Oak Island Bibliography
Updated as new works are published or discovered. Send additions to:djoltes@criticalenquiry.org
Books
Crooker, William S., The Oak Island Quest, Lancelot Press, Hantspost (N.S.), 1978.
Evans, Millie, Nova Scotia's Oak Island: the unsolved mystery, Tantallon, N.S. : Four East, 1993
Furneaux, Rupert, The Money Pit Mystery, Dodd, Mead & Co., New York, 1972.
Harris, Reginald V., The Oak Island Mystery, McGraw-Hill Ryerson, Toronto, 1958.
Kingston, Jeremy, Mystere's de i'insolite, Le Livre de Paris, Hachette, Paris, 1980.
Leary, Thomas P., The Oak Island enigma : a history and inquiry into the origin of the money pit, T.P. Leary, 1953.
Marcil, Claude, Oak Island: l'Ile du Tresor, ISBN 2920176625
O'Connor, D'Arcy, The Money Pit: The Story of Oak Island, Coward & McCann, Geoghegan, New York, 1978.
O'Connor, D'Arcy, The Big Dig, Ballantine Books 1988
Young, George, Ancient Peoples and Modern Ghosts, Lunenburg County Print Ltd. Lunenburg (N.S.), 1980
Fanthorpe, Lionel and Patricia, The Oak Island Mystery... 1995.
Crooker, William W., Oak Island Gold: One of The World's Most Baffling Mysteries. Halifax: Nimbus, 1993 (Thanks to Elyse M Cregar)
Finnan, Mark, Oak Island Secrets. Halifax: Formac Publishing Ltd. 1995. (Thanks to Ted Gammon)
Platt, Cameron, and John Wright, The Fascinating World of Pirates, Buried Treasure, and Fortune Hunters. Golden, Colorado: Fulcrum 1995. (Thanks to Marci Ficht)
De Mille, James, The Treasure of the Seas, 1873 (very interesting early work presenting the legend in the context of an adventure by three boys). See Canadiana.org's link for an online copy in PDF format. (Thanks to Dennis King)
Finnan, Mark, Oak Island Secrets (updated 1997 edition). Halifax: Formac Publishing Ltd. 1997, ISBN 0-88780-414-4. (Thanks to Mark for providing the publication notice)
Harris, G., and MacPhie, L., Oak Island and Its Lost Treasure. Halifax: Formac Publishing Company Limited 1999 (Thanks to Brent Myers)
Sora, Steven, The Lost Treasure of the Knights Templar. Inner Traditions/Destiny publishers, 1999, ISBN 0-89-281-710-0 (Thanks to Neil Barron)>
Johnson, Laverne, Revealed: The Secret of Oak Island: The Untold Story of the Mystery of the Oak Island Treasure. Vancouver: Benwell-Atkins Printers 1999. ISBN 0-96-951-990-7. (Thanks to Ryan Soprovich and Dennis King)
Evans, Millie & Eric Mullen, Oak Island, Nova Scotia - The World's Greatest Treasure Hunt, (1984) ISBN # 0-920427-01-4 (Thanks to Don McNichol)
Articles
(Author not given), "Correspondence", Liverpool Transcript, 15 Aug., 1857 (Thanks to Linda Rafuse)
(Author not given), "The Oak Island Folly," Nova Scotian newspaper, 29 Aug, 1861 (Thanks to Linda Rafuse)
"Patrick" (response to "The Oak Island Folly"), Nova Scotian newspaper, 30 Sept. 1861.
McCully, J.B., "The Oak Island Diggings", Liverpool Transcript, Oct 1862 (Thanks to Linda Rafuse)
"A Member," "A History of The Oak Island Enterprise," British Colonist, in 3 chapters published on 2, 7, and 14 Jan., 1864 (Thanks to Linda Rafuse)
Doyle, Lynn C., "Nova Scotia's Treasure Island", MacLean's, 1 June 1931.
Ellerd, Kerry, "Finding Buried Treasure: It's an Expensive Business", Montreal STAR (weekend magazine), Feb 6, 1971.
French, Carey, "Treasure Island? Fabled Booty Eludes the Fortune Hunters", Globe & Mail, Toronto, 19 Nov 1983.
Howlett, A., "Mystery of Captain Kidd's Treasure", World Wide Magazine, Oct 1958.
MacDonald, David, "Oak Island's Mysterious `Money Pit'", Reader's Digest, Jan. 1965.
Morell, Parker, "The Money Pit", Saturday Evening Post, Toronto, Oct 14, 1939.
Morell, Virginia, "The Pit and the Perplexities", Equinoxe, May-June 1983.
Nickell, Joe, "The Secret Of Oak Island", Skeptical Inquirer, March 2000.
Teale, Edwin, "Captain Kidd's Gold?", Popular Science, vol 134 #4, April 1939.
Preston, Douglas. "Death Trap Defies Treasure Seekers for Two Centuries", Smithsonian, June, 1988 (Vol. 19, No. 3) (Thanks to Ken Stuart and Dennis King)
"Island of controversy" Maclean's, August 21, 1995
"Yep, they're still digging..." Forbes, September 26, 1995
>Freeman, Patricia, and Dirk Mathison. "Adventure: Writer D'Arcy O'Connor, Digging Deep into 'Money Pit' Lore, Unearths a Trove of Mysteries", People, 6 Mar., 1989. Available at The Electric Library . (Thanks to Marci Ficht)
Proctor, Steve, "Island of Controversy. (Oak Island Salvage Operation)", Maclean's, Vol. 108, 21 August 1995. Available at The Electric Library . (Thanks to Marci Ficht)
Gomez, Linda, "Cover Story: 8 Great Buried Treasures This Lucky Man Found His, But Others Lie Unclaimed", Life, 1 March, 1987. Available at The Electric Library . (Thanks to Marci Ficht)
(Author unknown), The Saturday Evening Post, a 7 page article in the October 14, 1939 issue. (Thanks to Don McNichol)
(Author unknown), True Treasure Magazine - summer 1967 (no further data available). According to Don, "the article has several vintage photos & drawings,some that I haven't seen in other publications." I'd love to see a copy of this article. (Thanks to Don McNichol)
Sullivan, Randall, "The Curse of Oak Island," Rolling Stone Magazine, 22 January, 2004 (Thanks to various folk for updating me on this one).
Wilhelm, R., The Spanish in Nova Scotia in the Sixteenth Century--A Hint in the Oak Island Treasure Mystery. Dalhousie Review Vol. 50 #4. Available online.
The following books also mention Oak Island
Des Brisay, Mather Byles, History of the County of Lunenburg, Toronto, William Briggs 1895
Finnan, Mark, The First Nova Scotian. Halifax: Formac Publishing Ltd 1997, ISBN 0-88780-410-1.
Fuller & Leslie-Melville, Pirate Harbours & Secrets. London, Stanley, Paul, & Co. 1935
Hine, Charles Gilbert, Travels in Nova Scotia in the Year Nineteen Thirteen, (publisher stats not currently available).
Driscoll, Charles B., Doubloons: The Story of Buried Treasure. London, Chapman & Hall, 1931.
Nesmith, Robert I., Dig for Pirate Treasure. New York, Bonanza Books 1958
Paine, Ralph D., The Book of Buried Treasure. New York, Macmillan & co, 1922
Platt, Cameron, and John Loright, Treasure Islands. London, Michael O'Hara Books, 1992.
Wilkins, Harold, A Modern Treasure Hunter. London, C & J Temple, 1948.
Time-Life Books, Lost Treasures, pp. 118-119 (part of the "Library of Curious & Unusual Facts"). Time-Life Books. (Thanks to John Molpus)
Titler, Dale M., Unnatural Resources: True Stories of American Treasure, (1973) Prentice-Hall Inc. has a 10 page chapter dealing with Oak island. ISBN # -0-13-938910-5 (Thanks to Don McNichol)
Barrett, T.D., True Tales of Buried Treasure, Haldeman-Julius publications, Gerard, Kansas (1946) item # B-500. It contains a 12 page story on Oak Island. (Thanks to Don McNichol)
Final Note
I have been informed by several correspondents of the existence of a graduate thesis that successfully compares the basic details of the known works on the island to techniques used by British Army (or Royal Navy) units at approximately the correct period. As yet I have been unable to locate this work; I am unsure whether this is because it simply does not exist or due to a lack of publication data. I offer much gratitude (and an offer of beer, if convenient!) to the first person who uncovers a copy of it and provides me with a method of obtaining same.