Below you'll find
some interesting facts about books - Wee will be adding more
over the coming weeks . . . so pop back soon!
Do you know
of any interesting facts about books? Please
let us know! |
| The
origins of the word 'Book' |
 |
| The origin of the Latin word for
book, liber, comes from the Romans who used
the thin layer found between the bark and the wood (the liber)
before the times of parchment. The English word comes from the
Danish word for book, bog, meaning birch tree, as the early
people of Denmark wrote on birch bark. |
| Valuable
books |
|
An original copy of
Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales sold for
a record £4,621,500 (9 times the expected price) at Christies,
London, UK on 8th July 1998 by a private collector. The book
was the first major work printed in England by William
Caxton, in 1477.
A rare first edition of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
by Lewis Carroll raised $1.5m at auction in
New York, making this the most valuable children's book ever
sold. The book was Carroll's own working copy
that he used to prepare the text for a simplified version for
younger children. Only 22 copies of the 1865 first edition are
known to exist today, 17 of which are in libraries and just
five, including the copy just sold, are in private hands. |
| A page from Canterbury Tales |
|
| Biggest
books |
|
Ku Tho Daw Phayar
The complete Buddhist scriptures (or the Buddhist Bible) were
engraved on 729 white marble tablets and are regarded by Myanmar
Buddhists as orthodox texts. Authorized by King
Mindon, the tablets are set up in a square, each being
protected by a small temple. The 730th Pagoda
is a conventional temple occupying the centre of the square.
Each marble tablets are about 3' wide and 4' height. It is known
as Ku Tho Daw Phayar, situated at the foot
of Mandalay Hill, Mandalay. |
|
| Another world breaker is a book
called the Super Book, which has 300 pages,
measures 2.74 x 3.07 mtrs and weighs 252.6kg. |
| Largest
library - containing most books |
|
|
The Library
of Congress, Washington DC, USA contains 28 million
books and has 532 miles of shelving.
If you were driving at a constant 70 mph in a car it would take
you just under 8 hours to pass them all. And thats without stopping
to go to the toilet!
The British Library in London is the 2nd biggest
with 18 million books. |
| Largest
bookstore |
|
Barnes and Noble Bookstore, New York City,
USA. It has 12 miles (20.71km) of shelving and covers an area
of 14,330m² (154,250ft²). |
| Best
selling authors |
|
Of all time, this accolade
goes to Agatha Christie, detective story authoress.
Since 1920 her books have sold over a billion copies in the
English language and another billion in over 45 foreign languages.
She is outsold only by the Bible and William
Shakespeare.
Following her is Dame Barbara Cartland, British
romantic novelist, who died in 2000. With over 700 novels to
her name, she has sold more than 670 million copies worldwide.
|
|
| Largest
first-run print |
|
J K Rowling's Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,
the fifth book in the acclaimed series, had a first-run print
of 8.5 million copies. This is approximately 80 times the average
bestseller!
This beat the previous book, Harry Potter and the Goblet of
Fire, which had a first-run print of 4.8 million copies. |
| Most
prolific novelist |
|
Between 1986 and 1996, Brazilian author Jose Carlos
Ryoki de Alpoim Inoue had a massive 1,058 novels published.
He writes westerns, science fiction and thrillers. Does he ever
eat? |
|
