40+ facts about books

Did you know that a single book can transport you to distant lands, introduce you to fascinating characters, and teach you valuable lessons? Books are more than just paper and ink; they are portals to infinite possibilities. In this article, we’ll delve into some fascinating facts about books that will surprise even the most avid reader.

Here are 40+ facts about books

• The world’s oldest known printed book is the Diamond Sutra, dated 868 CE.
• The longest novel ever published is “À la recherche du temps perdu” by Marcel Proust, with 9,609,000 characters.
• The smallest book in the world is “Teeny Ted from Turnip Town,” measuring 0.07 mm x 0.10 mm.
• The most expensive book ever sold was Leonardo da Vinci’s Codex Leicester, purchased for $30.8 million in 1994.
• The first novel written on a typewriter is believed to be “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” by Mark Twain.
• The Bible is the best-selling book of all time, with over 5 billion copies sold.
• The Harry Potter series has been translated into over 80 languages.
• The word “book” comes from the Old English “bōc,” which is related to “beech” tree, as early books were written on beech bark.
• The first e-book is considered to be “The Declaration of Independence,” digitized in 1971.
• The largest book in the world is “This the Prophet Mohamed,” measuring 5 m x 8.06 m.
• Tsundoku is a Japanese word for the habit of buying books and not reading them.
• The first modern paperback book was published in 1935 by Penguin Books.
• The term “bookworm” originally referred to insects that feed on book bindings and paper.
• The first book printed in the American colonies was the “Bay Psalm Book” in 1640.
• The average adult reads at a speed of 200-300 words per minute.
• The world’s largest library is the Library of Congress, with over 170 million items.
• The first book sold on Amazon.com was “Fluid Concepts and Creative Analogies” by Douglas Hofstadter.
• The oldest known library was founded circa 2600 BCE in Nippur, Mesopotamia.
• The first audiobook was created in 1932 for the American Foundation for the Blind.
• The term “bestseller” was first used in 1889 in a Kansas City newspaper.
• The first book printed in color was “Fables” by Aesop, published in 1485.
• The longest sentence ever published in a book is 823 words, found in “Les Misérables” by Victor Hugo.
• The first book written using a word processor was “Bomber” by Len Deighton in 1968.
• The most prolific author is Brazilian writer Ryoki Inoue, with 1,075 published books.
• The first book printed in the English language was “Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye” in 1473.
• The term “ISBN” (International Standard Book Number) was introduced in 1970.
• The first book printed in America in a language other than English was in German, in 1728.
• The world’s largest book fair is the Frankfurt Book Fair, held annually in Germany.
• The first known use of page numbers in a printed book was in 1470.
• The first book printed in the New World was the “Manual de Adultos” in Mexico City in 1540.
• The average American reads about 12 books per year.
• The first book printed in Canada was “Catechisme du diocese de Sens” in 1765.
• The world’s oldest multivolume encyclopedia still in existence is the Naturalis Historia by Pliny the Elder.
• The first book printed in Australia was “New South Wales General Standing Orders” in 1802.
• The term “incunabula” refers to books printed before 1501.
• The first book printed in South America was “Doctrina Christiana” in Lima, Peru in 1584.
• The first novel written by a computer program was published in 2018, titled “1 the Road.”
• The world’s largest book made of paper is “This is Muhammad,” measuring 5 x 8.06 meters.
• The first book printed in Africa was in Mozambique in 1792.
• The oldest known bookstore still in operation is Bertrand Bookstore in Lisbon, founded in 1732.

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