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
Printing is a process for mass reproducing text and images using a master form or template. The earliest non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabonidus. The e ...
or currently owned.
Comics and
textbook
A textbook is a book containing a comprehensive compilation of content in a branch of study with the intention of explaining it. Textbooks are produced to meet the needs of educators, usually at educational institutions. Schoolbooks are textbook ...
s 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 Count of Monte Cristo'' by
Alexandre Dumas, ''
Don Quixote
is a Spanish epic novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts, in 1605 and 1615, its full title is ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'' or, in Spanish, (changing in Part 2 to ). A founding work of West ...
'' by
Miguel de Cervantes
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (; 29 September 1547 (assumed) – 22 April 1616 NS) was an Early Modern Spanish writer widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the world's pre-eminent novelists. He is best kno ...
, and ''
The Lord of the Rings
''The Lord of the Rings'' is an epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's b ...
'' (which has been sold as both a trilogy of books, ''
The Fellowship of the Ring
''The Fellowship of the Ring'' is the first of three volumes of the epic novel ''The Lord of the Rings'' by the English author J. R. R. Tolkien. It is followed by '' The Two Towers'' and ''The Return of the King''. It takes place in the ficti ...
'', ''
The Two Towers
''The Two Towers'' is the second volume of J. R. R. Tolkien's high fantasy novel ''The Lord of the Rings''. It is preceded by ''The Fellowship of the Ring'' and followed by ''The Return of the King''.
Title and publication
''The Lord of the ...
'', and ''
Return of the King
Return may refer to:
In business, economics, and finance
* Return on investment (ROI), the financial gain after an expense.
* Rate of return, the financial term for the profit or loss derived from an investment
* Tax return, a blank document or t ...
'', and as a single issue) by
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''.
From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlins ...
, that lack comprehensive sales figures.
According to ''
Guinness World Records
''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
'' as of 1995, the
Bible
The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts ...
is the best-selling book of all time with an estimated 5billion copies sold and distributed.
Sales estimates for other printed
religious texts
Religious texts, including scripture, are texts which various religions consider to be of central importance to their religious tradition. They differ from literature by being a compilation or discussion of beliefs, mythologies, ritual prac ...
include at least copies for the
Qur'an
The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , s ...
and 190 million copies for the
Book of Mormon
The Book of Mormon is a religious text of the Latter Day Saint movement, which, according to Latter Day Saint theology, contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the American continent from 600 BC to AD 421 and during an interlude d ...
. Among non-religious texts, the ''
Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung'', also known as the ''Little Red Book'', has produced a wide array of sales and distribution figures — with estimates ranging from 800million
to over 6.5 billion printed volumes. Some claim the distribution ran into the "billions" and some cite "over a billion" official volumes between 1966 and 1969 alone as well as "untold numbers of unofficial local reprints and unofficial translations." 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 thus been excluded from the below lists of best-selling books for these reasons.
Having sold more than 500 million copies worldwide,
[Forbes](_blank)
on ''Harry Potter'': "It and the six subsequent books have now sold 500 million copies worldwide." (22 May 2013) ''
Harry Potter'' by
J. K. Rowling
Joanne Rowling ( "rolling"; born 31 July 1965), also known by her pen name J. K. Rowling, is a British author and philanthropist. She wrote ''Harry Potter'', a seven-volume children's fantasy series published from 1997 to 2007. The ser ...
is the best-selling book series in history. The first
novel in the series, ''
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'' is a 1997 fantasy novel written by British author J. K. Rowling. The first novel in the ''Harry Potter'' series and Rowling's debut novel, it follows Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter, a youn ...
'', 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 US run, it also holds the record for the highest initial print run for any book in history.
Key
List of best-selling individual books
More than 100 million copies
Between 50 million and 100 million copies
Between 20 million and 50 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
''Perry Rhodan'' is a West German/ German space opera franchise, named after its hero. It commenced in 1961 and has been ongoing for decades, written by an ever-changing team of authors. Having sold approximately two billion copies (in novel ...
'' 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
Jerry Cotton is the fictional character in a series of pulp magazine-type crime novels. The novels have been written by many different writers in German-speaking countries and in Finland over the course of several decades.
Overview
The novel ...
'' 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
}) , , Choi Park Lai's family, among others , , Chinese , , 1891(Only counting versions published by Choi's family) , , >70 million (Only counting version published by Choi)
, -
, ''
Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary
''Webster's Dictionary'' is any of the English language dictionaries edited in the early 19th century by American lexicographer Noah Webster (1758–1843), as well as numerous related or unrelated dictionaries that have adopted the Webster's n ...
'' , ,
Merriam-Webster , , English , , 1898 , , 55 million
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 comic series
*
List of best-selling manga
*
List of best-selling fiction authors
This is a list of best-selling fiction authors to date, in any language. While finding precise sales numbers for any given author is nearly impossible, the list is based on approximate numbers provided or repeated by reliable sources. "Best sellin ...
*
*
List of literary works by number of translations
This is a list of the most translated literary works (including novels, plays, series, collections of poems or short stories, and essays and other forms of literary non-fiction) sorted by the number of languages into which they have been transla ...
*
Lists of books
References
External links
The Internet Public Library at the
University of Missouri
The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus University of Missouri System. MU was founded in ...
{{Books
Best-selling
A bestseller is a book or other media noted for its top selling status, with bestseller lists published by newspapers, magazines, and book store chains. Some lists are broken down into classifications and specialties (novel, nonfiction book, cookb ...
Books
Literature records