The worlds most widely distributed book watchtower online. The bible is the most circulated book in the history of the world. What are the top 10 most printed books of all time. Yet sometime near the end of the century, censors cut thei. A history of adventure 100 million copies sold by h. The gutenberg bible, also known as the 42line bible, is listed by the guinness book of world records as the worlds oldest mechanically printed book. Digital books whose features include the ability to store hundreds of titles on a single device, the ability to change font sizes, send email and access the internet. Though there may have been published material similar to a magazine in antiquity, especially perhaps in china, the magazine as it is now known began only after the invention of printing in the west. Quotations from the works of mao tsetung is the second most widely read book in the world. It was an honor to touch the ancient parchments at our church. What is the most widely read book in the world answers. The bible, which ranks as the worlds most read book, has sold 3. Published in 1962, the book has 485,583 checkouts and is one of the librarys top circulated books each year, across all the neighborhoods it serves. The authors do look at several aspects of history, from a social, economic, political, and culture viewpoint, which makes it very interesting.
Each year, some 60 million copies of the entire bible or portions of it are distributed. History of publishing history of publishing magazine publishing. Johannes gutenberg, printed 1456, 180 copies known to exist. Form, space, and order has served as the classic introduction to the basic vocabulary of architectural design the updated and revised fourth edition features the fundamental elements of space and form and is designed to. No where in history has there been a copying process with such commitment to quality control. By the mid1980s, it was the most popular magazine in the world with a circulation of twenty million in. So some estimates say that quran is the most read book of all time with a whopping 3 billion copies and the king james bible comes to the second spot with 2. The bible is the holy scripture of the christian religion, purporting to tell the history of the earth from its earliest creation to the spread of christianity in the first century a. Have you read the mostcirculated book in the history of. Thousands of books are written, published and distributed every day. History is a topic that usually taken by students who are history majors or who must take a history. Writer james chapman created a list of the most read books in the world based on the number of. Cnn since it was founded more than a century go, the new york public library has seen millions of books checked in and out. A survey by the bible society concluded that around 2.
For more than forty years, the beautifully illustrated architecture. The answer isnt as straightforward as it might seem. The bible is the most widely circulated and printed book in history. Readers of the bible are confident that the bible is the most historically reliable document in history based on the facts of history. Is it a novel with beautiful, captivating figurative language.
Thanks to the efforts of witnesses like the tavolaccis, the watchtower is the most widely distributed magazine in the world, with a circulation of more than 25 million. The new york public library has calculated its most. The christian bible has always been, and still is the most. It had its roots in the spate of pamphlets, broadsides, ballads, chapbooks, and almanacs that printing made possible. Public libraries from 1856 to 2004 the graph below and table 5 provide estimates book circulation per user from 1856 to 2004. Writer james chapman created a list of the most read books in the world based on the number of copies each book sold over the last 50 years. History of publishing magazine publishing britannica. These are the 12 most popular books of all time indy100. Its been this way since the innovation of the gutenberg press in the 1450s when the bible in latin was the first large book to be printed by moveable type. Best books of the 1800s 18001809 score a book s total score is based on multiple factors, including the number of people who have voted for it and how highly those voters ranked the book. For the record, the excluded books have sold an estimated hundreds of millions of copies each several billion, in the bibles case and would have taken most of the top positions on the list. The 100 most influential books ever written 180 books.
This list is incomplete because there are many books, such as the count of monte. Book rights registry a database that documents the legal status of all works and arbitrates disputes between parties. List of literary works by number of translations wikipedia. We use cookies to give you the best possible experience on our website.
Top 50 rare and valuable books the following books are considered by many collectors to be the most rare and valuable. Having sold more than 500 million copies worldwide, harry potter by j. He found that the bible far outsold any other book, with a whopping 3. Then i will examine whether a copy of the bible is more or. Although it is impossible to obtain exact figures, there is little doubt that the bible is the worlds bestselling and most widely distributed book. I propose to show whether the bible is the most widely available book in terms of translations and copies. The 20 most translated texts in history ingco international. However, many more copies have been given away for free, meaning the actual number of bibles in circulation is unknown. Thomas more considered it one of the three books that everyone should own. Additionally, since the bible is sold worldwide, calculating exact numbers becomes tricky. The gutenberg bible, also known as the 42line bible, is listed by the guinness book of world records as the worlds oldest mechanically printed book the first copies of which were printed in 14541455 ad.
These figures reenforce previous findings with more data and extend them over more years. By continuing to use this site you consent to the use of cookies on your device as described. First issued in 1418, it existed in more than 800 manuscripts before the turn of the century. All books of a religious, ideological, philosophical or political nature have thus been excluded from the below lists of bestselling books for these reasons. The awardwinning childrens picture book, written by ezra jack keats, topped new york citys public library list for the most checkedout books in its 125year history, according to new. The most checkedout books in nyc public librarys history. Could it be true that the bible is the bestselling book. There have been 820 million copies sold in the last 50 years.
The 21 bestselling books of all time howstuffworks. Public library history more than half are childrens books, but 1984, to kill a mockingbird and fahrenheit 451 also made the list. The worlds most widely distributed book watchtower. With all those caveats in mind and not including e book sales, here are the 21 bestselling books.
The first edition printed from movable type came off the printing press of the german inventor johannes gutenbuerg about 1455. How the daughters of genghis khan rescued his empire the mongol queens of the thirteenth century ruled the largest empire the world has ever known. The top 100 books of all time take a look at a list of the top 100 books of all time, nominated by writers from around the world, from things fall. This page provides lists of bestselling individual books and book series to date and in any.
Despite the timelessness of all books, some are clearly more popular than others and more widely read than the rest. Each sold at auction for thousands, and in some cases, hundreds of thousands of dollars. It is by far the most widely circulated book on earth. The new york public librarys most checkedout book of all. After the bible, imitation of christ is the most widely translated and circulated book in the history of christianity. According to guinness world records, the bible is the bestselling book of all time, with over 5 billion copies sold and distributed. Ever since,year after year, more copies of the bible are printed and circulated than any other book.
The bible has also been translated more times, and into more languages, than any other book. Today the bible is available in more languages that ever before. The most widely circulated magazine in the world joe. The history of thought from ancient times to today 1998 is a book of intellectual history written by martin seymoursmith, a british poet, critic, and biographer. The bible is the most read and sold book in the history of the world, with an estimated sale amount of 100 million copies annually its not surprising that this text received the number 1 spot on this list.
More copies have been distributed of the bible than of any other book. The bible is the worlds bestselling book, having sold more than five. The new york public library has calculated its most checkedout books of all time the books on this list have transcended generations and, much like the library itself, are as relevant today as. The worlds most widely distributed book the bible is the most widely read book in history. Most read books in the world as of may 2012 published by statista research department, may 9, 2012. Here are the 10 most borrowed books of all time at the new. The book is primarily presented in chronological order, which makes the most sense for a history book.