seed connection to mislead solvers and point them in the wrong direction, otherwise this puzzle would be too eay.

Just a few more ideas for the Boston casque.
The final lines of verse 3 say:
Eighteenth day
Twelfth hour
Lit by lamplight
In truth, be free.
Definite reference to Paul Revere, and a neighborhood where there is
still “lamplight”.  In the North End area, there are still gas lights that burn
all day long.  There are old street “lamplights” in North Square, where you
can see Paul Revere’s House.
I was looking at the ground there, which is now covered in bricks.
According to the owner of “Mamma Maria’s Restaurant”,
“prior to the bicentennial in 1976, it was just an open
square with cars parked all over.”
So the trees and grassy area were created only a few years before
BP came to bury his box.
Here you can see the front
5 steps
of Mamma Maria’s.
They face out North toward the “square” where there is
an old fashioned “lamplight” and a manhole cover.
There are a couple of trees planted nearby.  Apparently two of them died,
leaving two bare dirt squares…Hmmmm…could there have been room to bury
a small box?
I cannot make out what is written on the manhole cover.
It very well may say “water”…If so, we can “face the water”.
(If you Google on “manhole covers, Boston” you will see
it could be our “water” reference. This is a manhole cover
in Harvard Square.)
Here is the planted area at the “pointed end” of the square.  There is a metal
box there which is yet, unidentified…an old “letterbox”?  This area could qualify
for a digging site, since it is not a “flower bed”.
Here is a link to the Freedom Trail PDF on which you can get a closer look to see
where the trail leads. (
In truth be FREE
)
http://www.thefreedomtrail.org/maps/pdf … ps-map.pdf
Since BP referred in verse 3 to “the area of Thucydides’ direction”,
which is
North
, which may be the
North End
, I do not think he would have taken
us across the bridge to Charlestown.  (I have not found any visual clues there yet.)
North Square may not be secluded, and may not have been easy to dig unobserved,
but I offer this as a possibility.
AP

Unknown

Unknown:
There are a couple of trees planted nearby.  Apparently two of them died,
leaving two bare dirt squares…Hmmmm…could there have been room to bury
a small box?

I only have one thing to say about this theory:  ROOTS.

go fast then
becuase a either they will be paved over
or new trees planted and if that is the case the casques will probably be destroyed by the diggers.
Actuallly in this area the frost cycle has probably already crushed it. so it would just be pieces (ala clevland)
a tree planter might not even recognize it as anything besides trash

Malted,
Personally, I am more attracted to the other area,
by the strange metal “letterbox’.  There is more
digging space in that area.
This is another view of that “letterbox area”
AP

shecrab, good point i had forgotten the abc idea with the LETTERS
so now where to dig is the Q

My idea is only a “what if”…to get us looking at possible directions
other than in Copley Square “proper”….
AP

below is a line from #3 point of interest in the link ap posted
http://www.walkboston.org/resources/ima … aveMap.pdf
commonwealth follows a straight line [unusual for Boston]
which takes us back to the straight line idea, if this is at the  other end of commonwealth………. near both Fenway and the Alumni Stadium).
i have not looked at map to see if the stadiums are there
ap i like the letter idea works well with the path you followed
…….
Lit by lamplight
is this just a line, or maybe the spot where its buried, is lit by lamp light
Starting at Arlington Street, Commonwealth Avenue
follows a straight line [unusual for Boston] through the
Back Bay. Note that the cross-streets are in alphabetical
order: Arlington, Berkeley, Clarendon, Dartmouth,
Exeter, Fairfield, Gloucester, Hereford. They alternate
as one-way streets; careful as you cross!

Here is a new thought…
If you are standing in front of the Boston Public Library
looking at the frieze with the names of Thucydides and Xenophon,
if you “take 5 steps” North (5 streets)…heading up Dartmouth St., you will
pass the “dome” and stop at the center of Commonwealth Ave.
(“near those who pass the coliseum”..(two sides of Commonwealth Ave. pass
near both Fenway and the Alumni Stadium).
There is a statue of a man named William Lloyd Garrison.
He was a radical abolitionist…who fought for the end of
slavery and for women’s rights. (“in truth be free”..was part of the
lyrics to an ode to Washington’s birthday, written about slavery.)
According to a description of the statue:
The stern abolitionist is seated, (“feel at home”)
manuscripts in hand and scattered beneath his chair,
(“all the letters are here to see”)
If you “stand facing the water” (St. Charles River),
“with your back to the stairs” (steps surrounding the statue)…
maybe you will be in the right place to look for the casque.
Just trying an entirely new direction…
Is there anyone in the Boston area who can look around
in this vicinity?…Just see what is there….
AP
Here is the link to the PDF of the brochure about the area.
http://www.walkboston.org/resources/ima … aveMap.pdf
(description of the statue:)
9. William Lloyd Garrison was sculpted in 1886 by
Olin Levi Warner. The stern abolitionist is seated,
manuscripts in hand and scattered beneath his chair,
staring contemplatively, perhaps envisioning a future
in which man no longer enslaves his fellow man. Be
sure to read the inscription of Garrison’s statements
from his publication, The Liberator. The green oxidized
copper surface of the statue is unique along the Mall.
Garrison’s presence here is unquestionably fitting, as
he was largely based in Boston.

Unknown

Unknown:
Note that the cross-streets are in alphabetical
order: Arlington, Berkeley, Clarendon, Dartmouth,
Exeter, Fairfield, Gloucester, Hereford. They alternate
as one-way streets; careful as you cross!

Also note that the ALPHABET has ALL THE LETTERS. (for you to see.)

Two notes to throw out there.
First, if we pursue the Paul Revere angle and link this V with P11 considering Boston, perhaps Brandeis is an option. It’s located in Middlesex of “Midnight Ride” fame (the “middle section”?), and has a sprawling castle-like dormitory (Usen Castle) that bears some resemblance to the box in P11.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jlehrfeld/sets/874036/
Second, Thucydides and Xenophon could be clues to look for the greek letters theta and xi. There is a Theta Xi fraternity at MIT, and we have considered MIT a potential site before.

what are your ideas for boston,  forest?
i’m still hooked on the boston common and public gardens…………especially the hancock monument and flagstaff hill soldier’s and sailor’s monument, or that monument across from city hall.

Oh, I dunno. I’d like to just be a tourist and visit the BPL and Copley Square. Maybe see some Revolutionary War stuff and the Boston Common / Public Garden area. Maybe something will hit me.

Somehow or other, I keep finding myself in potential “casque cities.” I will be in Boston in less than two weeks for a conference, and there is a teeny weeny chance (2%) I will have an opportunity to do a little snooping around. If I do, I’ll report back, hopefully with photos.

In thinking more about the month of this image (as is being discussed in another thread) August, I go back to something I was researching quite a bit this winter. The New England College of Optometry. This is located at 424 beacon street. Founded by a man named AUGUST Klein in 1894. It is the oldest continuously operating college of optometry in the US. In addition to the use of the month of August, it could be used for the line “all the letters are here to see”. As that is exactly what you are doing when undergoing an eye exam, looking at letters. I noticed in the past that the New England College of Optometry was discussed, but not in connection with the founder’s name, August.
Just behind this building (424 Beacon) is Back Street. I like this too, with there now being ramps (possibly stairs in the 80s, maybe had to change to ramps to comply w handicap ramp codes/guidelines), over Storrow drive to the Esplanade. “Back to the stairs” Back street to the stairs.
I still like the esplanade for this….

The squares at the very bottom of the image 11 look similar to the stone capping where the man has just walked between. Zoom in.
http://goo.gl/maps/Dod4h
Hey , you updated it so fast I did not see that you already found this!

“All the letters are here to see”
I already found that this may refer to the university fraternities. Now that we are on the Charles river, then this makes more sense now.
viewtopic.php?f=32&t=774&p=127152#p127152

bike ride along the esplanade, citgo sign
http://youtu.be/70T0dUuZ2EM?t=2m34s

Glossiphoniidae

Yeah… Looking at it now you are right. I’ll renumber the PDF when I get home.

updated, the other links still work (
https://www.dropbox.com/s/hi12ryrm43v038m/V3I11.pdf?dl=0
). I appreciate you noticing. I was thinking nobody really bothered with the doc since there hasn’t been much feedback, and this is a world away from anything that has been proposed so far. Some support or some criticism would be great. Throwing a wrench in my theory would be much appreciated, if one exists. I’m thinking I’ll go dig this weekend. While I enjoy going out for digs, a ride to Boston ain’t cheap.

One hour video of a bike ride along the esplanade. Skip to about 10 minutes in where the rider reaches the steps and compass rose and see all the benches. Tall lamp posts here too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjCpcp9sFbI
(8703)

wk

I read your description and don’t think you need to prove how to get to this location.
This is so obvious after Chicago 10 by 13.
How did you decide which was seat 1?
Could the 18th seat be where you have number 13?
The angle of North/South on the overhead view of the compass rose appears to match the tilt of the axis on the globe in image 11 and not the marks on the circular window frame. So we know which is South on the 3 squares. Can anyone see 28,18,8 vertically in the swirl ornamentation?
Now the 12th hour if noon, could be in the same south direction.
Here is a possible “X marks the spot” on the edge of the concrete slab.
(8685)

The axis angle is an EXACT match to the upside down image. when standing at the X, with the north star(N) on the north side and the < on the south end.
When you number the benches, you are numbering them like the April calendar, from left to right and top to bottom. If you were looking at the compass FROM THE ROAD, 13 would be 18. But you are holding the image upside down to see the bench and slab in the image. If you number while looking FROM THE ROAD and go to bench 18 (what I call 13), your back was never to the stairs… you were just facing the water.
But if you have your back to the stairs and face W-A-T-E-R when you number like a calendar, the 18 bench is to the west. Also from this point, the Prudential is directly lined up with the center of the compass (and the tree, which I think is her hair). When you head to it with an upside down image from this point, the slab kicks out to the left exactly like in the picture. Why try to find another X marks the spot when the slab has an ARROW pointing down into it on the 18th bench?

Glossiphoniidae

Well, here it is. The culmination of my recent endeavor to find a new path to the Boston casque. I think it’s legit, but you may not. It takes a really different twist at the end, but it utilizes the verse and image word for word and picture for picture…
https://www.dropbox.com/s/hi12ryrm43v038m/V3I11.pdf?dl=0

Any thoughts from the veterans on this idea?

a friend of mine thinks you may be right

You have a photo of the numbered benches facing the river with a sailboat, but on the previous photo you start from the X (facing WATER on memorial) with your back to the steps and river, then the benches are numbered wrong. 28 would be the farthest in this photo. Maybe this is what confused me before.
BTW, the nearby Hatch Memorial Shell has Mozart and Beethoven in stone on the front wall.

wk

You have a photo of the numbered benches facing the river with a sailboat, but on the previous photo you start from the X (facing WATER on memorial) with your back to the steps and river, then the benches are numbered wrong. 28 would be the farthest in this photo. Maybe this is what confused me before.

Yeah… Looking at it now you are right. I’ll renumber the PDF when I get home.

Start at the BPL (thucydides & Xenophon panels) walk five blocks (take five steps) pass by the Pru (green tower of lights in the middle section) continue to the Mass. historical society (where the Revere family letters are kept)?
You could then contnue to Fenway Park or The Victory Garden? Coliseum with metal walls says Fanway Park to me.
Could the verse be out of order? I just started looking at the Secret so I’m not to sure if the two solves were in order.

Jambone

This is dubious, but I’ll post it anyway…
In Boston Public Garden, there is a statue of Edward Everett Hale, and the inscription around the base includes “Man of Letters”.  Maybe this relates to “All the letters
Are here to see”.

Edward Evrette Hale was also a pastor of a church, one in worchester and one in boston…..does anyone know which one in boston?

Jambone

This is dubious, but I’ll post it anyway…
In Boston Public Garden, there is a statue of Edward Everett Hale, and the inscription around the base includes “Man of
Letters
“.  Maybe this relates to “All the
letters
Are here to see”.

Edward Evrette Hale was also a pastor of a church, one in worchester and one in boston…..does anyone know which one in boston?

Oops, my bad.

Here’s a link for Mr Hale.  Can’t see him having anything to do with it.  It isn’t any of our churches.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Everett_Hale
Are you ready for the day.  Good luck!

boogieman

Here’s a link for Mr Hale.  Can’t see him having anything to do with it.  It isn’t any of our churches.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Everett_Hale
Are you ready for the day.  Good luck!

ick nooo! It’s not looking so nice out today….it’s in the low 30′ and cloudy bleh
I figure I am going to start at the BPL then the two churches and Copley Square in general then I am going to go down Claredon St (so I can pass the rectory) to Commonwealth Ave and walk the Commonwealth park heading east to the Public Garden and Boston Common and end at the other side of the park at the beginning of the Freedom Trail, I’ll stop and take pics of anything interesting along the way. I was just looking at Kings Chapel…it looks like the box, not the castle type thing on the box but the box itself.

This is from the special collections hall at the BPL “When observers called the Library a “shrine of letters,” they linked spiritual enlightenment (“shrine”) with intellectual achievement (“letters”). If Sargent intended Triumph of Religion to chart a progressive course toward spiritual privacy and subjectivity, a second theme concerned the Library’s function as an educational institution. The bookcases Sargent designed for the Special Collections Hall emphasize the “letters,” or educational aspect of the Library.”

This is from the special collections hall at the BPL “When observers called the Library a “shrine of
letters
,” they linked spiritual enlightenment (“shrine”) with intellectual achievement (“
letters
”). If Sargent intended Triumph of Religion to chart a progressive course toward spiritual privacy and subjectivity, a second theme concerned the Library’s function as an educational institution. The bookcases Sargent designed for the Special Collections Hall emphasize the “
letters
,” or educational aspect of the Library.”

If Priess wanted to say “All of the muses are here to see”
what word would he have replaced ‘muses’ with to make it a riddle?
‘Letters’ in this phrase is absolutely a quiery as we’ve been thinking:
alphabet, post office, collections, etc…
I think, if anyone thought, BP had the opportunity and the gumption
to dig in the courtyard,  then the clues fit.
just my last bit of politicing.  have a nice walk.

If Priess wanted to say “All of the muses are here to see”
what word would he have replaced ‘muses’ with to make it a riddle?
‘
Letters
‘ in this phrase is absolutely a quiery as we’ve been thinking:
alphabet, post office, collections, etc…
I think, if anyone thought, BP had the opportunity and the gumption
to dig in the courtyard,  then the clues fit.
just my last bit of politicing.  have a nice walk.

How about yet another stretch going along with the whole BPL theory.
“Feel at Home.”  =  “Feel a tome”.  Grab yourself a book.  Wouldn’t it be soooo cool if these are simply directions to a specific book in the BPL that basically shows you where the casque is?  Now that would be coool.

The last line of this verse reads “
In truth, be free
.” If this is a reference to John 8:32, the quote can be found everywhere. For example, “The truth shall make you free” is the motto of the California Institute of Technology. The phrase “Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free” is chiseled in the face of the University of Texas Tower in Austin. This is the famous tower where, in 1966, Charles Whitman climbed to the top with a rifle. I’m sure it can be found elsewhere in numerous places.

I’d been staying out of this one, but then I had a few thoughts I was wondering if could be disproved:
The Thucydides and Xenophon — I was writing them out as TX, then remebered the Greek Frat my brother used to belong to:  Theta Xi, which I think is still quartered along the very diggable area of Beacon Street.
“ALL THE LETTERS ARE HERE TO SEE” — All the Frats on the Beacon Street row?
Face the waters — my god, one wrong step and you fall in the Charles.
And, (of course this must have been brought up before, I just can’t find it!)  whose motto is “In Truth, Be Free”?**
**(In doing a little more digging, I realized we might be looking at Harvard — which has the Latin motto “VERITAS” or “Truth”.  Combine this with the possible expression “The Truth with set you Free” (John 8:32), and we might be looking for an area more near Harvard (not MIT) fraternity row that somehow refereces a John-someone-or-the-other . . .)
Also, at this point I think it is VERY important to note that at least two of the people  (Sean Kelly and Ted Man, both listed as Authors) worked on “National Lampoon” — which is the spin-off of Harvard Lampoon.  (LITerature BY ‘LAMP’LIGHT — where LIGHT = Humorous?)
Still digging (on the internet)

I’d been staying out of this one, but then I had a few thoughts I was wondering if could be disproved:
The Thucydides and Xenophon — I was writing them out as TX, then remebered the Greek Frat my brother used to belong to:  Theta Xi, which I think is still quartered along the very diggable area of Beacon Street.
“ALL THE
LETTERS
ARE HERE TO SEE” — All the Frats on the Beacon Street row?
Face the waters — my god, one wrong step and you fall in the Charles.
And, (of course this must have been brought up before, I just can’t find it!)  whose motto is “In Truth, Be Free”?**
**(In doing a little more digging, I realized we might be looking at Harvard — which has the Latin motto “VERITAS” or “Truth”.  Combine this with the possible expression “The Truth with set you Free” (John 8:32), and we might be looking for an area more near Harvard (not MIT) fraternity row that somehow refereces a John-someone-or-the-other . . .)
Also, at this point I think it is VERY important to note that at least two of the people  (Sean Kelly and Ted Man, both listed as Authors) worked on “National Lampoon” — which is the spin-off of Harvard Lampoon.  (LITerature BY ‘LAMP’LIGHT — where LIGHT = Humorous?)
Still digging (on the internet)

MEOW:
Perhaps the LATIN for “In Truth, Be Free”???
Many schools and fraternities use Latin for their mottos.  My grandfather used to drill the phrase “Acta Non Verba” into me as a kid that comes from the Merchant Marine Academy.
Perhaps “In Truth Be Free” is written in latin on an old public school.  I like your thoughts on Greek organizations.  Somebody has mentioned that Harvard doesn’t have fraternities, but something to remember honor societies usually use Greek letters like a Fraternity does, so I don’t want to rule our Harvard yet either.
Could “green tower” be a tower covered in Ivy or Moss? nice visual image. As Ivy can cause damage in older walls, could it be possible that ivy was removed from a structure and no longer be “green”  Ivy is difficult to remove without causing more damage, but it the theory at least POSSIBLE?

MEOW:
Perhaps the LATIN for “In Truth, Be Free”???
Many schools and fraternities use Latin for their mottos.  My grandfather used to drill the phrase “Acta Non Verba” into me as a kid that comes from the Merchant Marine Academy.
Perhaps “In Truth Be Free” is written in latin on an old public school.  I like your thoughts on Greek organizations.  Somebody has mentioned that Harvard doesn’t have fraternities, but something to remember honor societies usually use Greek
letters
like a Fraternity does, so I don’t want to rule our Harvard yet either.
Could “green tower” be a tower covered in Ivy or Moss? nice visual image. As Ivy can cause damage in older walls, could it be possible that ivy was removed from a structure and no longer be “green”  Ivy is difficult to remove without causing more damage, but it the theory at least POSSIBLE?

ya’ll are gonna kill me i know, but i was looking closely at the george robert white memorial and the cornucopia (spl?) reminded me of image 6, and i had been drawn to that picture of the mounted guy before when i saw the george washington statue in the public garden because of his hat:
check these out:
http://www.yeodoug.com/resources/dc_fre … _pg_08.jpg
http://www.yeodoug.com/resources/dc_fre … te_pg.html
george washington’s hat:
http://gonewengland.about.com/cs/boston … hoto10.htm
http://www.boston-cruises.com/boston-cruises-4.jpg
please ringo if you go to boston, check these guys at the public garden, they’re both at the arlington street side.

In truth be free, has been on mind more lately.  I think it might be a way of saying “In a space not enclosed”.  That’s just a tidbit, hope it helps.

animal painter

I found that this area is called “The St. Charles Esplanade”
The stairway leading into the water is the “Dartmouth St. Landing”, one of three
granite landings.
I have not yet searched for photos of the area that may
give us a reason to  “Feel at home”…as verse 3 says

Only just caught onto this area, via a statue of Tobin on the esplanade. Right by Revere St., and Longfellow Bridge (“Paul Revere’s Ride”) not far away.
http://esplanadeassociation.org/park/documents/CLR.pdf
I reckon the green tower of lights near those who pass the coliseum with metal walls is a plausible reference to Tobin Bridge, as explained above. (It’s green, and adjacent to Old Ironsides Way / Marathon Tours.)
Could this be a pointer for the Tobin statue here on the St Charles Esplanade? I was wondering about the “feel a tome” theory for that thing under his arm.
All the letters are here to see…In truth, be free.
IN
truth =
T
be =
B
free =
0
http://www.boston-discovery-guide.com/b … anade.html
Earlier I was thinking: “What’s the significance of that bird that looks like it’s about to burst a bubble…?”
At the south end of the esplanade….The Hatch Shell…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hatch_Memorial_Shell
http://www.hatchshell.com/history.php
Be free!
So here’s the Hatch Shell.There are steps in front, though it’s tricky to get a clear view of them. With its list of names, it’s a bit BPL-esque. (“All the letters”…?)
(You can see the edge of it in the bottom-left of the above map.)
This is a very image-11-friendly location. I think Tobin might be right next to it as he appears in this list of
Hatch Shell photos
, but I can’t figure out where he is.
(On second thoughts, forget the lower arrow – that’s from the BPL statue. The hair’s not bad though…)
As a V3 bonus, it seems they play Tchaikovsky’s 1812 every 4th July since 1973.

animal painter

What is your thinking about the top of the stone circle which looks like a purple heart and a jagged crack?

There you go then AP, that’s my revised feather theory. Hatchling. 😉

You can verify that just using Google Street View and matching up the images.  Thucydides is actually south of Xenophon on the facade.
My interpretation is that this doesn’t change anything.  If you start from scratch and draw a compass in front of the BPL, where T could be considered “north” of X — then the old south church is, indeed, “south”.  Which, if you go five streets in *that* direction (fake “south”), then it puts you on the path to the 2 C’s.

erexere

I believe “In truth be free” is an instruction to align something.

How about aligning this:
I honestly believe that that is simply a city confirmer.

Truth and light seem to relate to eachother in theseb lines.  Perhaps it serves to say the side of the box which is directly lit as opposed to the opposite side where some shadow will be cast.
I’m liking the spot between box and lamp.

Something tbat continues to nudge at me is the fact of Thucy and Xenophon both primarily being historians.  We might consider his “direction” to be history itself as he directs our attention to the story of past events.  The main vigilance or burden of focus for historians is largely sorting through sources from what may be true or false.. hopefully true, but then we have to trust their sources.
Perhaps the reason for this isn’t only serving to reference the BPL.  Wherever the casque is exactly to be found, perhaps the historic accounting of Paul Revere is the goal.

That is most likely why BP put in the eightenth day,
twelfth hour –  reference Paul Revere – and reconfirm for the
hunter that Boston is the reference point.

maltedfalcon

Thats an interesting theory, apply it to Chicago and Cleveland and see if you get a hit.

I think he might well have connected parts of his riddles–without a doubt. But a “trail?” That’s the part I have trouble with. I don’t think
all
the solutions have a “trail” to follow, and I think thinking that way will be the most sure way to gt us sidetracked. Of course, they don’t all HAVE to have a trail–but some might.

‘Take Five steps’ gets one into the library from the correct side
because the wrong side has a different number of steps leading
into the building.
‘In the middle section’ is the description of the garden level
of the BPL.
‘Your back to the stairs, face the water’ indicates where you need to
be to dig in the correct spot.
‘In truth, be free’ reconfirms that the Free Public Library
is the absolutely correct spot.

I know some of this has been pointed out before, but the names Xenophon and Thucydides have been etched elsewhere. BPL is one place, but two others are:
1. Stone tablets at the Greek Cultural Garden in Cleveland (yes, that garden!).
2. The old San Francisco Public Library, now the Asian Art Museum (NE corner of Larkin and Fulton).

forest_blight

Stone tablets at the Greek Cultural Garden in Cleveland (yes, that garden!)

(I noticed Pindar also reappears on the Wright Brothers monument.)

has Malcolm X ever been considered to be part of the riddle? Boston has a Malcolm X park and house.

There are the Names of Thucydicles and Xenophon on the Front of the Brooklyn Museum which is blocks away from where Byron Priess grew up
Why is Mt Prospect park not considered? Feel at Home clue seems a little too vague for me IMO
I have heard of other buildings with both these names on them Does anyone know what other buildings have these two names on them?

Doghousereiley

There are the Names of Thucydicles and Xenophon on the Front of the Brooklyn Museum which is blocks away from where Byron Priess grew up
Why is Mt Prospect park not considered? Feel at Home clue seems a little too vague for me IMO
I have heard of other buildings with both these names on them Does anyone know what other buildings have these two names on them?

Both names can be found engraved in the top of the many buildings at the MIT campus in Cambridge. The names are on completely different buildings. Many of those buildings (I am not familiar with the actual building names) have famous Mathematicians, Scientists, Writers, etc., much like the hundreds of names on the BPL. They are much larger engravings and I suspect that the names are related to the classes that are held within the building.
The only other place that I have seen those names discussed would be at the Cleveland cultural gardens.
My gut tells me that none of these places are the true meaning behind the T&X verse line. Of course, that is just another opinion.

On the Brooklyn museum on the front etched is the name Thucydides in big letters. Below it is the name Xenophon
My guess is the Byron Preiss had an EXTREMELY HIGHER PROBABILITY of seeing the front of the Brooklyn Museum than any building in Boston or MIT campus. With Byrons know love of books and with the Brooklyn library being on the next corner to the Brooklyn Museum, I believe a Brooklyn Native would pass by this building if not everyday at lest once a week. Why not consider Mount Prospect park as a location
Byrons childhood home was minutes from Mt Prospect park. Thucydides and Xenophon are right there
Does the “FEEL AT HOME” line just make sense in Brooklyn.

Doghousereiley

On the Brooklyn museum on the front etched is the name Thucydides in big letters. Below it is the name Xenophon
My guess is the Byron Preiss had an EXTREMELY HIGHER PROBABILITY of seeing the front of the Brooklyn Museum than any building in Boston or MIT campus. With Byrons know love of books and with the Brooklyn library being on the next corner to the Brooklyn Museum, I believe a Brooklyn Native would pass by this building if not everyday at lest once a week. Why not consider Mount Prospect park as a location
Byrons childhood home was minutes from Mt Prospect park. Thucydides and Xenophon are right there
Does the “FEEL AT HOME” line just make sense in Brooklyn.

Why not? It’s the same general theory and thought process as the ever so coveted names on the BPL. And you are correct that the probability of Preiss seeing or being familiar with the engravings in Brooklyn is far better than in Boston.
I’m just not 100% convinced that those names appearing on buildings is the true meaning of the verse lines. Of course, that is just my opinion and I am quite possibly incorrect.
The theory may very well be solid, does it lead you to a logical next step or location?

erexere

I don’t know. I doubt there would be a statue without one.
Doh!  Now I get it.

I was just pointing out that the Commons had a plaque dedicated to him. You know, trying to make you crazy with all the connections.

What do you think about the statues just possibly being an older guy and a newer guy? Say someone from the 1600s and then a guy from the 1800s?
Could it possibly just be a reference to ‘if the older one is north’? I’m thinking that this line may be simpler than I have been giving it credit for. Who cares who exactly is Thucydides – the poem tells us their location, and in my park there are two statues that are due north/south of each other. The northern most one faces south, the southern one faces north.
So either start at one and go a bit south, Or start at the other and go a bit north.
I’m crowd-sourcing this one because this is the last line I need to solve before having a tentative dig spot, and it’s really really vexxing me. I also don’t exactly have a green tower of lights, but I strongly suspect the lighting in the park has changed, and have made outreach to those who may know/have photos.
Edit: also I very clearly am too far down the rabbit hole to see my own bias, so I want other’s ( not just erexere) opinions
Totally with someone from SA’s help one of the other verse lines came into strong focus for me. There is no stretch involved in it, and it explains why you need to face the water (in reality, a dig spot should be omni-directional, as we are no longer taking steps. It does not matter in Chicago if you face the park or the road, and in Cleveland it really doesn’t matter if you face the wall or out from it).
The new verse line is strongly, strongly in line with previous solved verses in that it perfectly encapsulates a bordering street, much like the ‘Congress St’ clue.
With my current hunch, if you follow the instructions it’s the only way you can see the letters, as well as the turrets. If you face away you don’t see them, even in the right spot.
Long story short I’m very close to probing the ground with a rod.

lol… is there a plaque to Kościuszko in the park?

Xieish

I’m crowd-sourcing this one because this is the last line I need to solve before having a tentative dig spot, and it’s really really vexxing me. I also don’t exactly have a green tower of lights, but I strongly suspect the lighting in the park has changed, and have made outreach to those who may know/have photos.
Edit: also I very clearly am too far down the rabbit hole to see my own bias, so I want other’s ( not just erexere) opinions

You’re not really crowd-sourcing this, you are speaking in vagaries. If you want help, share information. I told you I would share notes, but you just ignored.

I honestly did not see that! My apologies, I was not ignoring you.
I am being vague not to be secretive (my entire theory is posted over at SA), but to avoid poisoning people with my own biases, because I’m very excited about the site.
The identity of the statues is unimportant, so I’m not sure what you’d like me to provide here – just ask! Yes, it is Cambridge Common.

Glossiphoniidae

lol… is there a plaque to Kościuszko in the park?

I don’t know. I doubt there would be a statue without one.
Doh!  Now I get it.

.

Hope everyone’s having a great weekend! Thought I’d post a couple thoughts to go against the grain, just in case anyone’s open to a possible Image 8 / Verse 3 pairing. (Before you call me a complete j/a, the “search” feature did pull up a handful of times that this had been discussed before.)
-Regarding Thyucides & Xenophon: it looks like pretty much everyone agrees that we’re probably looking for engravings, as was done in Cleveland, but… is it possible these names were just chosen as a way to spell out the postal abbreviation “T.X.”?
-Houston was also home to the “Sam Houston Coliseum”, 801 Bagby Street, which was demolished in 1998.
-On those “Eighteenth day / Twelfth hour” lines, could these be a reference to the Juneteenth celebrations, which began in Texas, as opposed to Longfellow’s poem about Paul Revere? (Although the holiday is officially celebrated on June 19, apparently Union troops first arrived in Galveston on the 18th.) Anyone know if there’s any emancipation-related monuments in/around Houston?

the fort is located on William J
Day
boulevard, which seems like a decent possible match considering the authors penchant for putting street names in the poems

For pinpointing the cask location I think we should concentrate on finding image matches.

Much of this has been discussed and visited in person in the past. I worked next to the intersection of Morrissey and Day Boulevard for 4 years and made many visits to the Castle Island area and park. I don’t disagree with much of what you have been saying. They are all reasonable possibilities.
Bubbles=Planes is a tough one for me to get behind, but that’s just my opinion.
The most important thing to do, in my opinion, is to continue to boil it down to a small location. It’s the best way to put all of the theories and connections to the ultimate test.
Permission to dig there is difficult at best, but a well timed excursion during a rain storm may find you with the entire park to yourself.
I have a bunch of pictures of monuments and other stuff near the fort area. I found out later that most of those were added much after the book. I’m not in that area very often anymore, but it’s not too difficult to get over there if you find something interesting.

Was this fence there then? Those balls look interesting.
https://tinyurl.com/y248xgcf

1984.
To the best of my recollection. Apparently my memory is short as well.

They got a pill for that too!

Choice

They got a pill for that too!

THIS CHOICE GUY NEEDS TO BE BANNED. HE IS AN IDIOT WITH CHIMPANZEE BRAIN CELLS INFECTING THIS ENTIRE WEB SITE. HONESTLY..HE IS POISON.

You were so easy to expose. Truth hearts. Live with it.

Question about the pier to the left of the fort:
Is there a floating pier there that gets moved around because of weather? I can’t imagine there would be any rough seas in the bay.
And was there a T shape pier there in the early 80’s?
That thing comes and goes in different shapes every year!

The only thing that I can think of that relates to a fort is war… 1812.

Unknown

Unknown:
The original, wooden shell was built in 1928 as a temporary venue for the Pops with expectations of construction of a permanent structure in the near future. It was first used for a concert on July 4, 1929, with Arthur Fiedler conducting the Boston Pops Orchestra.
A second, temporary shell, made of metal, was built in 1934
, but construction of a permanent Hatch Shell was delayed until 1939-1940. Today’s permanent shell was designed by architect Richard J. Shaw, given by Maria Hatch in memory of her brother, and dedicated on July 2, 1940.

Let’s have another go at this.
If Thucydides is
North of Xenophon
Take five steps
In the area of his direction
Shaw -> Hatch Shell
A green tower of lights
In the middle section
Near those
Who pass the coliseum
“Those who pass the coliseum” are marathon runners. Assuming The Boston Marathon route hasn’t changed from
this
, it goes down Beacon St alongside Boston Common – a green and a tower of lights. Or, the Hatch Shell could be the green and the tower of lights, near Beacon St. It’s not ideal. Alternatively, Harvard Stadium was built on Soldiers Field, and Soldiers Field Road runs next to it.
Saint Maurice
is the patron saint of soldiers, so in that sense Maurice is “near those who pass the coliseum”. It’s still a bit convoluted.
With metal walls
Face the water
Your back to the stairs
(The stairs in front of the Hatch Shell)
Feel at home
Feel a tome? Maurice Tobin’s not actually holding a book though.
This is more tome-like. Not sure exactly where it is, though it’s somewhere on the “Hatch Shell Circle”.
His bird has the right idea.
All the letters
Are here to see
…on the Hatch Shell, covered in the names of composers…
Eighteenth day
Twelfth hour
Revere/Boston hint, also the 1812 performed at the Hatch Shell every year
Lit by lamplight
Another Revere confirmer which can also apply here
In truth, be free
“Truman” on the Tobin statue, seen looking towards the water from the Hatch Shell
Still trying to find someone to take some photos of this area…

Unknown

Unknown:
I have difficulty with the idea that metal walls is a reference to Old Ironsides. In no way could Ironsides be referred to as a “coliseum” – it’s a ship, not a building. So coliseum with metal walls does not make sense to me as Old Ironsides.

Unknown

Unknown:
I think it has been mentioned that Free speech, couplet, birch parallel the names Socrates, Pindar, Apelles on the previous line. Socrates was associated with free speech, Pindar was a poet (hence couplet), and birch was a reference to ancient paintbrushes

Punctuated that way, it wouldnt’ make sense. Punctuated another way it makes just as much sense as any other solution.
Those who pass the coliseum
could refer to streets. The streets are “those.”
With metal walls can refer to something else entirely, not related to the line above.
What the post by Egbert said was that they did not find a
poem
nearby. There are a couple of references to couplets in the Cleveland Cultural Gardens, esp. in the Greek garden–there was a tribute to Byron there.  Also, he said birch referred to a tree, not a paintbrush.

All the letters are here to see
The only letters that may have the gift of sight would be “I” or “i”.  A simple riddle, seeing = eyes = i i i …  notice the globe lights in the Charlesgate area?  They look like dotted i’s.  I think its very pertainent that the globe lights are used in the specific locating details for the casque.

Unknown

Unknown:
The Massachusetts Historical Society is famous for the thousands of letters of Presidents John Adams, John Quincy Adams, and Thomas Jefferson held in the Adams Family Papers and the Coolidge Collection of Thomas Jefferson Papers.

What about “C”?
Going in another direction with this… maybe it’s a reference to the Silence Dogood letters?  They were originally published by the New-England Courant newspaper in Boston.  Or maybe it’s letters by Presidents such as John Adams, John Quincy Adams, and Thomas Jefferson.  The Massachusetts Historical Society holds thousands of these letters and is located at 1154 Boylston Street, near the Back Bay Fens (part of the Emerald Necklace park system).
From
http://www.masshist.org/collection-guides/view/fa0329
:

naturally the letter C seems like a good fit.  I have a totally direct reasoning to map out the exact spot sometime today.  Hope someone picks up my theory and shows the world another casque.

Gad. This is needlessly complicated.
You don’t have enough stuff to satisfy “all the LETTERS are here to see?” Have you looked in the vicinity for a freakin’ POST OFFICE?
or Mailbox?  Why do you always think there is such cryptic wordplay in these verses?

Feel at home.
Mothers Rest.  To feel comforted at your mother.  Being home where you can rest.  This location, approached as an option by derivation of its name, is a very good interpretation.  The incorporation of how much of the verse to get there is still unclear.  The main ideas so far suppose that five “steps” means five junctions and all the “letters” refers most litterally to alphabet named rows in a garden adjacent to the location.  Incorporation of image elements has us looking for cracks in stones, arch or circular shaped features.  There’s a lot that might be revealed should a person go to the site for a closer look.  I’m sure we all feel that way.  I’m not ready to dismiss this theory which I believe has a lot of vitality, but I am interested in looking at alternatives.
Home.  In a baseball sense, means homeplate.  At home plate you are either sliding in for a score or you’re facing the picher waiting for a chance to hit the ball.  I suppose you could also be catching or umpiring.  I like the image pairing motif of T-ball, how playful is that!?  I like that the little house structure adjacent to the 2C is simple and not cryptic in any way…it has a roof, a door, a window, some steps, the perfect little cottage for an aspiring writer to become the next Jules Verne…  I think the baseball idea comes from a few items.  The Green Monster is a good candidate being the word ‘green’ plays a part in the verse and mention of ‘coliseum’ aides in exploring the nearby Fenway Park Stadium as an option.  The Citgo sign is viewable over the left field wall.  The Green Monster obstructs view of the Somerset (2C) site.  If anything is analogous to the moment where the large overpowering reflection of the moon helping Paul Revere and his men row past the Somerset unnoticed, then this Green Monster is just that, though it’s a rectangular instead of round body. (see rectangular semi-translucent pane at the bottom lower right of center in image 11)
I think the underpinnings of Revere’s Ride fit the 2C site better than the Mother’s Rest site.  The Green Monster doesn’t actually obscure view in the direction of Mother’s Rest, but that doesn’t serve as enough reason to debunk.  I’m only finding it easier to see the prospects of a novel clustering of T-ball shaped lamp globes in a park corner containing a little “home” and those circular shaped stone features.

shecrab

Gad. This is needlessly complicated.
You don’t have enough stuff to satisfy “all the LETTERS are here to see?” Have you looked in the vicinity for a freakin’ POST OFFICE?
or Mailbox?  Why do you always think there is such cryptic wordplay in these verses?

In the sense that Paul Revere’s Ride by Longfellow might bring context to this verse, I think its a good approach to consider the usage of “letter” as meaning epistle or message by post, but to consider that the British cut off the usual routes for communication, it was left to lamp lights in the North Church tower to communicate a vital message.

erexere

In the sense that Paul Revere’s Ride by Longfellow might bring context to this verse, I think its a good approach to consider the usage of “letter” as meaning epistle or message by post, but to consider that the British cut off the usual routes for communication, it was left to lamp lights in the North Church tower to communicate a vital message.

So what? That’s just a one-off. It happened ONCE, and it wasn’t the only way the message was communicated, either. Boston happens to the be the site of the first post office in America. To wit:
“The first post office in Boston—and probably in the first in America—was established in the home of Richard Fairbanks, on or very near the site of the [old]
Boston Globe building
in 1639. On November 6 of that year, the Court voted:
Site of First Post Office
‘[color=purple]For preventing the miscarriage of letters; & it is ordered, that notice bee given that Richard Fairbanks his house in Boston is the place appointed for
all letters
which are brought from beyond the seas, or are to be sent thither, are to bee brought into; and hee is to take care that they bee delivered or sent according to their directions; and hee is allowed for every such letter 1 penny, & must answere all miscarriages through his owne neglect in this kind; provided, that no man shalbee compelled to bring his letters thither, except hee please
.’ “
Richard Fairbanks was an influential person in Boston, England, and had emigrated to Boston, New England with Reverend John Cotton in 1634. His house also served as a public tavern, and was licensed to sell “stronge water” by the government. The property had a large garden that extended east to Devonshire Street, then known as Black Jack Alley. [/color]
Note my emphasis on Boston GLOBE. There’s a prominent GLOBE in the picture.
My point is that there are better interpretations out there. More pertinent ones. More LIKELY ones. Paul Revere’s Ride and REference do not have to be there for any reason other than to point us to Boston.

I really like that first post office idea and the globe connection.  Now to unfurl my brain of excess bubblewrap to consider a sensible way to work that historically relevant intel…

Man oh man…..I have been gone WAYYYYY to long & it sure feels good to be back. Still trying to get caught up!
It’s exciting to see a lot of new faces around here.  Thanks ALOT elf & ben for the pics…they are great.  I have been one of those all along thinking BPL is DEFINITELY important.  If you look at the panels and think “maps”  Thucy IS north (above) Xen….not directly but his name is higher than Xeno’s.  Tying into the Thu/Boston Xen/NY theory…..I like the pic of the street sign pointing to NY.  Maybe that is the path we need to take after starting at the BPL?  Does that road lead towards the Esplanade?  Just odd ramblings….

up late, beer in hand, and I just want to put down in words my instinctual feeling after reading this verse-
Feel at home / All the
letters
/ Eighteenth day / 12th hour
This section has a high school sort of fit: “home coming”, “letterman”, soon to turn 18 graduating 12th grade senior.

up late, beer in hand, and I just want to put down in words my instinctual feeling after reading this verse-
Feel at home / All the letters / Eighteenth day / 12th hour
This section has a high school sort of fit: “home coming”, “letterman”, soon to turn 18 graduating 12th grade senior.

Here’s a random thought. “All the letters” could refer to the alphabet, and we commonly refer to the alphabet as the “ABCs.” There are many businesses in the Boston area called “ABC something.” Perhaps the casque site is within sight of one of these businesses?
All the letters are here to see (or “R here, to C?” hmm…).

Here’s a random thought. “All the
letters
” could refer to the alphabet, and we commonly refer to the alphabet as the “ABCs.” There are many businesses in the Boston area called “ABC something.” Perhaps the casque site is within sight of one of these businesses?
All the
letters
are here to see (or “R here, to C?” hmm…).

Some mostly random thoughts,
First line:  If Thucydides is
If…a prison, Château d’If, the setting of The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas.
Thucydides…a war historian, name appears on BPL, a historian of ancient Greece
is…Isaz is the reconstructed Proto-Germanic name of the i-rune ᛁ, meaning “ice”. In the Younger Futhark, it is called Iss in Icelandic and isa in Old Norse. As rune of the Anglo-Saxon futhorc, it is called is.  Ice, slang for “to kill or murder”.  The cooler, slang for a jail cell.  Leif Ericcson, a nearby statue, is from Iceland.
A home run…idiom for saying somethin is successful.
Homer…short for “a home run”, also the name of ancient Greek writer of the Illiad and the Odyssey.
Edmund Dantes, Count of Monte Cristo character succeeds at breaking out of “If” prison.
John Boyle O’Reilly, a nearby statue, succeeds at breaking out of “Freemantle” prison.
In truth be free, captures the essence of Edmund Dantes, being wrongfully imprisoned, or anyone for that matter.
The actual events not reported in Longfellow’s poetic account of Paul Revere’s midnight activities include his capture by the British in Lincoln, Mass. where Major Edmund Mitchell questions Revere and if he doesn’t tell him the true answers, he’ll blow his brains out.
I’m not seeing anything fully forming as a good reason to mix all of these seemingly random elements.  I may as well try to make a three men in a bar joke…Paul Revere, Leif Ericcson, and John Boyle O’Reilly are sitting at a bar…what song are they singing as they knock back a few beers?  Who pays for the next round?

forest_blight

Pretty smart 9-year-old! Any chance s/he would join the forum??

fb not sure if your  serious,dont know her parents would let her
i was working on p-11 v-3 at time, she
also noticed the lines, see image,….sorry
cant see image… because fourm says a 9.60kb
jpeg is to big anyway she thought
they may be a map of sorts,she was moved
up to 6th grade, because of her reading
Comprehension, she also has that common
sense factor going on
i dont think i could describe  the lines  she is talking about, well enough for the fourm to follow sorry

Pretty smart 9-year-old! Any chance s/he would join the forum??

I have been doing a bit more research on verse 3 which says:
All the letters
Are here to see
There is a business in Boston’s North End on Prince St. that BP could
have been referring to.
On Prince Street, just off Hanover St., near North Square (close to..
Mamma Maria’s Restaurant and Paul Revere’s house) is a small newspaper printing shop,
(which has been in business for 110 years) called “The Post Gazette”/ North End Press (printer)
No doubt, there used to be a lot of letters here…Printer’s type.
AP

Verse 3 makes reference to:
In truth, be free.
(reference from an anti-slavery poem)
In Copp’s Hill Burying Ground, hundreds of African slaves
and free men of color were buried.
Here, Copp’s Hill Burying Ground is near Copp’s Hill Terrace,
which has several (maybe 5) sets of steps, leading down to
The North End Park (over 100 years old)
Face the water
Your back to the stairs
If you stand with your back to the last set of stairs at Copp’s Hill Terrace,
and face the “water” of the bay, you will be facing North End Park…
(It might be “5 steps/paces” from the stairs to cross the street)…
you see a short stone wall…with a rather nicely secluded
grassy area behind it..
Anyone in the Boston area have a soil probe??
AP

Verse 3 says:
“a
green tower
of lights
Did you know that there is an evergreen called
the “green tower”?
http://www.nurgapuukool.ee/enindex.php? … =2&sid=951
There is a tradition of a towering evergreen lit up every Christmas in the Boston Commons.
Also a traditional tall evergreen lit at Faneuil Hall.

And with that small of an area, the only thing you will discover if you try to dig is….
….wait for it….
ROOTS.

fox

Is that a small statue in the right portion of the picture?  What is it a statue of?

It may be St. Leonard…His church namesake is nearby.
AP

Is that a small statue in the right portion of the picture?  What is it a statue of?  Personally, I think this area to be way too small for BP to bury a casque.  The 2 found casques, as well as very probable locations we have located, are all large parks.

I found that this area is called “The St. Charles Esplanade”
The stairway leading into the water is the “Dartmouth St. Landing”, one of three
granite landings.
I have not yet searched for photos of the area that may
give us a reason to  “Feel at home”…as verse 3 says…
What makes you “feel at home”?…sitting on a bench?
There is a hotel whose tag line is “Feel At Home”, Marriott Residence Inn,
across the St. Charles River…6 Cambridge Center; Cambridge,
Whether that was their ad slogan in 1981-82…or if they even existed then…I don’t know.
But there may have been some sort of sign in the area that BP saw and quoted.
(a home realty sign, a nursing home sign, a hotel sign…a restaurant sign)…
I doubt that any advertising sign would be up for over 26 years…
AP

One more idea…
If “Take 5 steps” meant pass 5 “named “streets
(There are a 4 public alleyways along Dartmouth and 5 “named” streets)
you would end up at the Storrow Memorial Drive along St. Charles River.
There is a park and an enclosed type of waterway…with a wide staircase
leading right down to the water.  If your back were to the stairs, and you
were “facing the water” you would be standing on the opposite side of the
enclosed waterway.  There are some very nice trees and land there
.
Can’t tell on Google if there are any other nearby “confirmers” in the park.

Unknown

Unknown:
“Eighteenth day Twelfth hour Lit by lamplight In truth, be free.” seems to me to be referring to Paul Reveres ride warning of the British.  If this is the case, we are looking at either Lexington MA or Boston MA where the actual church he signalled from still stands.

I think you nailed that one on the head, Mr. Fox.
“If Thucydides is
North of Xenophon
Take five steps
In the area of his direction”
Paul Revere’s House is on Boston’s North End, on North Street, in North Square.  The church in which the lanterns were hung is Christ Church a.k.a. Old North Church.  I don’t know what Thucydides or Xenophon is referring to (sculptures? paintings?) — they are both ancient historians — but my guess is that Thucydides IS north of Xenophon, since Paul Revere’s House and the Church have many references to “North,” and since the verse doesn’t say what to do if Thucydides is NOT north of Xenophon.  The only question is where you need to be standing when you take the 5 steps.  Also, the phrase, “In the area of his direction” is strange.  If the verse wanted you to simply take 5 steps north, then it would read “In his direction,” but it doesn’t say that.
“A green tower of lights
In the middle section
Near those
Who pass the coliseum
With metal walls”
The Prudential Building in Boston could be considered a green tower of lights.  Again, we have awkward wording here.  “In the middle section”?  No idea what that could mean.  “The coliseum with metal walls” could be a stadium — the Fleet Center?
Any thoughts?

Thanks egg  🙂
I too am a little stumped on the 2 greeks.  Also, the 5 steps in the area of his direction…..Area?  sounds like geomotry to me.  Your green tower of lights is located in Copley SQUARE.  The Boston Public Library is also located in Copley Square…what better place to find ancient greeks than in a library?
Also, WHOSE direction are we taking the 5 steps?..Mr Thucydides, Mr. Xenophon or Mr. Revere?
or…maybe we are breaking down the V’s incorrectly.  There seems to be a flow when reading them, but, maybe we should pause between lines 3 & 4.  Do you understand?  Maybe it isnt “Take 5 steps in the area of his direction”.
I’m glad you also found the P building as a possible “tower of green lights”.  I also found that but for some reason have been trying to talk myself out of it for some time.  Here is a nice shot of Boston from atop the P building:  http://www.keshava.com/boston.htmlIt shows a stadium (“coliseum”?), a river (line 10 “face the water”) and a large park (what better place to bury a treasure).
Or the other way:  http://www.merseycards.co.uk/bostoncards/cards/pruview.html  ——   more water and another park.

Oops, looks like I should gather all of my info before posting.
One other possibility.  This shows the front of the Boston Public Library.
http://libraries.mit.edu/rvc/kidder/kjp … 22-032.jpg
More water and stairs….”back to the stairs”
In this closeup of the library:  http://www.grendelvs.inc.new.net/bobames/images/SN03.jpgnote the 2 statues flanking the doors.  I have yet been able to locate specific names of these but 1 represents Art and the other represents Science.  Were Thucydides & Xenophon artists and scientists?
maybe just more rambling but maybe not…..

Feel at home
Seems to me this is just a clear instruction to consider the Landlords Tale
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems- … tail/44637
Line 3 is borrowed. The method of using lamp signals and then avoiding detection by the Somerset seem like good inspiration for how Preiss might hide a casque.

MERLIN

“all the letters are here to see” –
https://www.google.com/maps/uv?hl=en&pb … E3oECA8QCw

How does this fit?
Is it supposed to be something like a handwriting exemplar?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handwriting_exemplar
A text where every letter of the alphabet exists in upper and lower case…
X

Unknown

Unknown:
Take five steps
In the area of his direction

Unknown

Unknown:
If Thucydides is
North of Xenophon

https://www.asla.org/2014awards/img/381-01_mini.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post_Offi … re,_Boston
https://www.asla.org/2014awards/381.html
“The above-ground parking garage was demolished in 1988”
Re: post office square – it looks like it was made in 88. In 81 it appears to have been a parking garage. (links above). It’s 1.3 miles from copley to post office square, seems too far.
re: The boston verse 13 in general: the thing I think we’re missing most is a clear starting point (that is connection to the verse and the image and the next steps in the verse).
“Take first steps in the area of his direction” seems to confirm to me we need to decode the two lines to determine where to start so that then we may “take five steps”. Which is tough because they don’t appear to tie to a specific location that’s confirmed in the image, and it’s an obscure literary city reference to Boston.
We know these two lines most as a direct reference to Boston (and nyc) in a letter from Horace Walople (British art historian, man of letters) to Horace Man (with a bonus reference to August via Augustan Age).
– This seems like a rather obscure reference in 1982 without google.
– It seems like more of to point to boston in the verse (Like the revere reference later) without tying to a specific place (at least that we know about yet)
– There doesn’t seem to be a clear way to tie these first two lines to the image (or a specific location besides BPL or the Horace Mann statue)
– There is a Horace Mann statue outside the Boston State House / edge of Boston Common Freedom Trail, which is a near a lot of stuff.
– As we know Thucydides & Xenophon are inscribed on the exterior wall of the BPL.
The BPL seems like a pretty good starting location, but the lack of image confirmers and path confirmers (a street name, for example) and a clear direction out of there to another area have me worried it’s still an unclear place to start, what does everyone else think? Are there any other locations these first 4 lines might be starting from?

Unknown

Unknown:
Take five steps
In the area of his direction

Unknown

Unknown:
If Thucydides is
North of Xenophon

https://www.asla.org/2014awards/img/381-01_mini.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post_Offi … re,_Boston
https://www.asla.org/2014awards/381.html
“The above-ground parking garage was demolished in 1988”
Re: post office square – it looks like it was made in 88. In 81 it appears to have been a parking garage. (links above). It’s 1.3 miles from copley to post office square, seems too far.
re: The boston verse 13 in general: the thing I think we’re missing most is a clear starting point (that is connection to the verse and the image and the next steps in the verse).
“Take first steps in the area of his direction” seems to confirm to me we need to decode the two lines to determine where to start so that then we may “take five steps”. Which is tough because they don’t appear to tie to a specific location that’s confirmed in the image, and it’s an obscure literary city reference to Boston.
We know these two lines most as a direct reference to Boston (and nyc) in a letter from Horace Walople (British art historian, man of
letters
) to Horace Man (with a bonus reference to August via Augustan Age).
– This seems like a rather obscure reference in 1982 without google.
– It seems like more of to point to boston in the verse (Like the revere reference later) without tying to a specific place (at least that we know about yet)
– There doesn’t seem to be a clear way to tie these first two lines to the image (or a specific location besides BPL or the Horace Mann statue)
– There is a Horace Mann statue outside the Boston State House / edge of Boston Common Freedom Trail, which is a near a lot of stuff.
– As we know Thucydides & Xenophon are inscribed on the exterior wall of the BPL.
The BPL seems like a pretty good starting location, but the lack of image confirmers and path confirmers (a street name, for example) and a clear direction out of there to another area have me worried it’s still an unclear place to start, what does everyone else think? Are there any other locations these first 4 lines might be starting from?

I agree that, without Google, Preiss couldn’t have obtained this info. One consistent element is that Preiss only used extremely common sources like those Abroad in America copies that seem to be littered on every street corner.
Plus, it’s not like there was some magical building nearby that archives obscure information.

Seriously speaking, I like your notion that the starting point needs to be recalculated. I just think the google deduction is not in line with the references we’ve sleuthed out so far, most of which are pretty obscure

drunknerds

Seriously speaking, I like your notion that the starting point needs to be recalculated. I just think the google deduction is not in line with the references we’ve sleuthed out so far, most of which are pretty obscure

I agree. For example using T and X as symbols for actual things, such as T (subway system), possibly X for Exeter Street. I am not saying that these are what I am saying the T and X are, I just like to think along those lines.
Along lines like these too…The Lenox Hotel, in Copley, has a huge sign on it that says THE LENOX at the top in neon red. Shining in the sky, for all to see. All the letters. That sign has been there for decades. THE LENOX starts with a T and ends with an X. Another 2 examples of a T and X . And the T is north of the X in this case. Again, I am not saying this is what T and X represent. Could be though. I just think the starting point could be something other than, possibly still near to, the BPL. Also worth noting with the Lenox Hotel is that Judy Garland stayed there in the 60s and there is a Judy Garland suite in the hotel. What was her famous wizard of oz line….”there’s no place like home”
Also wondering if the ref to Thucydides and Xenophon are just to show that we are supposed to be in Boston, as Boston is nicknamed Athens of America.
http://www.celebrateboston.com/culture/ … origin.htm
I do find the Aristedes statue interesting, as he is called Aristides the Just (truth), and another Greek. Yes, I know we are looking for an Italian connection. But why start with those Greeks.

drunknerds

Seriously speaking, I like your notion that the starting point needs to be recalculated. I just think the google deduction is not in line with the references we’ve sleuthed out so far, most of which are pretty obscure

I agree. For example using T and X as symbols for actual things, such as T (subway system), possibly X for Exeter Street. I am not saying that these are what I am saying the T and X are, I just like to think along those lines.
Along lines like these too…The Lenox Hotel, in Copley, has a huge sign on it that says THE LENOX at the top in neon red. Shining in the sky, for all to see. All the
letters
. That sign has been there for decades. THE LENOX starts with a T and ends with an X. Another 2 examples of a T and X . And the T is north of the X in this case. Again, I am not saying this is what T and X represent. Could be though. I just think the starting point could be something other than, possibly still near to, the BPL. Also worth noting with the Lenox Hotel is that Judy Garland stayed there in the 60s and there is a Judy Garland suite in the hotel. What was her famous wizard of oz line….”there’s no place like home”
Also wondering if the ref to Thucydides and Xenophon are just to show that we are supposed to be in Boston, as Boston is nicknamed Athens of America.
http://www.celebrateboston.com/culture/ … origin.htm
I do find the Aristedes statue interesting, as he is called Aristides the Just (truth), and another Greek. Yes, I know we are looking for an Italian connection. But why start with those Greeks.

gManTexas

That’s a fascinating theory. One that warrants merit.

you got half the top one, consider another verse clue as well…theres a key word in there

JoshCornell

you got half the top one, consider another verse clue as well…theres a key word in there

I am absolutely not looking for any clarification or validation from you with regards to Boston. We have met, I see what you know about our city. No disrespect of course, but I am not interested to hear your opinions on what you think is right or wrong with regards to here.

starting point is christopher columbus btw

that reply wasnt to or for you..so who cares what you think? lol

JoshCornell

starting point is christopher columbus btw

Why?

there is a very simple logic, to discern a general starting point, though sometimes youre pushed back further overall. but lets do it this way…the face is from the statue…and what is the first clue…?

Unknown

Unknown:
But why start with those Greeks.

My guess is that they are going to be easier to find, relatively speaking. As we have found, the literary clues make a basic, but irrefutable connection. So it’s important that they exist, and that you could find them if you knew what you were looking for. That, to me at least, seems pretty clear. It’s only when we try to expound on their significance that we start arguing.