Last month, while in Florence, Professor Langdon uncovered an ancient parchment that historians now believe may be the work of Leonardo da Vinci. The encoded parchment—bearing the name La Profezia (The Prophecy)—raised eyebrows when scholars discovered it was signed "LSPDV." (Leonardo's full name was Leonardo Ser Pieri Da Vincio).

More intriguing still is the legend that the visionary Leonardo, in the days before his death, made a powerful prophecy about the future. Could this be Da Vinci's long lost prediction? Historians remain eager to learn what this parchment says. The code has yet to reveal its mystery, but Robert Langdon is very close to finding the key to deciphering the message.
Leonardo's encoded message consists of 24 symbols. Robert Langdon is certain there exists a key, and he is working very hard to find it.

The "Sacred Geometry" of the Masonic layout of streets in Washington, D.C., will most likely lead Brown's Professor Langdon to discover that Fort Marcy Park lies along the same line as that made by the National Mall, which lies between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial, and that extending that line almost all the way across the United States would pass directly through the Mormon Tabernacle Temple in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Oddly, the Mormon Tabernacle is closed to the public throughout 2006.) Even more eerie, a line drawn from the Washington Monument to Rock Creek Park, where the body of Chandra Levy, a attractive Jewish woman who was a federal Bureau of Prisons intern and the secret lover of a Congressman, was found in 2002, would, if extended, pass through the Scottish Rite Freemasonic Center in D.C., as well as through Freemason's Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Above Levy's name is handwritten the words "Shari Eli." Perhaps a character name? Chandra is Sanskrit for "light," that which Masons claim to seek.

One of the strangest pages may be this list of statues and monuments in the Washington, D.C. area, with perplexing phrases after them:

• D.C. Masonic Temple — Irish ale
• Jeff Memorial — A fenced in miser
• Albert Pike statue — Fresh cad onto a monk
• Persephone statue on Capitol — Hi, Israel
• Geo. Washington Masonic Memorial — Print a rug, Ben
• Washington Obelisk — Accords femmes

Notes: The last one may refer to the Washington Monument. "Accords femmes" translates from French into "women's agreements."

George Washington and Albert Pike were both Freemasons, as was Ben Franklin, who may be the "Ben" referenced in one of the phrases. "Ben" may also refer to the character Ben Gates in the film National Treasure.

The message of the Georgia Guidestones, written in English, Russian, Hebrew, Arabic, Hindi, Chinese, Spanish, and Swahili is:

1. Maintain humanity under 500,000,000 in perpetual balance with nature.
2. Guide reproduction wisely — improving fitness and diversity.
3. Unite humanity with a living new language.
4. Rule passion — faith — tradition — and all things with tempered reason.
5. Protect people and nations with fair laws and just courts.
6. Let all nations rule internally resolving external disputes in a world court.
7. Avoid petty laws and useless officials.
8. Balance personal rights with social duties.
9. Prize truth — beauty — love — seeking harmony with the infinite.
10. Be not a cancer on the earth — Leave room for nature — Leave room for nature.