# Most-widely read author today **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 3, 2005, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-widely-read-author-today/310918 "2005-07-03T15:09:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-widely-read-author-today/310918/41 "2005-10-07T14:06:01Z")
O.K., so this is my personal revised version of the list in the OP: 1. _The Bible_ - It has sold (Note: “sold” includes given away, since somebody had to pay for the printing) more than 6,000,000,000 copies in an enormous number of languages and different translations in each language. 2. _Quotations from the Works of Mao Tse-Tung_ by Mao Tse-Tung - It has sold 900,000,000 copies, the majority of them in Chinese. 3. _The Lord of the Rings_ by J. R. R. Tolkien - It has sold around 150,000,000 copies, including unauthorized editions. 4. _American Spelling Book_ by Noah Webster - It sold 100,000,000 copies, which had many editions. (I don’t know if each new edition was revised.) 5. _The Guinness Book of World Records_ - It has sold more than 95,000,000 copies, in many annual editions which are revised each time. 6. _World Almanac_ - It has sold over 80,000,000 copies, in many editions which are revised each time. 7. (tie)_The McGuffey Readers_ by William Holmes McGuffey - It sold 60,000,000 copies. (I’m presuming that a copy of this set means the entire set. If that’s not true, and this figure is counting each volume as a separate book, I don’t think that should be allowed. If each separate book was counted toward the 60,000,000 books, this book should be dropped from the list.) 8. (tie)_The Harry Potter Series_ has sold about 60,000,000 copies of the (not yet complete) series. (I presume that 300,000,000 total copies sold mean about 60,000,000 copies of each book. For the purposes of this list, I think that the entire series should count as one item.) 9. _The Commonsense Book of Child Care_ by Benjamin Spock - It has sold over 50,000,000 copies, in editions which are revised each time. 10. _A Message to Garcia_ by Elbert Hubbard - It has sold 40,000,000 copies. This is only a pamphlet really, and most copies were given away. Honorable Mentions: _In His Steps: “What Would Jesus Do?”_ by Charles Monroe Sheldon _Valley of the Dolls_ by Jacqueline Susann _Gone with the Wind_ by Margaret Mitchell _To Kill a Mockingbird_ by Harper Lee These have all sold around 30,000,000 copies. ---
**Author:** ![Feydeau](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/df788c/32.png) [@Feydeau](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Feydeau)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-widely-read-author-today/310918/42 "2005-10-07T15:05:00Z")
I just have to toss out there that I’ve read _To Kill A Mockingbird_ and have not bought a copy. “Widely-read” and “sales figures” are two different concepts, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-widely-read-author-today/310918/43 "2005-10-07T15:18:44Z")
Phew. Judging by what I see at work, I opened this thread expecting to see _“Natural Cures “They” Don’t Want You to Know About”_ included on the list. Now I can go back to the bookstore all renewed and refreshed. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-widely-read-author-today/310918/44 "2005-10-07T23:19:34Z")
I wrote: \> I presume that 300,000,000 total copies sold mean about 60,000,000 copies of \> each book. I have just been notified that my bachelors and masters degrees in math have been withdrawn because I was unable to divide 300,000,000 by 6 and get the right answer. If I fix that mistake, here’s my personal revised list: 1. _The Bible_ - It has sold (Note: “sold” includes given away, since somebody had to pay for the printing) more than 6,000,000,000 copies in an enormous number of languages and different translations in each language. 2. _Quotations from the Works of Mao Tse-Tung_ by Mao Tse-Tung - It has sold 900,000,000 copies, the majority of them in Chinese. 3. _The Lord of the Rings_ by J. R. R. Tolkien - It has sold around 150,000,000 copies, including unauthorized editions. 4. _American Spelling Book_ by Noah Webster - It sold 100,000,000 copies, which had many editions. (I don’t know if each new edition was revised.) 5. _The Guinness Book of World Records_ - It has sold more than 95,000,000 copies, in many annual editions which are revised each time. 6. _World Almanac_ - It has sold over 80,000,000 copies, in many editions which are revised each time. 7. _The McGuffey Readers_ by William Holmes McGuffey - It sold 60,000,000 copies. (I’m presuming that a copy of this set means the entire set. If that’s not true, and this figure is counting each volume as a separate book, I don’t think that should be allowed. If each separate book was counted toward the 60,000,000 books, this book should be dropped from the list.) 8. _The Commonsense Book of Child Care_ by Benjamin Spock - It has sold over 50,000,000 copies, in editions which are revised each time. 9 _The Harry Potter Series_ has sold about 50,000,000 copies of the (not yet complete) series. (I presume that 300,000,000 total copies sold mean about 60,000,000 copies of each book. For the purposes of this list, I think that the entire series should count as one item.) 9. _A Message to Garcia_ by Elbert Hubbard - It has sold 40,000,000 copies. This is only a pamphlet really, and most copies were given away. Honorable Mentions: _In His Steps: “What Would Jesus Do?”_ by Charles Monroe Sheldon _Valley of the Dolls_ by Jacqueline Susann _Gone with the Wind_ by Margaret Mitchell _To Kill a Mockingbird_ by Harper Lee These have all sold around 30,000,000 copies. I expect that shortly after the seventh book comes out, the number of copies of the Harry Potter series will increase to the point that it reaches number 7 on this list. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-widely-read-author-today/310918.md?page=2)