It was 1979, and a guy named Kit Williams did something that basically broke the collective sanity of the British public. He didn't just write a children's story; he buried a handcrafted, 18-carat gold hare encrusted with rubies and diamonds somewhere in the dirt of England and told everyone they could have it if they could find it.
Honestly, the 70s were wild, but this was next level.
The book, titled Masquerade, became a global obsession. You’ve probably heard of "armchair treasure hunts" before, but this was the original. The blueprint. It featured 15 gorgeous, hyper-detailed oil paintings that supposedly held the key to the treasure's location. Williams famously claimed the clues would let someone find the spot "to within a few inches."
People went absolutely nuts.
They weren't just reading the book; they were dissecting it like a forensic cold case. Thousands of people spent years staring at paintings of hares, suns, and moons, convinced that a specific blade of grass or a hidden number in a character's eye would make them rich. It sounds like a fun weekend hobby, but it turned into a full-blown mania.
The Puzzle That Drove People to Dig Up Public Parks
So, how did the masquerade kit williams book actually work?
Most people think you just look for a "X marks the spot" on a map. Nope. It was way more devious. Williams used a system where you had to draw lines from the eyes of the animals and humans in the paintings through their fingers or paws. Where those lines hit the border of the image, they pointed to specific letters.
If you did it right, the letters spelled out a message.
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"Catherine's Long Finger Over Shadows Earth Buried Yellow Amulet Midday Points The Hour In Light Of Equinox Look You."
Basically, it was a riddle leading to Ampthill Park in Bedfordshire. The "long finger" was the shadow of a monument to Catherine of Aragon. On the spring or autumn equinox, the tip of that shadow pointed directly to the buried golden hare.
But here’s the thing: nobody actually solved it that way at first. At least, not the person who "won."
The Scandal That Tainted the Treasure
In 1982, a man using the pseudonym "Ken Thomas" (real name Dugald Thompson) claimed he’d found the treasure. He sent Williams a sketch of the location, and sure enough, they went to Ampthill and dug it up. The world cheered. The mystery was over.
Except it was a total sham.
It turns out Thompson hadn't solved the riddle at all. He’d actually been in business with a guy whose ex-girlfriend was—you guessed it—Kit Williams’ former partner. She had allegedly mentioned the general area of Ampthill to him years prior. Thompson and his friends just went out with metal detectors and brute-forced the search until they got lucky.
It gets worse.
Two days after the treasure was "found" by the fraudster, two physics teachers from Lancashire, Mike Barker and John Rousseau, sent Williams the actual mathematical solution. They had done the work. They had decoded the lines and the letters. But they were too late. The hare was already gone, handed over to a guy who cheated.
Where is the Golden Hare Now?
For years, the hare disappeared into the shadows. Thompson’s software company, Haresoft, went bankrupt after trying to launch an "unsolvable" video game based on the mystery. The hare was auctioned off at Sotheby’s in 1988 for roughly £31,000 to an anonymous buyer.
Kit Williams actually tried to buy it back himself, but he was outbid.
It essentially vanished for decades. It wasn't until 2009 that the hare resurfaced for a BBC documentary. The owner, who lived in the Middle East, agreed to let Williams see his creation one last time. It was a pretty emotional moment—Williams hadn't seen the piece since he buried it in 1979.
In a wild twist of timing, the golden hare actually returned to the public eye very recently. In late 2025, it went back up for auction at Sotheby’s London. It was estimated to fetch between £15,000 and £20,000, though the historical value to "Masqueraders" is basically priceless.
Why This Book Still Matters
You might wonder why we’re still talking about a 40-year-old picture book.
Kinda simple: it changed how we interact with media. Before Masquerade, a book was something you read and put on a shelf. After it, every book could be a game. It paved the way for things like The Secret, Ready Player One, and even modern ARG (Alternate Reality Game) culture.
It also serves as a bit of a cautionary tale.
Williams was so overwhelmed by the fame and the eventual scandal that he largely retreated from the public eye for years. He just wanted to be an artist, but he accidentally created a cult. People were showing up at his house at 3 a.m. and sending him literal bags of dirt.
How to Appreciate Masquerade Today
If you’re looking to dive into the world of Kit Williams, don’t expect to find any gold. That ship has sailed. But there’s still value in the work:
- Look for the Paperback: The original 1979 hardback is a collector's item, but the subsequent paperback editions include the full solution. It’s a masterclass in visual puzzle design.
- Study the Art: Even without the gold, the oil paintings are stunning. Williams spent three years on them, and the level of detail is frankly terrifying.
- Visit Ampthill: You can still visit the park in Bedfordshire. There’s even a golden hare weathervane on the local library to commemorate the madness.
- Check the Auction Results: Since the hare was just at Sotheby’s in November 2025, keep an eye on where it landed. It’s a piece of literary and art history.
The real "treasure" ended up being the legacy of the hunt itself. It proved that people love a mystery, but they love the search even more than the prize. Just, you know, maybe don't go digging up any local parks without a permit.
To truly understand the complexity of the masquerade kit williams book, you should look up the Barker and Rousseau solution online. It’s a fascinating look at how logic, art, and geometry can be woven together into something that stumped the world for years.
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Actionable Insights:
- Visit the Site: If you are in the UK, head to Ampthill Park to see Catherine's Cross. It’s a beautiful spot even without the buried gold.
- Analyze the Plates: Buy a used copy of the book and try to find the hidden "hare" in every single painting before looking at the solution. It’s harder than it looks.
- Explore the Genre: If you enjoy the vibe, check out The Secret by Byron Preiss, which still has unsolved treasures buried across North America.