This article discusses the world s bestselling books. Containing more than two million documents in its collection, this library became a part of the university of paris and is now operated and used by five universities. She lived on her own until the age of 110, when she had to move into a nursing home. The gutenberg bible, also known as the 42line bible. During the 5th or 6th dynasties of the old kingdom in ancient egypt, the text was carved on to the walls and within the sarcophagi of the saqqara pyramids. In spite of continuous opposition through the centuries to destroy it under different civilizations by religious extremists and secular governments, the bible has emerged triumphantly. Yes, some people have spent such a huge amount just for a single book. Many of the oldest universities in the world are also among the most prestigious and popular, offering a rich mixture of historic heritage and contemporary outlook. Ethiopian bible is oldest and most complete on earth. It was written by several authors inspired by the holy spirit over a period of time. The oldest book in the world is almost certainly the first five chapters of the book of genesis.
Oldest author to have first book published guinness. Most christians would likely predict that genesis was the oldest book in the bible given that it details the creation of. This is the list of top 10 oldest civilizations in the world. Written in 2100 bce it predates homers iliad by 1500 years. Europes oldest book was found in the tomb of a saint. Today, only 22 copies are known to exist and the gutenberg bibles are the worlds most rare and valuable printed material. Length of a book is typically associated with its sizespecifically page countleading many to assume the largest and thickest book equates to its length. The worlds oldest, most powerful secret society book. Anand arungundram mohans the world s oldest, most powerful secret society is like a fantasy joy ride that has bumps, pauses, halts, flights, jumps and falls it has too little to do with the mundane that we have around us in our lives. The gutenberg bible, also known as the 42line bible, is listed by the guinness book of world records as the worlds oldest mechanically.
The novel is purely a result of the novelists imagination. I do not claim this book is from god, this is just a very interesting subject. It is loaded with humour, fantasy and a story of friendship beyond death. His first folio is so rare because it is the first authoritative collection of his plays, compiled by his friends and business partners who helped run his theatre company. The rarity consists of 6 pages made of 24carat gold and fastened together. Two years later, on 11 january 1988, she became the oldest living person. Researchers believe these recipes were equivalent to. This 15th century gutenberg bible is pretty old but not nearly old enough to hold the record as the oldest book in the world. Opened in 1745 it is the oldest bookstore in the united states. Known as the yale culinary tablets and part of the yales babylonian collection, these mesopotamian tablets display the oldest recipes. Europes oldest book is soon to go on display in a new exhibition at londons. The earliest written literature dates from about 2600 bce classical sumerian. The book of genesis begins with the time when people went naked in the forest.
Like a real life indiana jones, maverick archeologist david hatcher childress has taken many incredible journeys to some of the oldest and most remote spots on earth. Three clay tablets dating back to 1700 bc may just be the oldest cookbooks in the world. Writer james chapman created a list of the most read books in the world based on the number of copies each book sold over the last 50 years he found. Rumour has it that there are only 11 copies of the book remaining, one of which. I found this little book to be more than i expected. It is often described as a way of life and is widely practiced in india and other parts of the indian subcontinent as well as parts of southeast asia. This is the oldest book in the world the epic of gilgamesh youtube. The oldest stores in the world have been in business for hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of years. We have babylonian correlates to these but they are not as simple or pithy. The story of a blackpool holiday camp published on her 100th birthday on 20 june 2005. They raised the world s first megaliths, enormous rock monuments that stood watch over religious ceremonies and burials. This makes the occasion large and it certainly impacts the readers with its sheer magnificence. The celtic psalter is described as scotlands book of kells. The pyramid texts are known as one of the oldest religious texts in the world.
The most expensive books in the world readers digest. The book is based on her memoirs, which she began writing at the age of 90. The world s oldest bookstore in lisbon one of the most enjoyable things about exploring lisbon has been uncovering the existence of some of the finest book housing spaces in the world. According to the guinness world records, the oldest hotel in the world is nishiyama onsen keiunkan. Here are a few of the most wellknown, odorous old texts still in existence.
Discovered in spain in the 1860s, the madrid codex also known as. How much do you really know about one of the oldest books in the world. When this book sold, it became the most expensive illuminated manuscript in the world. The epic of gilgamesh is the oldest known piece of literature in the world. The best documentary ever the oldest book ever found. This book may just be the oldest book ever discovered, and it was written for you. Want to know which ancient religious books have been spared by the centuries, and.
The voynich code the worlds most mysterious manuscript the secrets of nature. Top 10 must read holy religious books in the world bhagavad gita is the most sacred book in the hindu religion. Founded by samuel powell, after the prompting of a local moravian bishop, the original shop housed mostly religious text. It will let you soar high in the world of imagination that the novelist has created. The world s oldest book in the history of mankind written in etruscan, the language that is now lost, can be seen in bulgarias national museum of history in sofia. Here we cover some of the oldest universities in the world, all of which feature in one of the qs rankings. The oldest book in the bible is, unsurprisingly, found in the old testament. While far from the most expensive book on this list, beedle was the priciest book ever purchased that was written and published in the twentyfirst century. Stop the press, the oldest book in the world is an object that consists of six bound sheets of 24carat gold written in a lost etruscan language around 600 bc check out the bbc news item here. Certain literary texts are difficult to date, such as the egyptian book of the dead, which. As reported by the guardian, this spot could actually be the oldest, continuously running bookstore in the world.
The world s oldest, most powerful secret society is a novel by anand arungundram mohan, an indian novelist. Here are some of the oldest surviving books in the world. The works of william shakespeare are amongst the most influential in the world, continuing to have great precedence in western literature 400 years after his death in 1616. According to christians, the bible is the word of god. Why has no one ever heard of the worlds first poet.
It was first discovered in 1104, when the relics of one of britains most. There are claims that the i ching is the oldest book in the world, however, it can safely be assigned to the th century, bce thus about the same age as the mosaic attribution for the pentateuch. Would you be surprised if i say japan is the oldest country in the world. Into the rock, these ancient peoples carved their fears, hopes, and dreams. I can almost visualise some of you even stood up the chair. Regula sancti benedicti the rule of st benedict, 8th century. How well do you know the oldest and most read book in the. A book that holds ancient texts but has been translated into most of todays modern languages. Hinduism is believed to have the oldest roots among all religions. The sheets are believed to be the oldest comprehensive work involving multiple pages. The earliest literary author known by name is enheduanna, a sumerian priestess and public figure dating to ca. The gutenberg bible, also known as the 42line bible, is listed by the guinness book of world records as the worlds oldest mechanically printed book the first.
By this definition, the collection of clay tablets maintained by cornell also the largest collection in the world wouldnt be considered the worlds oldest books. It could be a recordbreaking afternoon in the book world. The bay psalm book is probably best known for being the first printed book in british north america and it was first printed in 1640 in cambridge, massachusetts. They left behind both mysterious, indecipherable pictograms and stunningly clear animal reliefs. Compiling a list of longest novels yields different results depending on whether pages, words or characters are counted. Codex sinaiticus, commonly called the sinai bible, is one of the worlds most important and treasured books as it is the only early manuscript of the christian. The bible is the world s bestselling book, having sold more than five billion copies. Before the spread of writing, oral literature did not always survive well, though some texts and. Top 10 oldest civilizations in the world world most. This is the oldest book in the world the epic of gilgamesh. The oldest book in the world is the filled with wisdom quotes and teachings on how one is to conduct ones life and how to treat his fellow man. It was first written at bc through 500 bc and the words were given by god to its writers. It describes the dialogue between the lord krishna and prince arjuna. Written thousands of years ago, the judeochristian bible is a best sellerif not the best seller.
There are many books that are considered to be the oldest books in the world and are still wellpreserved. Founded in 705 ad, famous guests have included tokugawa ieyasu, the land of the rising sun first shogun, and kouken, its 46th emperor. The precision with which one can date the creation of this book is. While shuruppaks fatherly wisdom is one of the most ancient examples of written literature, historys oldest known fictional story is probably the epic of gilgamesh, a mythic poem that. So lets have a look at the most expensive books that have been sold all around the world. Ap photo losservatore romano, ho right now, the book known as the oldest in the world is a severalpagelong volume held by the bulgarias national museum of history. While shuruppaks fatherly wisdom is one of the most ancient. Top 10 most expensive books in the world 2018 books always beneficial for the people in all ways in other words books are considered best and amazing human friends also provide the knowledge for the relevant studies, culture history and lot of other things which people want to know. Can you think of any book that can be sold in millions of dollars.
A page from the garima gospels the world s oldest christian book found in a remote monastery in ethiopia the incredible relic has been kept ever since in the garima monastery near adwa in the north of the country, which is in the tigray region at 7,000 feet. A book and a text are, of course, very different things. Of all the ancient writings, most scholars agree that the old testament of the bible is the oldest of religious books. Just to give a few specific examples out of the many ancient texts that are known to still exist.