Join FunTrivia for Free: Hourly trivia games, quizzes, community, and more!
Fun Trivia
Ask FunTrivia: Questions and Answers
Answers to 100,000 Fascinating Questions
Welcome to FunTrivia's Question & Answer forum!

Search All Questions


Please cite any factual claims with citation links or references from authoritative sources. Editors continuously recheck submissions and claims.

Archived Questions

Goto Qn #


What was the first American novel to sell one million copies, who wrote it and when was it published?

Question #73130. Asked by skysmom65.
Last updated Oct 07 2016.

avatar
morrigan star
Answer has 4 votes
morrigan star
23 year member
66 replies avatar

Answer has 4 votes.
"Uncle Tom's Cabin" written by Harriet Beecher Stowe in 1852.

Another one said to have been the first: Harold Bell Wright with his novel "The Shepherd of the Hills" written in 1907.

Dec 09 2006, 11:23 PM
avatar
bigponder
Answer has 3 votes
bigponder
19 year member
286 replies avatar

Answer has 3 votes.
Or maybe this one: In His Steps by Charles M. Sheldon, published in 1896.

Dec 09 2006, 11:31 PM
avatar
zbeckabee star
Answer has 6 votes
Currently Best Answer
zbeckabee star
Moderator
18 year member
11752 replies avatar

Answer has 6 votes.

Currently voted the best answer.
Uncle Tom's Cabin was the best-selling novel of the 19th century (and the second best-selling book of the century after the Bible) and is credited with helping to fuel the abolitionist cause in the 1850s. In the first year after it was published, 300,000 copies of the book were sold.

link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncle_Tom%27s_Cabin

Page 226 of Robert J. Scarry's "Millard Fillmore" states that "Uncle Tom's Cabin" was the first American novel to sell one million copies and that Millard Fillmore had two copies of this book.

link http://www.shapell.org/manuscript/president-fillmore-uncle-toms-cabin-civil-war-recolonization-of-slave

Response last updated by satguru on Oct 07 2016.
Dec 10 2006, 10:14 AM
free email trivia FREE! Get a new mixed Fun Trivia quiz each day in your email. It's a fun way to start your day!


arrow Your Email Address:

Sign in or Create Free User ID to participate in the discussion