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What makes a lost cargo of gold worth a lifetime of searching?
In The Book of Buried Treasure, Ralph Delahaye Paine follows the trail of sunken galleons, pirate hoards and hidden chests. Spanish fleets carry silver, gold, pearls and gems across the ocean, while storms, battles and pirates threaten their passage. Captains, salvage crews and dreamers pursue the riches left behind, sometimes spending fortunes in the search.
Paine brings a reporter’s curiosity and a love of the sea to Captain William Kidd, Tobermory Bay and Cocos Island. He explores the hold these stories have on treasure hunters, while asking what evidence supports them. A documented loss is one thing; a tale that grows with every telling is another. The adventure lies in learning to look closely at both.
What you’ll discover
- Gold across the ocean Follow Spanish treasure fleets whose precious cargo makes the sea a place of peril and possibility.
- Kidd and pirate lore Explore Captain William Kidd’s story and the buried hoard legends tied to his name.
- A mystery beneath Tobermory Consider the tradition of an Armada ship said to sink with gold in Tobermory Bay.
- The lure of Cocos Visit a rugged, lonely island through legends of hidden pirate loot and lost riches.
- Hope measured against proof Share Paine’s admiration for daring hunters while weighing the evidence behind their dreams.
Who will love it
This is for readers who love sea adventure, pirate lore and true stories told with a wink. It suits anyone curious about Captain Kidd, sunken galleons and old charts.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- The adventure is part of the prize
- Hidden riches acquire watchful guardians
- Kidd's reputation hides a political story
- Oak Island turns mystery into expense
- Missing evidence leaves Kidd without protection
- Phips follows information rather than fantasy
- Gold exposes greed beyond the pirates
- Recorded wrecks reward practical skill
- Keep the documents beside the legends
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The Book of Buried Treasure
by Ralph Delahaye Paine · 1911
Oak Island's flooding pit, Kidd's gallows and Vigo Bay's sunken fleet show why people keep digging for lost gold.
Challenging5–10 hours to read20 languages
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“Searching for lost treasure is not work but a fascinating kind of play, belonging to the world of make-believe.”
In short
What makes a sensible person leave home at midnight with a spade? Ralph Delahaye Paine asks that question across a whole book, and he answers it with charts, court papers and sworn statements.
The Book of Buried Treasure at a glance
- Reading time
- About 8 h 5 min6 h 25 min fast, 9 h 35 min slow
- Length
- 114,900 words
- Library level
- Challenging long sentences, a rich vocabulary
- First published
- 1911by Ralph Delahaye Paine
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Treasure hunting is play for grown-up boys
Paine opens with a plain claim. Searching for lost treasure is make-believe, and it calls to the boy who lives on inside the grown man. Expeditions still leave port in his own day, steered by tattered charts and hearsay.
He backs the claim with famous voices. Stevenson argued that anyone who never hunted treasure as a child was never a child at all. Mark Twain gave Tom Sawyer the same itch, complete with a black flag and a plan to dig where a shadow falls at midnight.
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Details
- First published
- 1911
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 9 h 10 min
- Level
- Challenging
Cite this edition
Paine, Ralph Delahaye. The Book of Buried Treasure. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-book-of-buried-treasure.
Paine, R. D. (2026). The book of buried treasure. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-book-of-buried-treasure (Original work published 1911)
Paine, Ralph Delahaye. The Book of Buried Treasure. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-book-of-buried-treasure.
@book{paine2026book,
author = {Paine, Ralph Delahaye},
title = {The Book of Buried Treasure},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-book-of-buried-treasure},
note = {First published 1911}
}
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What is The Book of Buried Treasure about?
It is a true account of lost and buried treasure around the world. Paine tells of Captain Kidd, Oak Island, Sir William Phips, the Armada galleon at Tobermory, Vigo Bay, Trinidad, Cocos Island and El Dorado, drawing on documents and eyewitness accounts.
Did Captain Kidd really bury treasure?
Paine says the only authentic Kidd treasure is the small hoard left on Gardiner's Island in 1699, which was dug up and inventoried within weeks. He argues the chests said to lie along the Atlantic coast are legend, not fact.
Is The Book of Buried Treasure a true story and when was it written?
Yes, it is nonfiction, written in the early twentieth century by Ralph Delahaye Paine. It rests on state papers, trial records, sworn statements and published voyage journals, mixed with folklore that the author marks as legend.
The author
Ralph Delahaye Paine
1871–1925 · American journalist and author
Ralph Delahaye Paine was an American journalist, author, and politician who lived in the United States from 1871 to 1925. He wrote books about ships, sailors, and maritime history. His works include The Ships and Sailors of Old Salem, published in 1908, and The Book of Buried Treasure, published in 1911.
“Searching for lost treasure is not work but a fascinating kind of play, belonging to the world of make-believe.”
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