Terry Wogan

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Artist Kit Williams with the Golden hare, who was the Treasure Hunt prize

A series of events will be staged on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the publishing sensation Masquerade , a picture-book that promised a hidden treasure to the person who can solve the clues hidden within its pages.

It's a familiar story: treasure hunter to decipher the race, clues will lead to a mysterious book, that You to Buried Gold .

But this particular hunt, and his waiting sweetheart, that was not a work of Fiction , even if The Creation was inspired.

in 1979, artist Kit Williams published Masquerade , a Picture Book decorated with paintings, the details of which held clues that would lead to the successful detective, to an 18 carat Golden hare.

A phenomenon at the time, the book sold More Than a million times and sparked a worldwide hunt for the Gold .

readers were thrilled released from the moment the Masquerade , Forty years on, was, Masquerade retains an army of fans, who have handed down their passion for the book, and their memories of the frenzy that seized the country.

the readers were hooked, with treasure-hunters, driven, as much as The First The Puzzle of how the value of the jewel-encrusted hare.

Countless lawn were excavated surfaces, and fed-up landowner put up the signs, the warning of the fortune-seekers. The book was even cited in divorce proceedings.

But if the Golden hare was eventually unearthed, three years later, in a park in Bedfordshire, the story was far from over.

The scandal behind its discovery, fans shocked around The World , and Williams turned to a hermit.

Ironically, it was a story that could come from a work of Fiction .

The Hunt begins Masquerade release in August of 1979, a publishing phenomenon of the Masquerade was The Journey of Jack, the rabbit who loses a jewel, he was entrusted to deliver from The Moon to The Sun .

And the real-life treasure fit for a fairy tale, with the hand-beaten by Williams himself. It was to the value of £5,000 - although it would eventually prove much More valuable and inset with a ruby, mother-of-pearl and moon stones.

These Golden hares caught the imagination of millions, But nevertheless, for almost three years, their Hiding Place was known only to two men.

setting off a night in August 1979, Williams was accompanied selected by a single witness of his publisher Tom Maschler - the TV presenter Bamber Gascoigne .

At a precise location on the joint, Williams and his famous witness of the Bunny, which was sealed, to escape in wax and a ceramic case, metal detectors Buried .

the engraving was: "I Am The Keeper of the jewel of Masquerade , which are safe in me For You . or eternity. "

After witnessing the funeral, Gascoigne was The Final flourish, emptying the Bunny a fresh cow pie from a Tupperware box.

The perceptive reader is led before, this location is chosen, the Williams years, while You point out on a picnic with his girlfriend at the time - due to exposure of The Complex in the pictures.

Golden hares were mixed with red herrings in Williams ' images, But the images are allowed' detail, for almost as many interpretations and theories, there were fans.

The book was an immediate success, as readers from around The World raced to solve The Puzzle .

< p > airline even TRANS-Atlantic Masquerade sold tickets, which came with a free spade at the time of arrival.

"sold out The First print run within Two Days , or something like that," Williams recalled in a Bbc Four documentary, The Man Behind the Masquerade .

"You were the reprint so quickly. It was a sensation in such a way that it moves so quickly. "

Williams , the until then little-known artist, was thrust into the Spotlight .

Williams was interviewed by the likes of Terry Wogan , as he promoted his work, He began a publicity tour of the United States , joined in the talk shows in the UK, and was flooded with desperate requests from fans to help.

and Soon came More Than 200 letters, in his house daily, and Williams each had read.

"I was not prepared for it," he said. "It is really out of hand very quickly. "

Under the assumptions about booked the artists ' letter-box More disturbing were the submissions, among them, severed rubber hands.

rally round, Williams ' neighbors in his Gloucestershire village began to deny any knowledge of him to curious fans.

The Solution of The Shadows of Katherine's Cross in Ampthill Great Park pointed the way to The Treasure Under the Golden hares and red herrings, only a theory of price led to The Right Solution - and the Golden .

You complete had The Puzzle , to draw a line from the Eyes of each of The Animals in the 15 paintings by the hand, or paw, in a letter to The Border .

This is a word or a phrase, which, together formed the crucial evidence.

It read: "Catherine / Long fingers / Over / shadow / Earth / Buried / Yellow / Amulet / lunch / points / offers The / H / In / light Equinox / You . "

When arranged in a verse of the acrostic, The First letters written, "in the vicinity of Ampthill".

There was a masquera founder their last, substantial pointer to the Bedfordshire town, in the vicinity of the Williams had lived, years.

The funeral was the place where Williams knew that The Shadow of Catherine of Aragon's cross, fell to the spring and autumn Equinox - this means it would. the point to The Right place on The Right day

It took almost three years to be for cracked The Code to physics teachers, Mike Barker and John Rousseau - But The Treasure was ultimately to elude them.

Discovery-Drawing lines between the feet and the Eyes in this image leads to the letters spelling "Amulet " From the beginning of 1982, Barker and Rousseau had come to what Gascoigne and later as "the perfect Solution " to The Puzzle .

she had published her breakthrough with The Help of an additional Element, in the Sunday Times in 1981.

This indicated to You that fingers and toes could hold The Key to The Puzzle .

the reminder of the introduction to the book - "To solve The Hidden riddle, You must use your Eyes " - they realized that a straight line from each animal to The Eye by its paw, pointing to a letter to The Border . Together, these letters spelled a word.

It was the book the eighth " painting, reveals the word "Amulet ", is convinced Barker and Rousseau had done.

from there, they reached "close by Ampthill", found The Park and identified The Monument .

In January 1982, Barker visited The Park to dig for your treasure, But without the precise instruments in place to calculate its rest, was the return empty-handed.

resolutely, But the two men, to wait until the March Equinox , to show You your prize, the Golden hare wriggled out of her grip.

scandal, the Finder, Ken Thomas with Williams as the hare was released from his enclosure, they were beaten to the find of a reclusive puzzler by the name of Ken Thomas , who avoided the public that came with The Solution of a mystery that had captivated The World .

He was filmed with Williams , as he freed the rabbit from the wax case, But later insisted, covering his face with a scarf and would only be interviewed behind a screen. He refused to show his treasure.

Not able to share in the joy of his discovery, Masquerade , fans grew suspicious and Thomas , later Williams , suggesting with some even the fact, he had conspired to cheat You .

After years of searching for The Hidden clues that You saw, will a different in an anagram of Kit Williams : "I of the mask".

The Artist , however, shared her doubts about Thomas because he had not solved, which is full of puzzles, But covered the Gold of the situation by other means.

It was not until 1988 that a newspaper Revealed at last the connection between Thomas - is Revealed to be a pseudonym - and Williams ' ex-girlfriend who had remembered their visit to Ampthill years.

When Thomas broke The Company Haresoft together, he was forced to sell, the hare at auction, to raise money.

The 18-carat Gold rabbit with ruby, mother-of-pearl and moonstones, Which led reporter Frank Branston, look at The Company , the head of which Dugald Thompson , not Ken Thomas was named.

Thompson was previously a friend already in the business with A Man by the name of John Keeper, who was, at the time of discovery, of life with Williams ' ex -.

Williams , later, the Sunday Times, said he felt "cheated" and knew from the beginning that Thomas had not really solved The Puzzle .

The hare, after he picked up £31,900 at an auction, she went into private ownership and the public disappeared for More Than 20 years.

Williams , The Man whose imagination had spawned the phenomenon, in fact the same.

He had become disillusioned reduced to his artistic reputation, that The Puzzle -maker, and after corrupt his creation.

"At the beginning, he was very grateful, encouraged this creature," his publisher Tom Maschler Bbc Four said.

ampthill, art, long reads, publishing

Source of news: bbc.com