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Tue 5 Dec, 2006 08:38 am
I recently read a story called 'the Rule of four', by a pair of authors I cannot recall the names of right now.
In the book, the main characters are seniors at princeton, working on a thesis about another book, written in the 1500s by a man named Francesco Colonna. It is called Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, and the entire this is written in code.
What I want to know is if this book is real or just fiction.
I am hoping anybody knows the answer. :wink:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francesco_Colonna
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypnerotomachia_Poliphili
Quote:The Rule of Four
In 2004, Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason wrote a novel entitled The Rule of Four about two Princeton University students who try to decode the mysteries of Hypnerotomachia Poliphili. In the novel, an alternative theory of authorship is advanced, in which the author is a patrician Roman by the name of Francesco Colonna, rather than the Venetian monk. As a companion and commentary to the novel Joscelyn Godwin wrote The Real Rule of Four: The Unauthorized Guide to The New York Times Bestseller (2004, ISBN 1-932857-08-7) in which he investigates the history of Hypnerotomachia Poliphili and its use in the
At the end of the last article on wikipedia, there's a list of external links with online transcripts of Hypnerotomachia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rule_of_Four_%28book%29
Looks like the book is real enough, while the plot of the Rule of four, with Colonna working to save as much as he can of the cultural treasures the crazy priest is burning, is not...
Thanks butrflynet
Hypnerotomachia Poliphili
Hi
The book is real, about two years back, copies were released for the general public in hard bound and soft cover versions with excellent illustrations. In the novel" Rule of Four", the authors have blended fact and fiction nicely to give a bit lengthy but interesting thriller.
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