DaVinci Code author Dan Brown gifts €300K to Amsterdam library

American Author Dan Brown, known for the The DaVinci Code, donated 300 thousand euros to the Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica in Amsterdam, the library announced. The money will be used to digitize and preserve part of the library's collection of ancient texts from before 1900. "Thanks to Brown's donation, the public will be able to access the core collection of some 4,600 ancient books online in the near future", the library, which is also known as The Ritman Library after its founder Joost R. Ritman, says in a statement on its website. "I consider it a great honor to play a role in this important preservation initiative that will make these texts available to the public", Brown, who visited the library several times while writing some of his novels, said. The Prins Bernhard Culture Fund also donated 15 thousand euros to the digitization project. The library's vast collection includes Hermitica, alchemy, mysticism, Rosicrucians and Kabbala. http://youtu.be/LJjWhlhdNHE