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The smallest atlas in existence was reproduced from the original for Queen Mary’s Doll House Library in 1928.  Atlas of the British Empire has 12 double-page colored maps and measures just 2 inches tall.

https://timbryars.tumblr.com/post/83115437997/atlases-of-empire

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Nevada, Texas and Mississippi have the highest ratio of customers to bookstores in the United States.

https://bookstr.com/list/14-facts-about-books-and-reading-for-the-fanatical-bookworm/

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The bestselling novel of all time is Miguel de Cervantes' Don Quixote.  First published in 1612, more than 500 million copies have been sold.  Bonus fact: Don Quixote has been the correct answer, or part of the question, 156 times on Jeopardy! according to tracking website J! Archive.

https://bestlifeonline.com/best-selling-novels/

 

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In the early 1950s Sir Hugh Beaver, Managing Director of the Guinness Brewery, was bird hunting when he missed a shot at a Golden Plover.  An argument ensued among the shooting party over which was the fastest European game bird.  Recalling the argument in 1954, Sir Hugh realized that there was no book that could be used to settle such disputes.  He engaged a London fact-finding firm, run by twins Norris and Ross McWhirter, to create that book, now known world wide as the Guinness Book of World Records.  The McWhirters worked 90 hours per week for 13 weeks to complete the project and the book was an immediate success.

https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/about-us/our-history/

 

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Author Charles Dickens is known to have had a secret passageway in his home, hidden behind a bookcase.  To make the bookcase look authentic, he filled it with fake titles, including a nine volume set titled, The Life of a Cat.  A quote about cats is also attributed to Dickens: "What greater gift than the love of a cat?"  Dickens wasn't the only well-known author with an affinity for felines.  Mark Twain, T.S. Eliot, Ernest Hemingway, William S. Burroughs, William Butler Yeats, Samuel Johnson, Patricia Highsmith, William Carlos Williams and Raymond Chandler all loved cats and often wrote about them or included fictional cats in their stories and poems. There are at least 15 bookstores included on The Map - how many can you find?

https://interestingliterature.com/2014/02/five-fascinating-facts-about-charles-dickens/

https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/49302/11-writers-who-really-loved-cats

 

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The number one stolen book of all time, according to Kat Chin who worked at the World's Largest Bookstore in Toronto, is the Bible.  Other popular books with thieves include Japanese Manga titles, medical books and, oddly, Kurt Vonnegut's books.

https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/63664/17-behind-scenes-secrets-bookstores

 

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Struwwelpeter, or Der Struwwelpeter, is an early German children's storybook that is considered to be a precursor of modern comic books.  The book, through ten rhyming illustrated short stories, tells cautionary tales of children who suffer consequences for bad behavior, often in an exaggerated way.  The title comes from the first story in the book and translates to Shock-Headed Peter, or Shaggy Peter.  Some researchers have claimed that many of the stories describe what we know today to be child mental disorders.

https://germanstories.vcu.edu/struwwel/struwwel.html

https://www.thevintagenews.com/2018/01/27/struwwelpeter-german-childrens-book/

 

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