The 24 Best-Selling Books of All Time (2024)

FAQs

What is the #1 book in the world? ›

According to Guinness World Records as of 1995, the Bible is the best sold book of all time with an estimated 5 billion copies sold and distributed.

"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" comfortably beat the previous 2005 Potter instalment, which posted U.S. sales of 6.9 million copies in the first 24 hours, according to Scholastic, its publisher in the key American market.

“Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows” — the final novel of J.K. Rowling's series — currently holds the Guinness World Record for the fastest selling book of all time after it sold 8.3 million copies — or 345,833 books per hour — when it was released in July 2007.

The Bible. Apparently, thieves missed the "Thou shalt not steal" part of the Ten Commandments. According to experts, the Bible is the most commonly stolen book. The Holy Bible is available for free at many places of worship, so perhaps there's less guilt associated with pilfering a copy.

The official home of the best-selling author of all time

Outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare, Agatha Christie is the best-selling novelist of all time. She is best known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, as well as the world's longest-running play – The Mousetrap.

The fastest selling book is Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the seventh - and final - novel in JK Rowling's (UK) Harry Potter series, which sold 8.3 million copies in the first 24 hours (or 345,833 books per hour), following its release in the USA at 00.01 on 21 July 2007.

What is the most expensive book in the world? ›

1. The Codex Leicester by Leonardo da Vinci. The Codex Leicester, an extraordinary manuscript by Leonardo da Vinci, stands as a testament to the genius of the Renaissance master. This renowned compilation of scientific writings, sketches, and observations spans a range of subjects from astronomy to water movement.

1. The Bible — 5 to 7 billion.

Because it is good marketing to tout that this book is/was a bestseller, they keep that phrase on the cover. They will also tout the author as being a NYT Bestselling Author and it will appear on every cover of that author's new books thereafter, because it is an accepted badge of quality by the book-buying public.

The reasons for that vary, but according to The New Yorker, the Bible is quote “the best-selling book of the year, every year.” In two thousand six, per the New Yorker, the amount spent annually on Bibles has been put at more than half a billion dollars.” According to Guinness World Records, the Bible is the best- ...