Most Popular Book & Author to be Rescued
Our 1916 exhibition displayed some books machine-gunned on our shelves during the Easter Rising.
The ‘bullet books’ got us thinking about the titles that our visitors would choose to save from imminent destruction.
As our year-long 1916 exhibition draws to a close, we have counted the books nominated by visitors from across the world. And what an eclectic mix we got! Some titles were very much expected, but others were not. In what other list would you see William Shakespeare, Dr. Seuss and Bram Stoker side-by-side?
Many people chose one book about the hero of Hogwarts by J.K. Rowling, but taken as a whole, the Harry Potter Series definitely came out on top. The adventures of Harry and his friends were nominated by both children and adults.
If we look at single books Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice was the most popular, closely followed by the Bible: some people specified an edition of the Bible to be saved, such as the King James Version. Dracula was the only title written by an Irish author within the top 20 on the list.
The most saved author was J.K. Rowling, closely followed by J.R.R. Tolkien. The most saved Irish writers were Bram Stoker and James Joyce, Ulysses taking the lead and then an even spread for Dubliners, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and The Dead.
698 people took part in our experiment. Here are the most popular books and authors in descending order:
Most Saved Book
Title |
Total out of 698 |
|
The Harry Potter Series (J.K. Rowling) |
23 |
|
Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen) |
16 |
|
The Holy Bible |
14 |
|
To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee) |
12 |
|
Lord of the Rings (J.R.R. Tolkien) |
12 |
|
The Divine Comedy (Dante Alighieri) |
10 |
|
The Shadow of the Wind (Carlos Ruiz Zafón) |
10 |
|
Le Petit Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupéry) |
10 |
|
The Hobbit (J.R.R. Tolkien) |
9 |
|
Don Quijote (Miguel de Cervantes) |
8 |
|
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (J. K Rowling) |
7 |
|
Jane Eyre (Charlotte Brontë) |
6 |
|
Wuthering Heights (Emily Brontë) |
6 |
|
The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho) |
6 |
|
The Great Gatsby (F. Scott Fitzgerald) |
6 |
|
One Hundred Years of Solitude (Gabriel García Márquez) |
6 |
|
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (J.K. Rowling) |
6 |
|
Dracula (Bram Stoker) |
6 |
|
The Book Thief (Markus Zusak) |
6 |
|
Peter Pan (J.M. Barrie) |
5 |
|
Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoevsky) |
5 |
|
1984 (George Orwell) |
5 |
Most Saved Author
Author |
Total out of 698 |
|
J.K. Rowling |
55 |
|
J.R.R. Tolkien |
21 |
|
Jane Austen |
19 |
|
The Bible |
14 |
|
Harper Lee |
12 |
|
Carlos Ruiz Zafón |
12 |
|
Dante Alighieri |
10 |
|
Fyodor Dostoevsky |
9 |
|
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry |
9 |
|
Miguel de Cervantes |
9 |
|
Paulo Coelho |
8 |
|
James Joyce |
8 |
|
F. Scott Fitzgerald |
7 |
|
Gabriel García Márquez |
7 |
|
George Orwell |
7 |
|
Markus Zusak |
7 |
|
Charlotte Brontë |
6 |
|
Emily Brontë |
6 |
|
William Shakespeare |
6 |
|
Bram Stoker |
6 |
|
J.M. Barrie |
5 |
|
Roald Dahl |
5 |
|
George Orwell |
5 |
|
Rick Riordan |
5 |
