What book has sold the most copies in the last 100 years?
From: Chris Sullivan
What book has sold the most copies in the last 100 years.
Various sources state that the Bible holds the record for most sales in the past 100 years. The Koran follows a close second. Both are not copyrighted. The Guinness World Records 2007 website
(http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/records/arts_and_media/books_and_magazines/best_selling_copyright_book.aspx) states that the most sold copyrighted book is the Guinness World Records which celebrated the publication of its 100 millionth copy in 2003. Guinness World Records 2007 also states that it’s record breaking sales are followed by “the five Harry Potter books to date which have sold over 100 million copies, and Mao Tse-Tung’s Little Red Book which has sold or been given away to around 900 million.”
Records for sales are submitted by publishing companies and are not required to be reported to or monitored by any one source, making accuracy an impossibility.
- Katherine Clowers
Librarian/ Coordinator of Library Services
Learning Resources Center
