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It is widely accepted that the earliest mechanically printed full-length book is the Gutenberg Bible, printed in Mainz, Germany, around 1455 by Johannes Gutenberg. There are five complete, intact copies in the United States. They are in the Pierpont Morgan Library in New York, the Library of Congress, Harvard and Yale Universities and the University of Texas, in Austin.
Source: Guinness World Records
Joanne Kathleen Rowling wrote her first book when she was six, and 20 years later wrote the first wizard-filled Harry Potter book in a cafe during her young daughter's naps. She sold her first manuscript for a pretty small sum after being rejected by a few publishers – who must be very sorry now! By the year 2000, the first three Harry Potter books had sold over 35 million copies in 35 languages and had made about $480 million. Rowling is now one of Britain's wealthiest women. Her net worth increased from £65 million ($93 million) in 2001 to £226 million ($325 million) in 2002. The increase was largely as a result of royalties from the hit film Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, but book sales and merchandising also contributed. Rowling's fortune now makes her Britain's wealthiest woman in showbiz – and she sits 11 places above Queen Elizabeth II!
Source: Guinness World Records
The Book and the Rose (2001): directed and written by Jeffrey Bemiss and starring Chris Kennedy and Patrick Tuttle. Tagline: In 1942, one letter can change your life. Plot Outline: A hunky young math teacher comes across a first edition of Anna Karenina and falls in love with the previous owner based on her extensive scribblings in the margin.
Source: IMDb
In April 2003, British actor Jim Dale created and recorded 134 different and distinguishable character voices for the audio book Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
An original four-volume subscriber set of J. J. Audubon's The Birds of America was auctioned for $8,802,500 (£5,739,000) by Christie's of New York in March 2000.
The most overdue library book was returned after 288 years! It was borrowed from a British university library in 1668 and was found elsewhere centuries later. The book was returned but no fine was charged!
British "head-balancer" John Evans once balanced a staggering 62 books on his head, weighing a total of 217 lb.
In 1991, Millie, US President George Bush's dog, earned $900,000 (£587,000) from her autobiography Millile's Book, an "under the table look at life in the Bush family". President Bush's own biography earned only $2,700 (£1,760)!
Source: Guinness World Records
Domesday Book (also known as Domesday, or Book of Winchester), was the record of the great survey of England completed in 1086, executed for William the Conqueror, that was similar to a census by a government of today. He needed information about the country he had just conquered so he could administer it.
Source: Wikipedia
The Book by Sheryl Crow
See lyrics
The following imaginary book titles are all puns:
Off to Market by Tobias A. Pigg
Cloning by Ima Dubble
Fallen Underwear by Lucy Lastic
House Construction by Bill Jerome Home
Why Cars Stop by M. T. Tank
Look Younger by Fay Slift
40 Yards to the Latrine by Willy Makeit and Betty Wont
Source: jokesnjokes.net
De Re Culinaria by Apicius,: believed to be the oldest cookbook in the Western world, it is supposed to have originated in the 3rd century and written by one Caelius. Apicius' work is of great interest for its insights into the daily life of the Romans and to students of diet and health. There were three Roman gastronomes named Apicius but the book was composed by none of them but by a later writer, one Coelius or Caelius, who linked his own name with that of Apicius in order to promote his work. The first edition appeared sometime between 1483 and 1486.
Source: Rare books
Smallest Printed Book: The smallest ever printed book measures just 0.9 x 0.9 mm (0.035 x 0.035 in) and is an edition of Chameleon by the Russian author Anton Chekhov. The book was made and published by Anatoliy Konenko of Omsk, Siberia, Russia, in 1996. Each book consists of 30 pages, has three color illustrations, and 11 lines of text to a page. The book is printed in a limited edition of 100 copies, half in English, half in Russian. It is bound in gold, silver and leather and sewn in silk. Each copy retails for $500.
Source: Guinness World Records
The sight of books removes sorrows from the heart. (African)
A book is like a garden carried in the pocket. (Arabian)
A man is happy when he has books, but happier still when he does not need them. (Chinese)
Every book must be chewed to get out its juice. (Chinese)
If your books are not read, your descendants will be ignorant. (Chinese)
Unplowed fields make hollow bellies; unread books make hollow minds. (Chinese)
When you have read a book for the first time, you get to know a friend; read it for a second time and you meet an old friend. (Chinese)
Beware of a man of one book. (English)
Don't judge a book by its cover. (English)
A good book praises itself. (German)
A book is a good friend when it lays bare the errors of the past. (Indian)
If a fool borrows a book cut off his hand; but cut off both hands of the fool who brings it back. (Iranian)
Whoever writes a book, should be ready to accept criticism. (Iraqi)
There is no robber worse than a bad book. (Italian)
Source: Creative Proverbs
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