The Book of Buried Treasure

Captain Kidd, the plate fleet of Vigo, the pirates’ hoard of Trinidad, the galleon of Tobermory Bay — the famous treasure stories, followed to the documents that either support them or quietly demolish them.

About the Book

1911Published
Ralph D. PaineAuthor
14Treasure Hunts
45Pages on this site

Ralph D. Paine set out to test the treasure legends against the record: court transcripts, ships’ manifests, salvage contracts and the wills of dead pirates.

The result is better than credulity — Kidd’s actual trial and hanging, the Vigo plate fleet that really was sunk, the Lutine frigate’s bullion, the Tobermory galleon, Cocos Island, and the divining-rod men who worked the beaches after them.

This digital edition presents the complete keyed text of the 1911 edition.

This site reproduces the complete text of the original 1911 edition, digitized page by page from the original printing. The book is in the public domain.

Rights & ReuseThe complete text of The Book of Buried Treasure (1911) is in the public domain in the United States — like all works published before 1928 — and is free to read, download, quote, teach from, and reuse. This digital edition (its transcription, restored images, and site design) is © 2026 PhotoOpAI, and any editorial commentary we add is clearly marked as ours; the underlying public-domain text carries no such restriction.