Don Quixote, written in 1605, has outsold every Harry Potter, every Stephen King, and every modern bestseller combined.
How to Play: Guess if the book on the right has sold MORE or FEWER copies than the one on the left.
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Top 10 Bestselling Books
The all-time bestselling books are dominated by religious texts and literary classics that have been printed continuously for centuries. Modern bestsellers like Harry Potter sell tens of millions in a few decades; old classics have had four centuries to accumulate.
The Bible is excluded because counting cumulative print runs over millennia is not feasible — estimates range from 5 to 7 billion. The Quran has similar issues. We start the rankings with secular and post-Reformation works.
| # | Name | Copies Sold (millions) | Unit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Don Quixote — Cervantes (1605) | 500 | millions |
| 2 | A Tale of Two Cities — Dickens (1859) | 200 | millions |
| 3 | The Lord of the Rings — Tolkien (1954) | 150 | millions |
| 4 | Fifty Shades of Grey — James (2011) | 150 | millions |
| 5 | The Little Prince — de Saint-Exupéry (1943) | 140 | millions |
| 6 | Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (1997) | 120 | millions |
| 7 | And Then There Were None — Christie (1939) | 100 | millions |
| 8 | Dream of the Red Chamber — Cao Xueqin (1791) | 100 | millions |
| 9 | The Hobbit — Tolkien (1937) | 100 | millions |
| 10 | Alice's Adventures in Wonderland — Carroll (1865) | 100 | millions |
How Book Sales Are Tracked
Cumulative book sales over centuries are estimates, not exact counts. Pre-20th-century books sold across hundreds of editions, in dozens of languages, and through publishers that no longer exist or that did not keep records. Modern figures aggregate publisher disclosures, library accession data, and academic estimates.
Don Quixote’s 500 million figure is a widely cited Wikipedia/Library Journal estimate. The book has been continuously in print for over 400 years, translated into more than 50 languages, and is mandatory reading in much of the Spanish-speaking world. It is generally considered the first modern novel.
Harry Potter’s 120 million for the first book (Philosopher’s Stone) is the highest single-volume figure for any modern series. The complete Harry Potter series has sold over 600 million across all seven books — making it the bestselling book series of all time.
Some bestseller lists exclude religious texts (Bible, Quran, Book of Mormon) and political works (Mao’s Little Red Book, said to have over 1 billion copies printed) because state-mandated distribution makes them incomparable to commercial sales. Including them, the Bible’s 5–7 billion easily tops the list.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the bestselling book of all time?
Excluding religious texts, Don Quixote at approximately 500 million copies. Including religious texts, the Bible (5–7 billion estimated) and the Quran are higher.
How many Harry Potter books have been sold?
Over 600 million across all seven books worldwide. The first book (Philosopher’s Stone) alone has sold about 120 million copies.
Are these accurate sales figures?
For older books, no — they are estimates. Centuries-old print runs are nearly impossible to count exactly. Modern figures are more reliable but still approximate, since publishers do not always disclose.
What's the bestselling 21st-century book?
The Da Vinci Code (2003) at about 80 million copies. Among series, Fifty Shades of Grey and Twilight rival Harry Potter’s per-volume sales.
Note: Sales are widely cited cumulative-since-publication estimates in millions of copies. Historic figures have wide error bars; recent figures are publisher disclosures.
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