Happy World Book Day!!
In recognition of UNESCO’s World Book Day today, take a couple minutes to let loose your inner book nerd! Below, you can check out some of the craziest, weirdest, biggest, and smallest books ever created. Here’s the list now:
1. The World’s Most Expensive Book
In 1994, Christie’s auction house sold Leonardo Da Vinci’s Codex Leicester to none other than Mr. Bill Gates, eventually settling on a whopping $30.8 million.
Source: DW
2. The World’s Oldest Printed book
No, not the Gutenberg Bible. In 868 AD, the Chinese used a different printing technique to create an illustrated, wooden version of The Diamond Sutra.
Source: DW
3. The World’s Smallest Book
Can you see it?? Measuring just 0.74 by 0.75 millimeters, Shiki no Kusabana (Flowers of Seasons) is officially the world’s smallest book. This Japanese book contains 22 pages–including tiny illustrations!–detailing a variety of different flowers.
Source: DW
4. The World’s Most-Read Book
There are between 2.5 and 5 BILLION copies of the Bible currently in circulation throughout the world, and an estimated 20 million new copies are printed each year.
Source: milnrow
5. The World’s Most-Read Novel
Miguel Cervantes’ Don Quixote has inspired readers for over 400 years. And it’s popularity cannot be in doubt–throughout the centuries, Don Quixote has been printed 500 million times.
Just for reference, all the Harry Potter books TOGETHER total only 400 million copies.
Source: thefussylibrarian
6. The World’s Longest Book
No big deal, just some light bedtime reading.
Totaling over 4,032 pages, a special collected edition of Agatha Christie‘s Miss Marple stories has the distinction of being the world’s biggest book.
Source: DW
7. The World’s Most Enigmatic Book
The Voynich Manuscript will haunt your dreams.
Although scholars have been studiously examining it for years, this 15th century manuscript has everyone stumped. It’s written in an unknown language, contains mysterious illustrations and odd diagrams, mentions unidentifiable plants, and depicts naked women alongside astronomical phenomena. And it doesn’t help matters at all that a number of pages are missing.
Source: eclectariumshuker
8. The World’s Most Prolific Author
According to the Guinness World Records, L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology, has published 1,084 different written works over the course of his lifetime (nbd, but he also holds the record for the most audio books).
Source: quotesgram
Are you going to celebrate World Book Day? How? Share your thoughts below!
YouTube Channel: SPECS Network
Featured image via Gezinbode
h/t DW
