Some world famous books
Walt Disney said, ``there are more treasures in books than al the pirates’’ loot in Treasure Island … and best of all, you can enjoy these riches every day of your life’’
Here are some little –known facts on books
a) The world’s first printed book was the diamond Sutra. It was published in China in 868 AD and was printed with wooden blocks.
b) Raja Ram Mohan Roy translated the Vedanta into English. This was the first Indian book to be translated into English.
c) The first children’s magazine was published by john Newbery o England in 1751. The name of the magazine was the Lilliputian.
d) Around 300 BC, Ptolemy I of Egypt founded a great library in Alexandria. The library did not contain books as we know them today. Instead, it had scrolls of papyrus. The library was a cultural wonder of its time. It stood for over 250 years.
e) The British Library in London contains books, periodicals, newspapers, maps, musical scores, postage stamps and sound recordings. There are more than 25 million books in the library. 3 million books are added to the collection very year which requires about 625 kilometers of additional shelving.
f) The most valuable book in the world in the Gutenberg Bile. It was printed in Germany in 1455. It is a huge book with 1282 sheepskin pages. Today, one copy is in he Library of congress in the US, one in the British Museum and one is in the Bibioteque Nationale in France.
g) Kalidas is one the greatest poets and dramatists of India. His famous works are Sanskrit language `Meghadutam,’ and Abhigyana Shakuntala’.
h) Tulasidas was a great Indian Hindi language poet. His masterpiece is the `Ramacharitamanas’, which is considered a holy book by Indians.
i) Jules Verne is another French writer who is popular with children. His most famous works are `Around the world in Eighty Days’, `journey to the Centre of the Earth’ and `20,000 leagues under the sea’.
j) Jane Austen is one of the most famous English writers of the world. Her famous classics re `pride and prejudice,’ sense and sensibility’, Emma’ `Mansfield park’.
k) German Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm are famous for their collection of folk tales. These tales are popularity known as Grimm’s Fairy Tales. Their best-known stories are `Hansel and Gretel’ `Cinderella,’ `Rumpelstiskin’ and `the golden Goose.’
l) Danish Hans Christian Andersen is a famous writer of fairy tales. Some of his well- known stories are `The Little Mermaid,’ ``The Emperor’s new clothes,’ and `the ugly Duckling’
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