The most published book of all time is, of course, the Bible, made more accessible by Gutenberg’s new approach to book publishing with the printing press. But have you ever wondered what the best-selling books of all time are?
Before we go any further, here’s a fun fact: the term “bestseller” was first recorded by a local newspaper, “The Kansas Times & Star”, in Kansas in 1889, many decades before “The New York Times” began using it in 1931.
Now, let’s focus on the current list of our time. I plan to talk about the top 20 bestsellers. My primary source for getting information is this, and I have done additional research while writing about them.
Update note: Before re-uploading my article, I also visited the sources I used when editing it. As this is a topic that has been modified and reinterpreted from time to time through discussion, I found that some of the books I mentioned were no longer on the list, or their order had changed. This is due to the collective decisions of the ranking as a result of the discussions at the time, rather than any misinformation. I see this as an opportunity to compare before and after, so I leave the numbers and rankings as they were in my previous research. The links are still available.
I recommend reading the introduction to the source article if you have any questions about particular books that you think should be on the list but aren’t. It’s important to note that, understandably, no one can have exact sales figures for every novel or series, especially those published in the past or by different publishers.
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We start our list with a book that is interesting because of its genre. It is the only non-fiction book (in the self-help category) on the list. “You Can Heal Your Life” by Louise Hay sold millions of copies in its first week of release. Following its surge in popularity, it became one of the best-selling non-fiction books of all time.
Do you know how many films have won the most Oscars? The answer is 3 (“Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King”, “Titanic” and “Ben-Hur”), with the highest number being 11. The first film ever to win that many awards is “Ben-Hur” (1959). It was nominated in 12 out of 15 possible categories. Its book is 19th on our list, with 50 million copies sold. The book was written by Lew Wallace in 1880. After the success of the film, sales of the book soared, outselling many other bestsellers. According to Isaac Asimov’s “Book of Facts”, it was blessed by Pope Leo XIII, making it the first novel ever to receive such an honour. What an interesting story.
The list continues with “The Bridges of Madison County” by Robert James Waller, which has sold 60 million copies, and “The Catcher in the Rye” by Jerome David Salinger, which sold 65 million copies. Interestingly, it was banned for a while in some places in the USA (Wyoming in 1986, North Dakota in 1987, and 1989 in California)
“The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho is 16th on the list, with a Guinness World Record for the most translated author for the same book. It has been translated into 80 languages since Coelho’s passing. This novel, which contains spiritual elements of life, was originally published in 1988, making it relatively new compared to the previous ones we have mentioned. However, we also have more recent entries with the “Harry Potter” series, which consists of 5 books in succession.
The interesting thing about this series is that each book has sold at least 65 million copies (“The Chamber of Secrets” is in 10th place with nearly 80 million copies, ahead of the other 5 books). This suggests that people who read one book in the series are likely to buy others to continue the series. In total, around 600 million copies have been sold, making it the best-selling fiction series of all time. And this also makes, Joanne Kathleen Rowling the first author to achieve billionaire status through book sales. She is also one of the three female authors on the entire list.
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Another novel in a series holds the 9th place. “The Da Vinci’s Code”, with elements of mystery and adventure by Dan Brown, appears here. It is the second of five books in the Robert Langdon series (so far).
On the 8th place is “She: A History of Adventure”. It narrates an adventure in Africa and an encounter with a queen whom the natives call “She”.
At 7th place is one of my favourite series. Only the second novel (out of seven) in the series made onto the list with more than 85 million copies sold. It is called “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”. I particularly like the book rather than the film. Here’s a fun fact: the name “Aslan” (the lion in the series) is directly derived from the Turkish word for lion.
This is for those of you who have been waiting. “How come there are no books by John Ronald Reuel Tolkien?” Well, here it is, “The Hobbit”, which has sold over 100 million copies to date.
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As we are getting into the first five novels, we come across a masterpiece (according to them, I haven’t read it), what is often referred to as one of the “four great classic novels” of Chinese literature, called “Dream of the Red Chamber”. It seems to be an observation of daily life in 18th century China. The novel even seems to have inspired a field of study known as “Redology”.
Another female author who has secured a spot on the list is undoubtedly Agatha Christie. Her mystery and crime (whodunit) novels are known all over the world . She has sold over 100 million copies of her book called “And Then There Were None”.
In third place, a familiar face emerges. Yes, it’s another “Harry Potter” novel, this time “The Philosopher’s/Sorcerer’s Stone”. While I mentioned that at least 65 million copies of each book have been sold, this one stands out with more than 120 million copies. Does this also suggest that many people tend to start with the first book and then have lower expectations for the rest? What do you think about that?
Here’s a surprising fact about “The Little Prince”: it has been translated into 552 languages and dialects. That’s simply mind-blowing! It also claims 2nd place on the list with more than 200 million copies sold, a colossal number! If I’m not mistaken, it’s the shortest story among them all. I recently shared an article about this book if you want to read more about children’s books.
In first place is “A Tale of Two Cities” by Charles Dickens, which has sold a staggering 200 million copies and is selling more every day. First published in 1859, it has been adapted for film, television, radio and stage. It has continued to influence popular culture ever since. “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…”
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Have you noticed anything about these books? All of them (except the first one) fall into different genres: mystery, fantasy, adventure and more, but they are all stories. Regardless of the era, we tend to embrace our storytelling nature. We love to share our imaginations and fascinating thoughts with others, no matter who we are talking to or what we are discussing.
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