Popular Authors of 1908

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What Authors Were People Reading In 1908?

It is not difficult to find what last years Best Selling book was, but what about over 100 years ago? Who was the most popular author in 1908?

Books and reading are a large part of my life. I am particularly fascinated with the authors in the past and the books that they wrote.

Let's take a peek into the past together and see who the bestselling authors were and what the titles of their books were in 1908.

Mr. Crewe's Career - The No. 1 Bestselling Book of 1908

Written by Winston Churchill (American Author)

The book, Mr. Crewe's Career was written by Winston Churchill, the American novelist in 1908 achieving the status of the No. 1 best selling book that year. The book is a political fiction with social issues of the day at play.

Winston Churchill was born in St. Louis, Missouri and wrote his first book in 1898. He moved to New Hampshire in 1899 and became involved in the local politics there and actually ran for Governor. Churchill had a total of 12 other fiction books, many of which also reached the status of being in the Top 10 best selling list for the year of their publication.

The 12 bestselling fiction books by Winston Churchill, American Author are:
The Celebrity (1898)
Richard Carvel (1899)
The Crisis (1901)
Mr. Keegan's Elopement
The Crossing (1904)
Coniston (1906)
Mr. Crewe's Career (1908)
A Modern Chronicle (1910)
The Inside of the Cup (1913)
A Far Country (1915)
The Dwelling-Place of Light (1917)
The Uncharted Way (1940)

If vintage and famous authors and old books are something that you enjoy, you should see if you can find one of this American novelist's books and give it a read. You can also find other Best Selling Book lists at Printed Pages

The Other Nine Bestsellers for the year 1908

The Barrier by Rex Beach
The Trail of the Lonesome Pine by John Fox Jr
The Lure of the Mask by Harold MacGrath
The Shuttle by Frances Hodgsen Burnett
Peter by F Hopkinson Smith
Lewis Rand by Mary Johnston
The Black Bag by Louis J Vance
The Man From Brodney's by George Barr McCutcheon
The Weavers by Gilbert Parker

List was compiled from Publishers Weekly magazine.

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Rex Beach wrote the Number 2 Best Seller in 1908

Born in Atwood, Michigan in 1877; Rex Beach was an author, playwright, and Olympic Polo Player. He was from a prominent family and actually pursued a career as a lawyer before the Gold Rush Bug bit him and he went to Nome, Alaska trying to earn his fortune in the mines. After his disappointment in not being a good prospector he turned to writing.

He wrote 12 novels in his lifetime with several that were made into films.

He was a member of the 1904 Polo Team and won a Silver Medal in the St. Louis games.

Boy Scouts Didn't Make The List in 1908

Scouting for Boys: A Handbook of Instruction for Good Citizenship by Robert Baden-Powell was not a best selling book in 1908. Over time the book has sold over 150 million copies.

Popular Author of Today

Stephen King has made the best selling author list for decades. His newest work of fiction revisits the JFK assassination through time travel with a hope by the characters that history can be changed.

11/22/63: A Novel

Amazon Price: $15.25 (as of 02/15/2012)Buy Now
List Price: $35.00

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Lucy Maude Montgomery

Although not on the best seller list for 1908, Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maude Montgomery has sold over 50 million copies since it was first published. I would say that would definitely put her on the list of famous American literature authors.

Anne of Green Gables

Read the 100th Anniversary Edition of Anne of Green Gables originally written in 1908. It wasn't in the Top 10 the year it was published but certainly became popular later.

Anne of Green Gables, 100th Anniversary Edition

Amazon Price: $4.64 (as of 02/15/2012)Buy Now

And Now For Your Comments:

Thank you for stopping by today to learn about the popular authors of 1908. Please do let me know you stopped in! Are you ready to find out who the best selling authors were in 1909 were?

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  • Reply
    Spook May 28, 2011 @ 9:18 am | delete
    Mortified to tell you that I haven't read any of them, yet I have always considered myself to be an avid reader.
  • Reply
    23squidoo Oct 30, 2010 @ 8:56 pm | delete
    Beautiful use of color and style in this very interesting lense. Thanks!
  • Reply
    vallain Jan 25, 2010 @ 5:26 pm | delete
    I've read books by Rex Beach and John Fox Jr.
    I should pull out some of those golden oldies for another read.
  • Reply
    BevsPaper Aug 5, 2009 @ 6:01 am | in reply to lostinfiction | delete
    My information comes from Publisher's Weekly who recorded the actual sales of books and was not based on any sort of popular opinion poll.
  • Reply
    lostinfiction Aug 4, 2009 @ 10:04 pm | delete
    here's a little search i did on a site that basically generated a list of the favourite/most influential books from a prominent group of people (authors, entertainers, politicians etc) who were alive and kickin' in 1908! http://www.infloox.com/collective?region=&activity=&group=&start=1907&end=1909&=
    (actually i did the search from 1907 - 1909 just to be safe) surprise, surprise, Shakespeare and the Bible top the list!
  • Reply
    Ladydove62 Jul 15, 2009 @ 11:51 pm | delete
    Great lens.Tastefully done and really interesting contentf
  • Reply
    AnnieMcMahon May 11, 2009 @ 11:18 am | delete
    Great lens! I will be back to check out some of the links. My favorite is still O. Henry (1862-1910). :)
  • Reply
    drifter0658 Apr 7, 2009 @ 9:48 am | delete
    Nice, comfortable read. Like an old pair of jeans fresh from the dryer.

    I'm pretty sure someone made some bucks off of Smith's book 'Peter'.

    Thanks!
  • Reply
    dc64 Apr 4, 2009 @ 12:25 pm | delete
    What an interesting idea, especially since I haven't heard of any of those books, and they were bestsellers! It makes me wonder what they are about. You've piqued my interest.
  • Reply
    confetta Apr 4, 2009 @ 11:04 am | delete
    I LOVE this LENS!
    I am a hard-core reader and pretty much only read authors from ages ago!
    I ALSO just got dizzy and lost track of time looking at all the fabulous vintage
    books, sheet music and ephemera on THE PAPER TRAIL!!!
    http://www.the-paper-trail.com/

    I LOVE your taste and I am going to try to add more direct links from
    MY Lenses Directly to THE PAPER TRAIL!
    5 Stars - Favorited - YOU ARE IT!
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Popular Authors of 1908 Copyright Notice

Copyright: June 18, 2008 by BevsPaper (Beverly Owens)

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BevsPaper

I am a bibliophile at heart. Join me as I share information about books and authors of the past.

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