{"id":5337,"date":"2022-04-29T10:30:00","date_gmt":"2022-04-29T14:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.explorica.ca\/blog\/?p=5337"},"modified":"2024-03-26T16:50:49","modified_gmt":"2024-03-26T20:50:49","slug":"interesting-facts-books","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.explorica.ca\/blog\/interesting-facts-books","title":{"rendered":"Interesting facts about books"},"content":{"rendered":"
As a travel provider focused on education, we love to celebrate books! Books are a fundamental building block for learning, creating understanding, and exploring our world and worlds from our imaginations. We hope these fun and interesting facts about books inspire you to celebrate Book Week this year!<\/div>\n
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Photo courtesy of the British Library.<\/p><\/div>\n

The Oldest Book<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Diamond Sutra<\/em><\/a>\u00a0is a Sanskrit text that dates back to 686 A.D. It\u2019s known as the first creative work to be provided to the public domain, ending with \u201cfor universal free distribution.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Book with the Most Copies Sold<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

While it\u2019s difficult to report on every book ever sold, the Bible is touted as having more than five billion copies printed and distributed.\u00a0Don Quixote<\/em>\u00a0is recognised as the most distributed fiction book, but again, the numbers aren\u2019t there to support the claim. The top verified book is\u00a0A Tale of Two Cities<\/em>\u00a0by Charles Dickens, with over 200 million copies sold.<\/p>\n

And just in case you\u2019re wondering where Harry Potter fits in\u2026 the entire series has sold over 500 million copies combined!<\/p>\n

The Longest Book<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Depending on how you measure the volume (the most widely accepted is word count), the answer for this one can vary.\u00a0Divta<\/em>, a 33-year-long suspense series, is considered the longest book by word count with 11,206,310 words and 8,128 pages.\u00a0Venmurasu<\/em>, based on a Sanskrit epic that takes place in India, is only approximately 3,640,000 words, however, it has 22,400 pages!<\/p>\n

The Longest Sentence<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Victor Hugo is credited with writing the longest sentence in his novel,\u00a0Les Miserables<\/em>. At 823 words, we can\u2019t say it\u2019s a run-on, but it sure is lengthy!<\/p>\n

The Biggest Book<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

That brings us to the physically LARGEST book in the world:\u00a0This the Prophet Muhamad<\/em>. Located in Dubai, the book measures 16.40 feet by 26.44 feet and weighs approximately 3,306 pounds.<\/p>\n

The Smallest Book<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The smallest book in the world,\u00a0Teeny Ted from Turnip Town<\/em>, measures only 0.07mm x 0.10mm. The 30 micro tablets that the text is etched onto can only be read with a scanning electron microscope. The first edition produced only 100 copies, but a library edition was produced in 2012 that was considered the large print version of the book.<\/p>\n

The Most Expensive Book<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The most expensive book ever sold was the\u00a0Codex Leicester,<\/em>\u00a0which is Leonardo di Vinci\u2019s science diary. It sold for $30.8 million in 1994, which would be $53.5 million today!<\/p>\n

The Largest Bookstore<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The record for the largest bookstore, based on square footage, is the\u00a0Barnes & Noble<\/a>\u00a0on 5th<\/sup>\u00a0Avenue in New York City. But, to give credit where credit is due,\u00a0Powell\u2019s<\/a>\u00a0Bookstore in Portland, Oregon has long held the record for the largest bookstore based on shelf space.<\/p>\n

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Photo courtesy of Powell’s.<\/p><\/div>\n

The Oldest Bookstore<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Located in Lisbon, Portugal,\u00a0Livraria Bertrand<\/a>\u00a0has been operating since 1732. The Bertrand now operates 52 locations, but the location in Lisbon\u2019s Chiado neighbourhood is the verified OB (Original Bookstore).<\/p>\n

The Most (E)nigmatic Novel<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

In 1939, Ernest Vincent Wright wrote a story about Branton Hills, a fictional city in decline that was revitalised by the novel\u2019s protagonist, John Gadsby. The most intriguing part of the book? The entire volume doesn\u2019t use the letter \u2018e\u2019 (well, except for the author\u2019s name). Known as a\u00a0lipogram<\/a>, this book was a writing feat that checks in at 50,000 words long.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The Most Popular Children\u2019s Book<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

With over 140 million hard copies sold worldwide,\u00a0Le Petit Prince (The Little Prince)<\/em><\/a>\u00a0by Antoine de Saint-Exup\u00e9ry is considered the most widely popular story for children. First published in 1943, it has been a favourite of many generations.<\/p>\n

The Earliest Books<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The earliest \u2018books\u2019 were written in the form of tablets of clay, scrolls, and sheets of papyrus. The earliest tablets, discovered in Mesopotamia, date back as far as 3,000 B.C. The first use of papyrus has been tracked to the First Dynasty of Egypt (about 2400 B.C.), where \u2018paper\u2019 was created using the marrow of papyrus reeds thinned into sheets that were pasted together to make scrolls more than 10 yards long.<\/p>\n

Bonus: Make Your Own Paper!\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Papermaking is a great arts and crafts project to try in the classroom or at home. Even better, it\u2019s an inexpensive project that can yield beautifully artistic results\u2014and you can find almost all the materials already in your home. Check out this\u00a0<\/em>tutorial video<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Most Prolific Author<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The author with the most published books is L. Ron Hubbard with 1,084 works. His first written piece was published in 1934 and his last was published in 2006.<\/p>\n

The Youngest Author<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Dorothy Straight was only four years old when she wrote and illustrated\u00a0How the World Began<\/em>\u00a0for her grandmother. It was officially published two years later.<\/p>\n

The Oldest Author<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The world\u2019s oldest published author, Bertha Wood, was 100 when her memoirs\u00a0Fresh Air and Fun: The Story of a Blackpool Holiday Camp<\/em>\u00a0was released. She began the book at age 90.<\/p>\n

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Photo courtesy of Getty Images.<\/p><\/div>\n

The Bestselling Author<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The bestselling author of all time is a tie between William Shakespeare<\/a> and Agatha Christie. Both are estimated to have sold a minimum of $2 billion each. Agatha wrote 42 books; William wrote 85 in his lifetime.<\/p>\n

Some Bookish Words<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Here are some fun words related to books that we can\u2019t help but share!<\/p>\n