The Bestselling Books in History

Religious books and Harry Potter dominate the list of all-time bestsellers, while those literary classics familiar to so many high-school students are severely underrepresented, though a few make the list. One difficulty in determining the biggest bestsellers is whether to count annual editions, like almanacs and dictionaries, as one book or many. Other complications include inaccurate or no sales figures for antiquated texts, and the fact that the top three books on this list have been mandatory reading or bought in bulk and then simply given away as acts of charity.

Religious Books

The Bible is by far the best selling book of all time. It has sold 5 billion more copies than its closest rival, "Quotations From Chairman Mao." From 1966 to 1971, Mao's Little Red Book, as it was called, was required reading for all Chinese citizens, and the world's most populous country has since bought a billion copies.

The Quran comes in a close third, followed by four more religious books in the top 10. The Anglican Church prayer book, "The Book of Common Prayer," is No. 5, followed in quick succession by "Pilgrim's Progress," "Foxe's Book of Martyrs" and "The Book of Mormon."

Harry Potter

Only one of the Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling is in the top 10, but the series takes up half the list between 11 and 20. "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" is ninth overall, with more than 120 million copies sold. "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" is 12th, with "The Chamber of Secrets" right behind at 14. "The Order of the Phoenix," "The Prisoner of Azkaban," and "The Goblet of Fire" are 16 through 18. Only the last book in the series, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," released in 2007, has yet to crack the top 20, although it is expected to join the other books in the series in time.

Fiction

The entire back half of the top 20 comprises works of fiction. Joining the five books from the Harry Potter series are Agatha Christie's "And Then There Were None," a murder mystery about 10 people lured to an island by a stranger. J.R.R. Tolkein's "The Lord of the Rings" is No. 11, with more than 150 million copies in circulation. This is followed by Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code" at number 13, "The Catcher in the Rye" at 15, "Watership Down" at 19, and "Ben-Hur, A Tale of the Christ" rounding out the top 20.

Annual Publications

A number of annual books join the list of bestsellers if all their updated editions are counted as one book. Noah Webster's "The American Spelling Book" has sold more than 100 million copies following its 1783 debut, while "The Guinness Book of World Records" has sold more than 90 million copies since first appearing in 1955.

Children's Books

The bestselling children's book of all time is "The Poky Little Puppy," Janette Sebring Lowry's 1942 classic. It has sold more than 40 million copies worldwide. Not surprisingly, Dr. Seuss is well represented with six books in the top 20 children's books. "Green Eggs and Ham" comes in at No. 4, while "The Cat in the Hat," his only other top-10 finisher, is at No. 9. "Oh, the Places You'll Go" is a top-20 children's book, thanks in large part to being a popular graduation gift for high-school and college seniors. Also making the list are Beatrix Potter, Shel Silverstein, Gertrude Crampton, and Eric Carle.

References

• SixWise
• Comcast

Resources

• Bookworm Search