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!No. !! Book !! Author(s) !! Original language !! First published !! Approximate sales !No. !! Book !! Author(s) !! Original language !! First published !! Approximate sales
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|1 || '']''<ref>The Bible listed here refers to all the various versions made throughout time. Additionally, many of them are given away freely (for example, during missionary work).</ref> || Traditional Judaeo-Christian view: divine inspiration<ref>The ''Bible'' is controversial regarding authorship. While many claim divine inspiration, secular critics and some biblical scholars do not accept supernatural guidance or authorship. Secular Biblical scholars usually place a creation date closer to 900 B.C. for the earliest texts. Conservative Biblical scholars place the earliest date around 1400 B.C. </ref> of ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ] || ], ], ] || ~] B.C. - ~] A.D. <ref>Unlike other entries, this refers to the date that various "books" of the Bible were written. </ref> || 5 to 6 Billion |1 || '']''<ref>The Bible listed here refers to all the various versions made throughout time. Additionally, many of them are given away freely (for example, during missionary work).</ref> || Secular Biblical scholars usually place a creation date closer to 900 B.C. for the earliest texts. Conservative Biblical scholars place the earliest date around 1400 B.C. ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ] || ], ], ] || ~] B.C. - ~] A.D. <ref>Unlike other entries, this refers to the date that various "books" of the Bible were written. </ref> || 5 to 6 Billion
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|2 || 毛主席语录 ''Máo-zhǔxí yǔlù'' ('']'') || ] || ] || ] || 900 million |2 || 毛主席语录 ''Máo-zhǔxí yǔlù'' ('']'') || ] || ] || ] || 900 million
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|3 || القرآن ‎(''The ]'') || Traditional Islamic view: revealed by ]<ref>The ''Qu'ran'' is controversial regarding authorship. While traditional views claim divine inspiration, secular critics or those of different faith traditions do not accept supernatural guidance or authorship but instead credit Muhammad and others with authorship.</ref> to ] || ] || ~] - ~] || 800 million |3 || القرآن ‎(''The ]'') || ] || ] || ~] - ~] || 800 million
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|4 || 新华字典 ('']'') || - || ] || ] || 400 million |4 || 新华字典 ('']'') || - || ] || ] || 400 million
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|7 || '']'' || ] || ] || ] - || |7 || '']'' || ] || ] || ] - ||
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|8 || '']'' || Traditional Mormon view: compiled by the ancient prophet ]<ref>The ''Book of Mormon'' is controversial regarding authorship. While traditional views of the religion claim divine inspiration, secular critics or those of different faith traditions do not accept supernatural guidance to its discovery or authorship by ancient prophets, but instead credit Joseph Smith with authorship.</ref>, discovered by ] || ] || ] - || 120 million |8 || '']'' || ] || ] || ] - || 120 million
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|9 || '']'' (''"...Sorcerer's Stone"'' in US)|| ] || ] || ] || 107 million |9 || '']'' (''"...Sorcerer's Stone"'' in US)|| ] || ] || ] || 107 million

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This page provides lists of best-selling single-volume books, book series, authors, and children's books of all time and in any language. For some books, accurate accounting has proven impossible, so instead an educated guess by an expert is provided. "Best-selling" refers to the estimated number of copies sold of each book, rather than the number of books printed or currently owned.

NOTE: This list may omit certain titles while research is underway; the rankings should used with caution. See the talk page for more information.

List of best-selling single-volume books

No. Book Author(s) Original language First published Approximate sales
1 The Bible Secular Biblical scholars usually place a creation date closer to 900 B.C. for the earliest texts. Conservative Biblical scholars place the earliest date around 1400 B.C. Moses, David, Joshua, Samuel, Jeremiah, Ezra, Nehemiah, Solomon, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Malachi, Mordecai, Nathan, Amos, Daniel, Hosea, Asaph the Levite, Korah, Joel, Obadiah, Gad, Haggai, Jonah, Ethan, Herman, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Zechariah, Matthew, Luke, John, Mark, Peter, Saint Paul, James, Jude, Barnabas, Apollos, Silas, Tertius Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek ~3000 B.C. - ~100 A.D. 5 to 6 Billion
2 毛主席语录 Máo-zhǔxí yǔlù (Quotations from Chairman Mao) Mao Tse-Tung Chinese 1966 900 million
3 القرآن ‎(The Qur'an) Muhammad Arabic ~610 - ~633 800 million
4 新华字典 (Xinhua Zidian) - Chinese 1957 400 million
5 Book of Common Prayer Thomas Cranmer English 1549 -
6 Pilgrim's Progress John Bunyan English 1678 -
7 Foxe's Book of Martyrs John Foxe English 1563 -
8 Book of Mormon Joseph Smith, Jr. English 1830 - 120 million
9 Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone ("...Sorcerer's Stone" in US) J.K. Rowling English 1997 107 million
10 And Then There Were None Agatha Christie English 1939 - 100 million
11 The Lord of the Rings J. R. R. Tolkien English 1954/1955 - 100 million (usually published as three volumes)
12 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows J.K. Rowling English 2007 72.1 million in just two days from its July 21st release
13 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince J.K. Rowling English 2005 65 million
14 The Da Vinci Code Dan Brown English 2003 65 million
15 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets J.K. Rowling English 1998 60 million
16 The Catcher in the Rye J. D. Salinger English 1951 60 million
17 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix J.K. Rowling English 2003 55 million
18 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban J.K. Rowling English 1999 55 million
19 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire J.K. Rowling English 2000 55 million
20 Watership Down Richard Adams English 1972 50 million
21 Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ Lew Wallace English 1880 50 million
22 Heidis Lehr- und Wanderjahre (Heidi's Years of Wandering and Learning) Johanna Spyri German 1880 50 million
23 The Curse of Capistrano (The Mark of Zorro) Johnston McCulley English 1920 50 million
24 Le Petit Prince (The Little Prince") Antoine de Saint-Exupéry French 1943 50 million
25 The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care Dr. Benjamin Spock English 1946 50 million
26 O Alquimista (The Alchemist) Paulo Coelho Portuguese 1988 50 million
27 How to Win Friends and Influence People) Dale Carnegie English 1936 50 million
28 Charlotte's Web E.B. White; illustrated by Garth Williams English 1952 45 million
29 The Tale of Peter Rabbit Beatrix Potter English 1902 45 million
30 Jonathan Livingston Seagull Richard Bach English 1970 40 million
31 A Message to Garcia Elbert Hubbard English 1899 40 million
32 Cien Años de Soledad (One Hundred Years of Solitude) Gabriel García Márquez Spanish 1967 36 million
33 The Late, Great Planet Earth Hal Lindsey, C. C. Carlson English 1970 35 million
34 Your Erroneous Zones Wayne W. Dyer English 1976 34 million
35 Westminster Shorter Catechism Church of Scotland English 1647
36 In His Steps: What Would Jesus Do? Charles M. Sheldon English 1896 30 million
37 Think and Grow Rich Napoleon Hill English 1918 30 million
38 Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary A. S. Hornby English 1948 30 million
39 To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee English 1960 30 million
40 Valley of the Dolls Jacqueline Susann English 1966 30 million
41 The Thorn Birds Colleen McCullough English 1977 30 million
42 The Book of Virtues: A Treasury of Great Moral Stories William J. Bennett English 1993 30 million
43 Daily Light on the Daily Path Jonathan and Samuel Bagster English 1875
44 My Utmost for His Highest Oswald Chambers English 1935
45 Gone with the Wind Margaret Mitchell English 1936 28 million
46 Uncle Tom's Cabin Harriet Beecher Stowe English 1852 28 million

Notes

  1. The Bible listed here refers to all the various versions made throughout time. Additionally, many of them are given away freely (for example, during missionary work).
  2. Unlike other entries, this refers to the date that various "books" of the Bible were written.
  • This list was originally compiled in 1997, and has been updated using the sources shown, and others, including the articles on each title. The Qur'an has been copied or printed since the 7th century CE and the number of copies presumably numbers billions. The figure of six billion Bibles is also an estimate.
  • The Lord of the Rings is considered by most people to be a single book, because it was written and planned by the author to be such. Some people consider it to instead be a trilogy or series of three books, because it was originally published as a series of three volumes: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King. This move by the publishing house was due largely to post-war paper shortages as well as to minimize the price of the first volume to aid sales. In subsequent printings the book has sometimes appeared as a single volume, and in at least one case was split into seven. The figure of 300 million is an estimate of copies of the full story sold, whether published as one volume, three, or some other configuration.
  • Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone is the first book on the list originally printed in English that is not religious.

List of best-selling book series

No. Book Author Original language No. of installments First published Approximate sales
1 Perry Rhodan various authors German over 2,350 1961Present 1 billion
2 Star Wars various authors English over 200 1977Present ~750 million
3 Harry Potter J. K. Rowling English 7 19972007 350 million
4 The New Park Street Pulpit and The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Penny Sermons Charles Haddon Spurgeon English 3,561 1854Present over 300 million
5 Goosebumps R. L. Stine English 62 19921998 300 million
6 Choose Your Own Adventure various authors English 185 19791998 250 million
7 Noddy Enid Blyton English 24 1949 - 200 million
8 Nancy Drew Carolyn Keene English 175 1930Present 200 million
9 Peter Rabbit Beatrix Potter English 6 1902 - 1930 150 million
10 Dirk Pitt Clive Cussler English 19 1973Present 120 million
11 宮本武蔵 (Musashi) Eiji Yoshikawa Japanese 7 1935 - 1939 120 million
12 Clifford the Big Red Dog Norman Bridwell English 1963Present 110 million
13 Chicken Soup for the Soul Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen English over 105 1997Present 100 million
14 Mr. Men Roger Hargreaves, Adam Hargreaves English 43 1971Present 100 million
15 Guinness World Records (published every year) various authors English 52 1955Present 100 million
16 The Chronicles of Narnia C. S. Lewis English 7 1949 - 1954 100 million
17 American Spelling Book (Webster's Dictionary) Noah Webster English 1783 100 million
18 The Railway Series (Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends) W.V. Awdry,Christopher Awdry English 1945 - 1996 90 million
19 Nijntje (Miffy) Dick Bruna Dutch 1955Present 85 million
20 Gospel Hymn Series Ira D. Sankey English 18751891 over 80 million
21 World Almanac (published every year) various authors English 121 1868Present 80 million
22 Winnie-the-Pooh A. A. Milne; illustrated by E. H. Shepard English 4 1926 - 1928 70 million
23 Left Behind Tim LaHaye, Jerry B. Jenkins English 16 1996Present 63 million
24 Star Trek various authors English 1966Present 60 million
25 The McGuffey Readers William Holmes McGuffey English 1853 60 million
26 Dragonlance various authors English over 150 1984Present 50 million
27 アンパンマン (Anpanman) Takashi Yanase Japanese 1970Present 50 million
28 Angélique Anne Golon (Sergeanne Golon) French 15 1956 - 1985 50 million

Notes

There are great differences between the number of the books published in each series. For example, although the Perry Rhodan series and the Star Wars series have each sold more books than the Harry Potter series or The Chronicles of Narnia, they also have had more individual books published in their series. The Perry Rhodan series has released over 2,350 books and the Star Wars series has released over two hundred, but the Harry Potter and The Chronicles of Narnia series have only seven each. Thus, the Harry Potter series has over 70 million copies sold for every book, while the Perry Rhodan series has sold less than half a million per book, and the Star Wars series has sold just over three million per book.

Best-selling authors

  • Agatha Christie: it is estimated that one billion copies of her novels have been sold in English, and another billion in 103 other languages. .
  • Jin Yong: The pen name of Chinese author Louis Cha, has sold one billion copies.
  • Danielle Steel has sold more than 550 million copies of her novels.
  • Enid Blyton's books have sold more than 400 million copies worldwide and been translated into at least 90 languages. More than 300 of her titles are still in print and her books continue to sell in 2 million copies every year. The Noddy books have sold more than 200 million copies worldwide, making Noddy one of the most beloved and popular fictional characters ever.
  • Richard Scarry children's books (especially the Busytown series) have sold more than 300 million copies worldwide.
  • J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series have sold an estimated 469 million copies combined in just 10 years. It is the third best-selling book series in history. There is one more book that was recently released in the series, at 12.01am on 21 July 2007, which will further increase the total sales. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows holds the record for the fastest selling book, selling over 11 million copies in 24 hours.

Best-selling children's books in the U.S. only (through the end of 2000)

According to Publishers Weekly, 2001

Hardcover

No. Book Author First published
1 The Poky Little Puppy Janette Sebring Lowrey 1942
2 The Tale of Peter Rabbit Beatrix Potter 1902
3 Tootle Gertrude Crampton 1945
4 Green Eggs and Ham Dr. Seuss 1960
5 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire J.K. Rowling 2000
6 Pat the Bunny Dorothy Kunhardt 1940
7 Saggy Baggy Elephant Kathryn and Byron Jackson 1947
8 Scuffy the Tugboat Gertrude Crampton 1955
9 The Cat in the Hat Dr. Seuss 1957
10 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets J.K. Rowling 1999

Paperback

No. Book Author First published
1 Charlotte's Web E.B. White; illustrated by Garth Williams 1952
2 The Outsiders S.E. Hinton 1968
3 Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing Judy Blume 1976
4 Love You Forever Robert Munsch; illustrated by Sheila McGraw 1986
5 Where the Red Fern Grows Wilson Rawls 1973
6 Island of the Blue Dolphins Scott O'Dell 1971
7 Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone J.K. Rowling 1999
8 Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret Judy Blume 1972
9 Shane Jack Schaefer 1949
10 The Indian in the Cupboard Lynne Reid Banks 1982

Regularly updated lists of best-selling books

See also

Sources

  1. The Internet Public Library
  2. Ask Men's top ten bestseller list
  3. How 'Harry Potter' and 'The Rings' measure up
  4. managerSeminare
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