Happy Birthday, Leonardo
April 15th, 2006
Today is Leonardo Da Vinci’s birthday! He was born on April 15, 1452 in Vinci, Italy, according to Wikipedia.
Opus Dei’s Letter to Sony
April 14th, 2006
In a recent Open Letter to Sony, Opus Dei sends out an informational notice about the upcoming Da Vinci Code film pointing out that the line between fiction and fact in the novel is difficult to distinguish:
As you already probably know, there are some aspects of The Da Vinci Code novel that distort the figure of Jesus Christ, and which affect the religious beliefs of Christians. Moreover, in the book it is said that the Christian Faith is founded on a lie, and that the Catholic Church has over the centuries employed criminal and violent means to keep people in ignorance. The novel mixes together fact and fiction, and in the end one does not know where the boundaries lie between truth and invention. A reader without much knowledge of history may reach false conclusions, and might even feel less sympathetically inclined towards the Church, which nonetheless is worthy of respect.
Opus Dei is just one of the featured links in the new Da Vinci Code Companion VitalBook, which is coming soon from the folks at Good Things Publishing. If you’d like to review a demo copy of the digital book (now available in VitalSource Bookshelf format), let us know!.
Ruling in Da Vinci Code Copyright Case
April 7th, 2006
The ruling has been handed down in the U.K. by London’s High Court. As expected, the judge ruled that you can’t copyright an idea and the author’s claim failed the test of copyright infringement, even though Brown had copied some language from the earlier book.
Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh, the authors of the 1982 book The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail are going to need to dig deep.
The ruling clears the way for the Da Vinci Code movie’s release in May. Mr Baigent and Mr Leigh must pay 85% of Random House’s costs of almost £1.3m.
Ouch.
Easter Freebies at VitalSource
April 6th, 2006
Vitalsource is running an Easter-related special in their online bookstore. 
You get a few different Bibles, a commentary on the Bible, The Nicene Creed, Luther’s 95 Theses, Summa Theologica, The Confessions, and several others. If you have any interest at all in Christian history, definitely get a copy of Bookshelf (it is free) and add the Easter Collection to your cart and check out. You will need to complete a minimal sign up form to create an account, and then you’ll be on your way to downloading all 11 of these texts.
Here are a few links to get you started:
Download Bookshelf 3.9.5 for Macintosh
Download Bookshelf 3.9.5 for Windows
Enjoy.
Update: The special runs until April 30, 2006.
Fodor’s Online Da Vinci Tour
April 5th, 2006
Fodor’s has a basic tour plan posted on their web site which walks through the story as it unfolds at various Paris landmarks:
The book opens at that pinnacle of poshness, the Ritz Paris (15 place Vendôme, Louvre/Tuileries, Paris, France. Métro: Opéra). Professor Robert Langdon is awoken by a late-night surprise visit. Lieutenant police inspector Bezu Fache, from the French equivalent of the FBI, tells him that the man with whom Langdon was supposed to meet earlier that day, Jacques Saunière, has been murdered.
Fodor’s Guide to The Da Vinci Code
April 2nd, 2006
What a cool idea. Fodor’s, that venerable travel publisher, has released a guide for following the trail of The Da Vinci Code through in real life. Definitely seems worth checking out.
Fodor’s Guide to The Da Vinci Code : On the Trail of the Bestselling Novel
