This page provides lists of best-selling individual books and book series to date and in any language. "Best selling" refers to the estimated number of copies sold of each book, rather than the number of books printed or currently owned. Comics and textbooks are not included in this list. The books are listed according to the highest sales estimate as reported in reliable, independent sources. This list is incomplete because there are many books, such as The Betrothed by Alessandro Manzoni, The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, or A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, that are commonly cited as "best-selling books" yet have no reliable sales figures because of the many public domain re-releases.
According to Guinness World Records, the Bible is the best-selling book of all time with over 5 billion copies sold and distributed. However, the Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung, also known as the Little Red Book, has produced a wide array of sales and distribution figures â€" with some sources claiming over 6.5 billion printed volumes, others claiming the distribution ran into the "billions," and others citing "over a billion" official volumes between 1966 and 1969 alone as well as "untold numbers of unofficial local reprints and unofficial translations." The Qur'an is also widely reported to be one of the most printed and distributed books worldwide, with billions of copies believed to be in existence. Exact print figures for these and other books may also be missing or unreliable since these kinds of books may be produced by many different and unrelated publishers, in some cases over many centuries. All books of a religious, ideological, philosophical or political nature have been excluded from this list of best-selling books for these reasons.
Having sold more than 500 million copies worldwide, Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling is the best-selling book series in history. The first novel in the series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, has sold in excess of 120 million copies, making it one of the best-selling books of all time. As of June 2017, the series has been translated into 80 languages, placing Harry Potter among history's most translated literary works. The last four books in the series consecutively set records as the fastest-selling books of all time, where the final installment, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, sold roughly fifteen million copies worldwide within twenty-four hours of its release. With twelve million books printed in the first U.S. run, it also holds the record for the highest initial print run for any book in history.
List of best-selling individual books
Top 10 Bestselling NOVELS of All TIME - Since these are the bestselling novels of all time, you will not find any non-fiction, religious, or political books, like The Holy Quran, The King James Bible, and Quotations from Chairman...
More than 100 million copies
Between 50 million and 100 million copies
Between 30 million and 50 million copies
Between 20 million and 30 million copies
Between 10 million and 20 million copies
List of best-selling book series
More than 100 million copies
Between 50 million and 100 million copies
Between 30 million and 50 million copies
Between 20 million and 30 million copies
Between 15 million and 20 million copies
Notes
The Perry Rhodan series has sold more than 1 billion copies, but is not listed because that figure includes magazine sales, not novels alone. Similarly, the Jerry Cotton series has sold over 300 million copies, but most of these were in magazine format.
The figures given for some books are for the number printed instead of confirmed sales.
List of best-selling regularly updated books
More than 100 million copies
Between 50 million and 100 million copies
Between 30 million and 50 million copies
Between 20 million and 30 million copies
Between 10 million and 20 million copies
See also
- List of best-selling manga
- List of best-selling comics
- List of best-selling fiction authors
- List of bestselling novels in the United States
- List of literary works by number of languages translated into
- Lists of books
- Literature
- Novel
References
Footnotes
Citations
External links
- The Internet Public Library
- Frank Luther Mott Collection of American Best Sellers, 1662-1945 at the University of Missouri
