,

Proliferation of Classics

Books with 500 or more editions in the Goodreads database. Typically, this will be original works no longer protected by copyright: So which of the great classics of yesteryear are the most popular, not only with readers but also with publishers (including POD and vanity presses)?

(NOTE: To find out how many editions a given book has on GR, open the respective book page and look at the link "Other Editions" in the upper right-hand corner. The number put in parenthesis there indicates the number of (linked) editions currently in the GR database. -- Alternatively, if you think more than one book by a given author might qualify, open the respective author page and click on the link "books by [author name]." This will take you to a listing of their books, where the number of editions currently in the GR database is part of the biographical data given in small gray print below the books' respective titles.)
1

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4.16 avg rating — 2,275,240 ratings
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2

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4.29 avg rating — 4,675,553 ratings
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3

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4.17 avg rating — 2,408,985 ratings
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4

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3.89 avg rating — 998,684 ratings
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5

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4.03 avg rating — 1,026,661 ratings
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6

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3.88 avg rating — 1,000,482 ratings
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7

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4.17 avg rating — 1,271,323 ratings
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8

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4.32 avg rating — 999,865 ratings
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9

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3.68 avg rating — 326,715 ratings
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10

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3.93 avg rating — 498,455 ratings
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11

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3.94 avg rating — 570,704 ratings
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12

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4.05 avg rating — 957,910 ratings
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13

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3.91 avg rating — 299,233 ratings
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14

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4.09 avg rating — 1,274,002 ratings
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15

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3.59 avg rating — 295,187 ratings
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16

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4.04 avg rating — 254,405 ratings
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17

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4.28 avg rating — 1,038,180 ratings
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18

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3.90 avg rating — 1,974,267 ratings
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19

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4.09 avg rating — 900,731 ratings
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20

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3.44 avg rating — 905,272 ratings
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21

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3.85 avg rating — 531,575 ratings
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22

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4.10 avg rating — 346,309 ratings
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23

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3.43 avg rating — 548,863 ratings
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24

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3.83 avg rating — 1,165,076 ratings
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25

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4.08 avg rating — 168,498 ratings
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26

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4.13 avg rating — 1,805,578 ratings
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27

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3.71 avg rating — 366,727 ratings
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28

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4.33 avg rating — 2,399,214 ratings
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29

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4.30 avg rating — 321,847 ratings
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29

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4.03 avg rating — 396,069 ratings
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31

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3.80 avg rating — 861,550 ratings
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32

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4.32 avg rating — 1,087,824 ratings
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33

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4.03 avg rating — 369,926 ratings
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34

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3.83 avg rating — 646,916 ratings
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35

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3.89 avg rating — 1,787,934 ratings
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36

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3.56 avg rating — 606,179 ratings
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37

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3.83 avg rating — 1,323,582 ratings
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38

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4.02 avg rating — 1,426,854 ratings
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39

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3.88 avg rating — 421,611 ratings
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40

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3.89 avg rating — 272,259 ratings
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41

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3.85 avg rating — 442,624 ratings
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42

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3.74 avg rating — 2,781,287 ratings
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43

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3.95 avg rating — 276,991 ratings
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44

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4.14 avg rating — 379,176 ratings
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45

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 501,847 ratings
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45

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4.10 avg rating — 912,770 ratings
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47

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3.92 avg rating — 1,002,437 ratings
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48

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3.91 avg rating — 463,764 ratings
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49

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4.15 avg rating — 758,061 ratings
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50

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3.95 avg rating — 555,711 ratings
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51

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4.29 avg rating — 178,560 ratings
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52

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4.21 avg rating — 833,916 ratings
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53

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4.39 avg rating — 373,941 ratings
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53

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3.71 avg rating — 216,271 ratings
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55

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3.84 avg rating — 299,036 ratings
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56

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4.40 avg rating — 126,691 ratings
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57

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4.23 avg rating — 219,718 ratings
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58

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3.69 avg rating — 150,563 ratings
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59

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3.93 avg rating — 5,775,243 ratings
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60

by
3.89 avg rating — 555,862 ratings
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60

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4.17 avg rating — 359,091 ratings
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62

by
3.70 avg rating — 101,413 ratings
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63

by
3.73 avg rating — 132,489 ratings
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64

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3.90 avg rating — 1,359,928 ratings
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65

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4.01 avg rating — 120,631 ratings
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66

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4.06 avg rating — 600,685 ratings
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67

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3.86 avg rating — 373,942 ratings
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68

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3.79 avg rating — 67,347 ratings
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69

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3.76 avg rating — 98,242 ratings
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70

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3.30 avg rating — 109,047 ratings
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71

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3.85 avg rating — 220,246 ratings
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72

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3.97 avg rating — 191,487 ratings
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73

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3.87 avg rating — 140,771 ratings
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74

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4.16 avg rating — 66,813 ratings
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75

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4.08 avg rating — 854,445 ratings
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76

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3.94 avg rating — 380,746 ratings
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77

by
4.03 avg rating — 127,441 ratings
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78

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3.90 avg rating — 131,197 ratings
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79

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3.90 avg rating — 48,901 ratings
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80

by
3.68 avg rating — 191,241 ratings
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32 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Themis-Athena (Lioness at Large) 546 books
365 friends
Susanna - Censored by GoodReads 3384 books
853 friends
Bettie 15668 books
19 friends
Jim 3614 books
364 friends
Danna 11998 books
39 friends
Ben 1082 books
70 friends
Mark 71 books
27 friends
Amy 180 books
0 friends

More voters…


Comments Showing 1-12 of 12 (12 new)

dateUp arrow    newest »

message 1: by Susanna - Censored by GoodReads (last edited Jul 14, 2011 10:57AM) (new)

Susanna - Censored by GoodReads Also eligible:

Picture of Dorian Gray
The Iliad


Themis-Athena (Lioness at Large) Thanks -- you're a star for (looking up and) adding so many more!


Susanna - Censored by GoodReads I found looking up by author was useful in cases where I thought more than one of their books might qualify; like Dickens.


Themis-Athena (Lioness at Large) Good idea ...


Susanna - Censored by GoodReads Also eligible:

Journey to the Center of the Earth


message 6: by Bettie (last edited Jul 15, 2011 10:09AM) (new)

Bettie

I think this is the first time ever I have been able to check/tick all the offerings.

:O)


Themis-Athena (Lioness at Large) That's because you're well-read and erudite! :) You've even added the one book I couldn't add myself, never having gotten around to reading it ...

[image error]


message 8: by Susanna - Censored by GoodReads (last edited Jul 15, 2011 01:28PM) (new)

Susanna - Censored by GoodReads I think the only one whose copyright is not expired is The Little Prince - very impressive that one actually pulled that off.


Themis-Athena (Lioness at Large) Yes, I thought so too when I saw that!


message 10: by Danna (new)

Danna Best list! I LOVE Jane Eyre, I glad it is FINALLY on top of some positive list (:


message 11: by Danna (new)

Danna Plus, I know so so many of these books


message 12: by BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) (last edited Apr 03, 2015 02:37PM) (new)

BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) I've removed The Complete Works as it did not have 500 or more editions ('only' 378).

Absolutely great list, by the way ;-) Amazing how many, for me well-known, older titles I couldn't add because they didn't have enough editions (just think of Silas Marner or Middlemarch, or The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, or Vanity Fair). But then again, there were so many classics I was able to add, because they did have 500 or more edtions fortunately :-)


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