Facts about books might sound boring, but books are fun too. So, let us treat you to a few never-heard-before facts that are going to make your day and perhaps get you to pick that book up and finish reading.
Contents
- 1. The Ancient Library
- 2. Largest number of Libraries in a Country
- 3. The Oldest Book Ever
- 4. The Longest Novel Ever Written
- 5. Are you a Genius?
- 6. All Time Best-Sellers
- 7. Book Robbery
- 8. Book ‘Bound’
- 9. Readers are Not Criminals
- 10. The Longest Word Ever
- 11. The Tallest Book Ever
- 12. Read More to Be Kind
- 13. The Youngest Author
- 14. About Kindle
- 15. The Largest Overdue Fine
- 16. Books and Eyesight
- 17. The Book-Keepers
- 18. Book on Wheels
- Conclusion
1. The Ancient Library
The ancients did go to the library as well. The oldest known library has been tracked down to a Monastery in Egypt dating back to AD 565. This is one of the oldest continually operating libraries in the world and is the house to the second largest collection of ancient manuscripts. The library is in Saint Catherine’s Monastery, located at the foothills of Mount Sinai.
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2. Largest number of Libraries in a Country
If you are a book lover, you might want to visit Poland at least once in your lifetime. Precisely, Warsaw in Poland has the largest number of libraries per capita. Numerically speaking, that rounds to about 11.5 libraries for every 100000 citizens.
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3. The Oldest Book Ever
The oldest known bookstore in the world is located in Portugal, known as Bertrand Chiado. It was established in the year 1732 and has 52 branches all over the country. This book store has been visited by various famous Authors over time. Some of the more popular names includes, Aquilino Ribeiro, Eca de Queiros, Alexandre Herculano among others.
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4. The Longest Novel Ever Written
‘Remembrance of Things Past’ or also known as ‘In search of Lost time’, is the longest novel known to date. This is a 13-volume long masterpiece and was first published in 20th Century France. With 4215 pages, 9609000 characters, it would require a speed of 300 words per minute and 70 hours by an average reader to complete it! And you thought the Encyclopaedia was huge?
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5. Are you a Genius?
Your reading speed directly reflects the ‘Genius’ in you. It has been found that smart brains read rather quickly. Did you know that Napoleon the Great could read 2000 words per minute? Surely, he was not just a conquerer but also quite an intellect.
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6. All Time Best-Sellers
The Holy Bible is the ‘all-time bestseller’ in the world, with an estimated 6 billion copies sold. Second, on the lead is Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-Tung with 900 Million copies. Finally, the Harry Potter series is the third bestsellers globally, with 500 million copies sold.
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7. Book Robbery
Book theft was a major ‘profession’ in the past, and it also has a respectable term, ‘bibliocleptomanes’. The most popular ‘book thief’ goes by the name of Steven Bloomberg, who stole 23000 rare books. This spans across 268 libraries and has estimated to value over $20 million! Quite a winner among book facts, don’t you think?
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8. Book ‘Bound’
Speaking of theft, the people from the Middle ages had their books ‘chained’ onto the shelves. This was because the books were valuable, just as they were valued and were included in the possession of an individual. Care to ‘lock-up’ your Kindle anytime soon?
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9. Readers are Not Criminals
Vivid readers are less likely to go to Prison! Yes, if you were a well-read person in your childhood, chances of committing a crime are rather rare. Also, study shows that these kids are less likely to use drugs or drop out of school. Wonder what the likes of Bill Gates and Steve Jobs were all about?
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10. The Longest Word Ever
The longest word in the world comprises 189819 letters and is the name of a Protein nicknamed ‘Titin’. Moreover, it is the longest word in ‘any’ language in the world.
11. The Tallest Book Ever
‘Collection of Maritime Rules’ is the tallest book in the world at 6 feet in height! It is 6.4 feet in height and 3 feet in width; it is housed in the Amsterdam Museum.
12. Read More to Be Kind
Readers are kinder. Yes, reading makes you a milder, kinder, and generous individual. Study shows that early habits of reading fiction go a long way in instilling good habits of charity and volunteer work in the individual.
13. The Youngest Author
The youngest person in the world to write and publish a book was the four years and three months old Dorothy Straight. Her book was titled ‘How the world Began’, and it was in response to her mother’s question ‘Who made the world’.
14. About Kindle
Speaking of the modern age-reading habits, the first generation Kindle was sold out within 5 ½ hours of its release! This was on 19th November 2007 and was priced at $ 399. This reading device had 250 MB of storage and could contain 200 non-illustrated titles.
15. The Largest Overdue Fine
The largest fine for a library book overdue is valued at $345.14 and was checked out 47 years later! The book was ‘Days and Deeds’ and was issued from Kewanee Public Library by Emily Canellos-Simms in April 1955. It was owed at two cents per day; Emily returned the book with a Cheque of the overdue fine.
16. Books and Eyesight
The other among the mind-blowing facts about books is that reading is good for the eyes? Yes, the latest research has proved that speed-reading helps preserve vision and increases your recall rate. High time you sped up your reading game.
17. The Book-Keepers
One of the most interesting trivia about books is about a library in Portugal that uses Bats to preserve their prized book collection! That’s right. At Biblioteca Joanina, the species of insect-eating Bats are used as the ultimate ‘book-keepers’. These Bats have their home behind the bookshelves and emerge during the nighttime to feast on the menacing insects. This is the secret of the 300-year-old building that has managed to maintain its prize heritage.
18. Book on Wheels
Did you know that the ancient’s too illiteracy quite seriously? Records show that a ‘bookmobile’ dating back to the year 1857 was organized in Great Britain to encourage reading among the rural crowd. This was a horse-ridden wagon with bookshelves mounted atop and a route between eight villages in the region. This was organized by a nobleman named George Moore who wanted to ‘do something about the looming ignorance of the time.
Conclusion
Books are fun and make for great company. These have been around for the longest time and continue to serve their purpose. The interesting facts about books are sure to get you into the mood for a nice read. So, it is high time that you picked up that half-read book abandoned long ago and offered the dignity it deserves. If you are a ‘Millennial child’, you should try and get in touch with the ‘real thing’ rather than the e-books; at least once in a while.