The book alcoholics anonymous is not in the top ten books of all time. Here are a number of ways that the bible, in its many translations can be considered the most. The most published works by one author is 1,084 by l. The alltime most popular books in the world revealed. Other books featured multiple times on the list are the gutenberg bible, the first folio of shakespeare s plays and the north american indian with four separate copies. The bible is the world s bestselling book, having sold more than five billion copies. The longest novel is artamene ou le grand cyrus, originally published 164954 in ten parts, each part in three volumes. The bible tops the list of the most read books in the world. The countries with more than 100 thousand books published per year are displayed in red. If you turn out an average length novel in a week and compare it to a different novel that took y. As you can see from the graphic below created by designer jared fanning, the bible leads the countdown by a large margin. This page provides lists of bestselling individual books and book series to date and in any.
Lolita, published in 1955, is one of the most famous controversial books of all time. Conquerors or usurpers wishing to destroy a peoples heritage have often burned its books, as did shih huangti in china in 2 bce, the spaniards in mexico in 1520, and. The works of william shakespeare are amongst the most influential in the world, continuing to have great precedence in western literature 400 years after his death in 1616. Collins crime club first published the book in the united kingdom in 1939 under a different name, and it was later published in america in 1940. This is a list of bestselling fiction authors to date, in any language. Modern publishing is a tricky game especially when trying to figure out the biggest names within that game.
Orange is reserved for 50100k and light green for 1050k countries. Best selling refers to the estimated number of copies sold of each book, rather than the number of books printed or currently owned. Published in 1986, the book was the firstever american novel to explore the social and cultural situations of korean immigrants in the early 20th century, and had a major impact on later. Top 10 most read books in the world over the past 50 years. List of most expensive books and manuscripts wikipedia. The bible was and still remains the most published and commonly owned book in the world. We also have the best and most diverse art book selection in new york, and possibly in the world. What is the most published book in the world today.
According to unesco, this is an important index of standard of living, education, and of a countrys selfawareness. This is a list of the novels over 500,000 words published through a mainstream publisher. Banning the most dangerous book in the world cnsnews. More copies have been distributed of the bible than of any other book. The illustration appeared in an edition of the book that was published in the 1800s. The books are listed according to the highest sales estimate as reported in reliable, independent sources. What is the 2nd most published book in history answers.
Comics and textbooks are not included in this list. Writer james chapman created a list of the most read books in the world based on the number of copies each book. The bible has also been translated more times, and into more languages, than any other book. The second and third books, fifty shades darker and fifty shades freed, are also selling fast, with uk. I have to preface this with a person having written a thousand books is most likely not as excellent a writer as one whos written a dozen or less. What is the most widely read book in the world answers. List of literary works by number of translations wikipedia. The world book publishing map was created by the team from a book discovery platform bookstr. Each issue has a print run of more than 42 million copies.
The top 10 most published books of all time les listes. Unsurprisingly, childrens books and fairy tales dominate the list of the most translated books throughout history. With the use of imagination, we transform simple words printed on pages into completely new worlds, people, and journeys. While finding precise sales numbers for any given author is nearly impossible, the list is based on approximate numbers provided or repeated by reliable sources. What are the top 10 most printed books of all time. Most published works by one author guinness world records. For a full list of record titles, please use our record application search. What is the most published book in the world answers. This page lists the number of book titles published per country per year from various. The most controversial books of all time readers digest. The top 10 most read books in the world list challenges. A survey by the bible society concluded that around 2.
It was the most important book to him and the most desired book at the time. In descending order of number of new titles per year, as. A book that influenced charles darwin and is reputedly the fourth most published work in the english language is to be made available online the natural history and antiquities of selborne by. One answer the holy bible has been read by more people in its many translations than any other book. His first folio is so rare because it is the first authoritative collection of his plays, compiled by his friends and business partners who helped run his theatre company. As christopher bonanos put it in new york magazine in 2014.
At the bottom of the list is the diary of anne frank, with 27 million copies sold. This article discusses the world s bestselling books. Rowlings harry potter series at fifth place with 450m copies. All records listed on our website are current and uptodate. Fourth most published book in english language to go. Chapman created the list by examining how many individual copies of the books had been printed and sold over the last 50 years. Thousands of books are written, published and distributed every day. If only it were really that easy to become one of the most widely read authors in the world.
Of the books released in 2015 by the 25 biggest book markets, china published 28% of the total, and the us 20%. The worlds most widely distributed book watchtower. Some titles may have had more copies printed than some of these books, but a vast number of those books were not sold, so well assume that they did not get read. The watchtower has a circulation larger than any other magazine in the world. Quotations from chairman mao zedong, mao zedong, 900 million. Every year, the american library association receives reports from libraries, schools, and the media on attempts to ban books in communities across the country. This page provides lists of bestselling individual books and book series to date and in any language. Thank you for helping us maintain cnet s great community. The world s most widely distributed book the bible is the most widely read book in history. The 10 most famous bookstores in the world literary hub. Since 1998, in addition to the print and cdrom editions of the 22volume,800page encyclopedia, world book has published an online version called the world book online reference center. Now, the book is the worlds bestselling mystery book. This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. According to the index, india read the most, followed by thailand and china.
Both magazines are published by jehovahs witnesses and are distributed in 236 lands. Researcher james chapman has compiled this look at the top 10 most read books in the world. The most important group within the book industry is, of course, the consumers. The 3rd mostpublished book in the world today is the book of mormonanother testament of jesus christ, which it reached its 100, 000, 000th copy published today february 29th in the year 2000. Most major publishers are part of a larger media conglomerate, prominent indie presses excepted, and a search for the years largest book publishers will often yield companies that work with other forms of content rather than books. It is the story of the unhealthy obsession of the middleaged literary professor herbert humbert with the 12. From don quixote to american pastoral, take a look at the 100 greatest novels of all time the 100 greatest nonfiction books the 2015 version of the 100 best novels. This is a list of literary works including novels, plays, series, collections of poems or short stories, and essays and other forms of literary nonfiction sorted by the number of languages they have been translated into. The books that created a huge commotion from their first publication and still continue to be a fundamental part of new libraries and. As more people seek education, the demand for knowledge increases and authors are striving to fulfill the demand. Rather handily, weve discovered this infographic of the top 10 most read books in the world over the past 50 years.
More about reading countries most statista survey world literacy. The association says it then will compile listss of challenged books in order to inform the. The quran is the 4th mostpublished book in the world. The most popular novel on this list was spanish novel don quixote which came in at fourth place with 500m copies sold, followed by j. This page lists the number of book titles published per country per year from various sources.
Although it is impossible to obtain exact figures, there is little doubt that the bible is the world s bestselling and most widely distributed book. The two most widely published books in the world april. The top 100 books of all time best books the guardian. The novel, which is very regularly regarded as one of the best literary works of all time, tells the. The book has remained in the top slot in the uk bestseller lists for the 16th week running. Most read books in the world as of may 2012 published by statista research department, may 9, 2012. The counts include reeditions of older titles, but not self published books. Top 10 most read books in the world based on number of books printed and sold over the last 50 years. The amount of no books makes for grim reading or lack of it. Eurostat also measured the amount of books that some countries have read in the past year in 2011. What book is published in the most languages answers. In this list for most published books, we dig into millions of published books around the world to find the most popular among them. Ron hubbard usa whose first work was published in february 1934 and the last in march 2006.
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