What is the most popular book that is public domain? and can I therefore sell it

Question: What is the most popular book that is public domain!? and can I therefore sell it without any permission!?

I'm thinking along the lines of "Think and Grow Rich" by Napoleon Hill!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:

A few people on here are wrong - the Napoleon Hill work is still in copyright until at least 2019 under the Sonny Bono copyright extension provisions!.!.!.!.!.
However the straightforward answer to your question the most popular book in public domain is the most popular book ever - the Bible and yes, you are free to re publish and sell it!.!.!.!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Think and Grow Rich would not be the most popular book in public domain!. Not even close!.

Popular books!? Frankenstein and Dracula and Don Quixote come immediately to mind!.!.!. and probably most of the old stuff you read in middle and high school is in public domain!. I don't see this being a profitable venture unless you want to sell textbooks or guides in the style of Cliff's Notes!.

Supposedly, and I may be mistaken, but Quotations from Chairman Mao is one of the most read books ever!. If you wanted to sell that, you would have to get it translated to English yourself!. Remember, even if the original material is in public domain, the translations probably aren't!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Anything published 1922 or before is public domain--but you'll have lots of competition!. Publishers have scoured the pickings and you'll have to compete with lots of cheap editions!.

What do you mean by "sell it"!? Print it and distribute it!? How will you do that!? I myself do it, and there are many tricks to this--like finding a book that people want but that big publishers haven't got on their radar!.

As for the most popular--hard to say!. The King James Bible, probably!. _Adventures of Huckleberry Finn_!? _Pride and Prejudice_!? Plays by Shakespeare!?

Good luck!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

There are tons of older books that are in the public domain!.!.!.all of Shakespeare, any of the Greeks I'd assume (playwrights and philosophers-Sophocles, Aristotle, Aristophanes, Plato, Aeschylus, Homer, etc!.) Really, any very old stuff!.!.!.Don Quixote, Dante's Inferno, Arabian Nights, Aesop's Fables!.!.!.fairy tale compilations, I'd assume (Hans Christian Anderson, the Brothers Grimm, Charles Perrault!.!.!.)!. Lots of political pieces are in the public domain, I believe-the Communist Manifesto, John Locke and Thomas Paine and all those people!.!.!.um!.!.!.

As to whether you can sell them-can't help you there! No idea!Www@QuestionHome@Com

I guess if you first bought it yourself then there is no reason why you can't, but if I were you, I might double-check with the publishers just to be sure!. Better safe than sorry, right!? ^_^Www@QuestionHome@Com

If it's been around longer that 70 years, making it public domain, you can publish and sell copies!. Though it wouldn't be a very worthwhile business venture!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

you can sell it once you buy it but you can't distribute them without permission!.I'd say Harry Potter or TwilightWww@QuestionHome@Com