Thursday, July 15, 2021
35 interesting facts about books
Certainly! Here are 35 interesting facts about books:
1. World's Oldest Book: The oldest surviving printed book is the "Diamond Sutra," a Buddhist text from China, printed in 868 AD.
2. Largest Book: The world's largest book is "Bhutan: A Visual Odyssey Across the Last Himalayan Kingdom," measuring 5 feet x 7 feet and weighing 133 pounds.
3. Longest Novel: "Remembrance of Things Past" by Marcel Proust holds the record for the longest novel ever written, with around 1.5 million words.
4. Shortest Story: Ernest Hemingway wrote a six-word short story: "For sale: baby shoes, never worn."
5. First Comic Book: The first recognized comic book is "The Adventures of Obadiah Oldbuck," published in 1842.
6. Oldest Library: The oldest existing library is the Al-Qarawiyyin Library in Morocco, founded in 859 AD.
7. Most Translated Book: The Bible holds the record as the most translated book in the world, available in over 3,000 languages.
8. Hidden Art: Some books have fore-edge paintings, which are illustrations on the edges of the pages that can only be seen when the pages are fanned in a specific way.
9. Smallest Book: "Teeny Ted from Turnip Town" holds the Guinness World Record for the smallest reproduction of a printed book; it is sized at 70 by 100 micrometers, smaller than a grain of salt.
10. Bookworms: People who love to read are called bibliophiles, while someone who loves collecting books is a bibliomaniac.
11. Lost Libraries: The Library of Alexandria, one of the most famous libraries of the ancient world, was destroyed multiple times, and its exact location remains a mystery.
12. The Most Expensive Book: Leonardo da Vinci's notebook, Codex Leicester, was sold for $30.8 million, making it the most expensive book ever sold.
13. Book Smell: The scent of old books is called "Bibliosmia."
14. Book Titles: "The Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger and "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee were originally titled "The Inverted Forest" and "Atticus," respectively.
15. Braille Books: Louis Braille, who developed Braille for the visually impaired, was only 15 years old when he created the system.
16. Famous Writers' Jobs: Before becoming a writer, Stephen King was a janitor, and J.K. Rowling worked as a researcher and bilingual secretary for Amnesty International.
17. First Published Novel: The first novel ever published is generally considered to be "The Tale of Genji" by Murasaki Shikibu, written in Japan in the early 11th century.
18. Author Pseudonyms: Mark Twain's real name was Samuel Clemens, and George Orwell's real name was Eric Arthur Blair.
19. Ray Bradbury and Typewriters: Ray Bradbury, the famous science fiction writer, used a typewriter to write all of his works, even after computers became popular.
20. Most Printed Book: "Don Quixote" by Miguel de Cervantes is considered the most printed and published book in the world.
21. The Dewey Decimal System: The Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) system, used in libraries to categorize books, was created by Melvil Dewey in 1876.
22. Library of Congress: The Library of Congress in the United States is the largest library in the world, containing millions of books, recordings, photographs, maps, and manuscripts.
23. Books and Exercise: Audiobooks are popular among people who like to read while jogging, walking, or during their daily commute.
24. Book Clubs: The first book club in the world was established in 1764 by the members of the "Essay Society" in England.
25. Publishing Firsts: The first book published in English was William Caxton's edition of Geoffrey Chaucer's "The Canterbury Tales" in 1476.
26. Winnie-the-Pooh and Books: A.A. Milne, the author of Winnie-the-Pooh, based the character Christopher Robin on his own son, Christopher Robin Milne.
27. Amazon's First Sale: The first book sold on Amazon was "Fluid Concepts and Creative Analogies" by Douglas Hofstadter.
28. Fahrenheit 451: The title of Ray Bradbury's famous novel "Fahrenheit 451" refers to the temperature at which book paper catches fire and burns.
29. Pseudonym J.K. Rowling: J.K. Rowling used her initials because her publisher, Bloomsbury, feared that the target audience of young boys might not want to read a book written by a woman.
30. Harry Potter Series: The Harry Potter series has been translated into 80 languages, including Latin and Ancient Greek.
31. Manuscripts of Famous Works: Jane Austen wrote her novels by hand, and many of the manuscripts of her famous works, like "Pride and Prejudice," still exist.
32. Banned Books: Many classic books, such as "To Kill a Mockingbird," "1984," and "Catcher in the Rye," have been banned in various countries at some point due to their content.
33. Longest Sentence: Victor Hugo wrote a sentence in "Les Misérables" that is 823 words long, about 3 pages in length.
34. E-Books: The concept of e-books was first proposed by Bob Brown in 1930.
35. Bookstores and Cafes: The first bookstore cafe, called "Book Revue," opened in New York in the 1960s, combining the pleasures of reading and coffee.
Books have a rich and fascinating history, and these facts provide just a glimpse into the vast world of literature and its impact on society.