Bestselling Novels 1900–1929

Post-Victorian bestsellers, 1900-1909

1900 Bestselling Novels

• 1900 #1 To Have and to Hold by Mary Johnson
• 1900 #2 Red Pottage by Mary Cholmondeley
• 1900 #3 Unleavened Bread by Robert Grant
• 1900 #4 The Reign of Law by James Lane Allen
• 1900 #5 Eben Holden: A Tale of the North Country by Irving Bacheller
• 1900 #6 Janice Meredith by Paul Leicester Ford
• 1900 #7 Richard Carvel by Winston Churchill
• 1900 #8 The Redemption of David Corson by Charles Frederic Goss
• 1900 #9 When Knighthood Was in Flower by Charles Major
• 1900 #10 Alice of Old Vincennes by Maurice Thompson [Also 1901 #2]

1901 Bestselling Novels

• 1901 #1 The Crisis by Winston Churchill
• 1901 #2 Alice of Old Vincennes by Maurice Thompson [Also 1900 #10]
• 1901 #3 Helmet of Navarre by Bertha Runkle
• 1901 #4 The Right of Way by Gilbert Packer
• 1901 #5 Eben Holden: A Tale of the North Country by Irving Bacheller
• 1901 #6 The Visits of Elizabeth by Elinor Glyn
• 1901 #7 The Puppet Crown by Harold MacGrath
• 1901 #8 The Life and Death of Richard Yea-and-Nay by Maurice Hewlett
• 1901 #9 Graustark by George Barr McCutcheon
• 1901 #10 D’Ri and I by Irving Bacheller

1902 Bestselling Novels

• 1902 #1 The Virginian by Owen Wister [see also 1903]
• 1902 #2 Mrs. Wiggs of Cabbage Patch by Alice Hegan Rice [Also 1903 #6]
• 1902 #3 Dorothy Vernon of Haddon Hall by Charles Major
• 1902 #4 The Mississippi Bubble by Emerson Hough
• 1902 #5 Audrey by Mary Johnson
• 1902 #6  The Right of Way by Gilbert Parker
• 1902 #7  The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle
• 1902 #8  The Two Vanrevels by Booth Tarkington
• 1902 #9  The Blue Flower by Henry van Dyke
• 1902 #10   Sir Richard Calmady by Lucas Malet

1903 Bestselling Novels

• 1903 #1 Lady Rose’s Daughter by Mary Augusta Ward
• 1903 #2 Gordon Keith by Thomas Nelson Page
• 1903 #3 The Pit by Frank Norris
• 1903 #4 Lovey Mary by Alice Hegan Rice
• 1903 #5 The Virginian by Owen Wister [Also 1902 #1]
• 1903 #6 Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch by Alice Hegan Rice [Also 1902 #2]
  
• 1903 #7 The Mettle of the Pasture by James Lane Allen
• 1903 #8 Letters of a Self-Made Merchant to His Son by George Horace Lorimer
• 1903 #9 The One Woman by Thomas Dixon Jr.
• 1903 #10 The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come by John Fox Jr. [See also 1904]

1904 Bestselling Novels

• 1904 #1 The Crossing by Winston Churchill
• 1904 #2 The Deliverance by Ellen Glasgow
• 1904 #3 The Masquerader by Katherine Cecil Thurston [Also 1905 #7]
• 1904 #4 In the Bishop’s Carriage by Miriam Michelson
• 1904 #5 Sir Mortimer by Mary Johnson
• 1904 #6 Beverly of Grustark by George Barr McCutcheon
• 1904 #7 The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come by John Fox Jr.  [Also 1903 #10]
• 1904 #8 Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm by Kate Douglas Wiggin
• 1904 #9 My Friend Prospero by Henry Harland
• 1904 #10 The Silent Places by Stewart Edward White

1905 Bestselling Novels

• 1905 #1 The Marriage of William Ashe by Mary Augusta Ward
• 1905 #2 Sandy by Alice Hegan Rice
• 1905 #3 The Garden of Allah by Robert Hichens
• 1905 #4 The Clansman by Thomas Dixon Jr.
• 1905 #5 Nedra by George Barr McCutcheon
• 1905 #6 The Gambler by Katherine Cecil Thurston
• 1905 #7 The Masquerader by Katherine Cecil Thurston [Also 1904 #5]
• 1905 #8 The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton [Also 1906 #9]
• 1905 #9 The Princess Passes by C. N. Williamson and A. M. Williamson
• 1905 #10 Rose o’ the River by Kate Douglas Wiggin

1906 Bestselling Novels

• 1906 #1 Coniston by Winston Churchill
• 1906 #2 Lady Baltimore by Owen Wister
• 1906 #3 The Fighting Chance by Robert W. Chambers
• 1906 #4 The House of a Thousand Candles by Meredith Nicholson
• 1906 #5 Jane Cable by George Barr McCutcheon
• 1906 #6 The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
• 1906 #7 The Awakening of Helena Ritchie by Margaret Deland
• 1906 #8 The Spoilers by Rex Beach
• 1906 #9 The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton [Also 1905 #8]
• 1906 #10 The Wheel of Life by Ellen Glasgow

1907 Bestselling Novels

• 1907 #1 The Lady of the Decoration by Frances Little
• 1907 #2 The Weavers by Gilbert Parker [Also 1908 #10]
• 1907 #3 The Port of Missing Men by Meredith Nicholson.
• 1907 #4 The Shuttle by Frances Hodgson Burnett [Also 1908 #5]
• 1907 #5 The Brass Bowl by Louis J. Vance
• 1907 #6 Satan Sanderson by Hallie Erminie Rives
• 1907 #7 The Daughter of Anderson Crow by George Barr McCutcheon
• 1907 #8 The Younger Set by Robert W. Chambers
• 1907 #9 The Doctor by Ralph Connor
• 1907 #10 Half a Rogue by Harold MacGrath

1908 Bestselling Novels

• 1908 #1 Mr. Crewe’s Career by Winston Churchill
• 1908 #2 The Barrier by Rex Beach
• 1908 #3 The Trail of the Lonesome Pine by John Fox Jr.
• 1908 #4 The Lure of the Mask by Harold MacGrath
• 1908 #5 The Shuttle by Frances Hodgson Burnett [Also 1907 #4]
• 1908 #6 Peter by F. Hopkinson Smith
• 1908 #7 Lewis Rand by Louis J. Vance
• 1908 #8 The Black Bag  by Harold MacGrath
• 1908 #9 The Man from Brodney’s by George Barr McCutcheon
• 1908 #10 The Weavers by Gilbert Parker [Also 1907 #2]

1909 Bestselling Novels

• 1909 #1 The Inner Shrine by Basil King
• 1909 #2 Katrine by Elinor Macartney Lane
• 1909 #3 The Silver Horde by Rex Beach
• 1909 #4 The Man in Lower Ten by Mary Roberts Rinehart
• 1909 #5 The Trail of the Lonesome Pine by John Fox Jr.
• 1909 #6 Truxton King by George Barr McCutcheon
• 1909 #7 54-40 or Fight by Emerson Hough
• 1909 #8 The Goose Girl by Harold MacGrath
• 1909 #9 Peter by F. Hopkinson Smith
• 1909 #10 Septimus by William J. Locke

Great War Era bestselling novels 1910-1919

1910 Bestselling Novels

• 1910 #1 The Rosary  by Florence Barclay [Also 1911 #9]
• 1910 #2 A Modern Chronicle by Winston Churchill
• 1910 #3 The Wild Olive by Anonymous (Basil King)
• 1910 #4 Max by Katherine Cecil Thurston
• 1910 #5 The Kingdom of Slender Swords by Hallie Erminie Rives
• 1910 #6 Simon the Jester by William J. Locke
• 1910 #7 Lord Loveland Discovers America by C.N. Williamson & A.M Williamson
• 1910 #8 The Window at the White Cat by Mary Roberts Rinehart
• 1910 #9 Mary Make-Believe by Eleanor Hallowell Abbott [Also 1911 #8]
• 1910 #10 When a Man Marries by Mary Roberts Rinehart

1911 Bestselling Novels

• 1911 #1The Broad Highway by Jeffrey Farnol
• 1911 #2 The Prodigal Judge Vaughan Kester
• 1911 #3 The Winning of Barbara Worth by Harold Bell Wright [Also 1912 #6]
• 1911 #4 Queed by Henry Syndor Harrison
• 1911 #5 The Harvester by Gene Stratton-Porter
• 1911 #6 The Iron Woman by Margaret Deland
• 1911 #7 The Long Roll by Mary Johnson
• 1911 #8 Mary Make-Believe by Eleanor Hallowell Abbott [Also 1910 #9]
• 1911 #9 The Rosary by Florence Barclay [Also 1910 #1]
• 1911 #10 The Common Law by Robert W. Chambers

1912 Bestselling Novels

• 1912 #1 The Harvester by Gene Stratton-Porter
• 1912 #2 The Street Called Straight by Basil King
• 1912 #3 Their Yesterdays by Harold Bell Wright
• 1912 #4 The Melting of Molly by Maria Thompson Davies
• 1912 #5 A Hoosier Chronicle by Meredith Nicholson
• 1912 #6 The Winning of Barbara Worth by Harold Bell Wright [Also 1911 #3]
• 1912 #7 The Just and the Unjust by Vaughan Kester
• 1912 #8 The Net by Rex Beach
• 1912 #9 Tante by Anne Douglas Sedgwick
• 1912 #10 Fran by J. Breckenridge Ellis

1913 Bestselling Novels

• 1913 #1 The Inside of the Cup by Winston Churchill [Also 1914 #3]
• 1913 #2 V.V.’s Eyes by Henry Syndor Harrison
• 1913 #3 Laddie by Gene Stratton-Porter
• 1913 #4 The Judgment House by Sir Gilbert Parker
• 1913 #5 Heart of the Hills by John Fox Jr.
• 1913 #6 The Amateur Gentleman by Jeffrey Farnol
• 1913 #7 The Woman Thou Gavest Me by Hall Craine
• 1913 #8 Pollyanna by Eleanor H. Porter [Also 1914 #2]
• 1913 #9 The Valiants of Virginia by Amelie Rives
• 1913 #10 T. Tembarom by Frances Hodgson Burnett [Also 1914 #6]

1914 Bestselling Novels

• 1914 #1 The Eyes of the World by Harold Bell Wright
• 1914 #2 Pollyanna by Eleanor H. Porter [Also 1913 #8]
• 1914 #3 The Inside of the Cup by Winston Churchill
• 1914 #4 The Salamander by Owen Johnson
• 1914 #5 The Fortunate Youth by William J. Locke
• 1914 #6 T. Tembarom by Frances Hodgson Burnett [Also 1913 #10]
• 1914 #7 Penrod by Booth Tarkington
• 1914 #8 Diane of the Green Van  by Leona Dalrymple
• 1914 #9 The Devil’s Garden by W. B. Maxwell
• 1914 #10 The Prince of Graustark by George B. McCutcheon

1915 Bestselling Novels

• 1915 #1 The Turmoil by Booth Tarkington
• 1915 #2 A Far Country by Winston Churchill
• 1915 #3 Michael O’Halloran by Gene Stratton-Porter
• 1915 #4 Pollyanna Grows Up by Eleanor H. Porter
• 1915 #5 K by Mary Roberts Rinehart
• 1914 #6 Jaffrey by William J. Locke
• 1915 #7 Felix O’Day by George Barr McCutcheon
• 1915 #8 The Harbor by Ernest Poole
• 1915 #9 The Lone Star Ranger by Zane Grey
• 1915 #10 Angela’s Business by Henry Syndor Harrison

1916 Bestselling Novels

• 1916 #1 Seventeen by Booth Tarkington
• 1916 #2 When A Man’s a Man by Harold Bell Wright
• 1916 #3 Just David by Eleanor H. Porter
• 1916 #4 Mr. Britling Sees It Through by H. G. Wells [Also 1917 #1]
• 1916 #5 Life and Gabriella by Ellen Glasgow
• 1916 #6 The Real Adventure by Henry Kitchell Webster
• 1916 #7 Bars of Iron by Ethel J. Dell
• 1916 #8 Nan of Music Mountain by Frank H. Spearman
• 1916 #9 Dear Enemy by Jean Webster
• 1916 #10 The Heart of Rachael  by Kathleen Norris

1917 Bestselling Novels

• 1917 #1 Mr. Britling Sees It Through by H. G. Wells [Also 1916 #4]
• 1917 #2 The Light in the Clearing by Irving Bacheller
• 1917 #3 The Red Planet by William J. Locke
• 1917 #4 The Road to Understanding by Eleanor Porter
• 1917 #5 Wildfire by Zane Grey
• 1917 #6 Christine by Alice Cholmondeley
• 1917 #7 In the Wilderness by Robert S. Hichens
• 1917 #8 His Family by Ernest Poole
• 1917 #9 The Definite Object by Jeffrey Farnol
• 1917 #10 The Hundredth Chance by Ethel M. Dell

1918 Bestselling Novels

• 1918 #1 The U.P. Trail by Zane Grey
• 1918 #2 The Tree of Heaven by May Sinclair
• 1918 #3 The Amazing Interlude by Mary Roberts Rinehart
• 1918 #4 Dere Mable by Edward Streeter
• 1918 #5 Oh, Money! Money! by Eleanor H. Porter
• 1918 #6 Greatheart by Ethel M. Dell
• 1918 #7 The Major by Ralph Connor
• 1918 #8 The Pawns Count by E. Phillips Oppenheim
• 1918 #9 A Daughter of the Land by Gene Stratton-Porter
• 1918 #10 Sonia: Between Two Worlds by Stephen McKennal

1919 Bestselling Novels

• 1919 #1 The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse by V. Blasco Ibanez
• 1919 #2 The Arrow of Gold by Joseph Conrad
• 1919 #3 The Desert of Wheat by Zane Grey
• 1919 #4 Dangerous Days by Mary Roberts Rinehart
• 1919 #5 The Sky Pilot in No Man’s Land by Ralph Connor
• 1919 #6 The Re-Creation of Brian Kent by Howard Bell Wright [Also 1920 #3]
• 1919 #7 Dawn by Gene Stratton-Porter
• 1919 #8 The Tin Soldier by Temple Bailey
• 1919 #9 Christopher and Columbus by “Elizabeth”
• 1919 #10 In Secret Robert W. Chambers

Roaring Twenties bestselling novels, 1920-1929

1920 Bestselling Novels

• 1920 #1 The Man of the Forest by Zane Grey
• 1920 #2 Kindred of the Dust by Peter B. Kyne
• 1920 #3 The Re-Creation of Brian Kent by Harold Bell Wright [Also 1919 #6]
• 1920 #4 The River’s End by James Oliver Curwood
• 1920 #5 A Man for the Ages by Irving Bacheller
• 1920 #6 Mary-Marie by Eleanor H. Porter
• 1920 #7 The Portygee by Joseph C. Lincoln
• 1920 #8 The Great Impersonation by E. Phillips Oppenheim
• 1920 #9 The Lamp in the Desert by Ethel M. Dell
• 1920 #10 Harriet and the Piper by Kathleen Norris

1921 Bestselling Novels

• 1921 #1 Main Street by Sinclair Lewis
• 1921 #2 The Brimming Cup by Dorothy Canfield
• 1921 #3 The Mysterious Rider by Zane Grey
• 1921 #4 The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
• 1921 #5 The Valley of Silent Men by James Oliver Curwood
• 1921 #6 The Sheik by Edith M. Hull
• 1921 #7 A Poor Wise Man by Mary Roberts Rinehart
• 1921 #8 Her Father’s Daughter by Gene Stratton-Porter
• 1921 #9 The Sisters-in-law by Gertrude Atherton
• 1921 #10 The Kingdom Round the Corner by Coningsby Dawson

1922 Bestselling Novels

• 1922 #1 If Winter Comes by A.S. M. Hutchinson
• 1922 #2 The Sheik by Edith M. Hull
• 1922 #3 Gentle Julia by Booth Tarkington
• 1922 #4 The Head of the House of Coombe by Frances Hodgson Burnett
• 1922 #5 Simon Called Peter by Robert Keable
• 1922 #6 The Breaking Point by Mary Roberts Rinehart [Also 1923 #10]
• 1922 #7 This Freedom by A.S. M. Hutchinson [Also 1923 #6]
• 1922 #8 Maria Chapdelain by Louis Hemon
• 1922 #9 To the Last Man by Zane Grey
• 1922 #10 Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis (tie) [Also 1923 #4]
• 1922 #10 Helen of the Old House by Harold Bell Wright (tie)

1923 Bestselling Novels

• 1923 #1 Black Oxen by Gertrude Atherton
• 1923 #2 His Children’s Children by Arthur Train
• 1923 #3 The Enchanted April by Elizabeth*
• 1923 #4 Babbit by Sinclair Lewis [see also 1922 #4]
• 1923 #5 The Dim Lantern by Temple Bailey
• 1923 #6 This Freedom by A.S. M. Hutchinson [Also 1922 #7]
• 1923 #7 The Mine with the Iron Door by Harold Bell Wright
• 1923 #8 The Wanderer of the Wasteland by Zane Grey
• 1923 #9 The Sea-Hawk by Rafael Sabatini
• 1923 #10 The Breaking Point by Mary Roberts Rinehart [Also 1922 #6]

1924 Bestselling Novels

• 1924 #1  So Big by Edna Ferber
• 1924 #2 The Plastic Age by Percy Marks
• 1924 #3  The Little French Girl by Anne Douglas Sedgwick [Also 1925 #6]
• 1924 #4  The Heirs Apparent by Phillip Gibbs
• 1924 #5  A Gentleman of Courage by James Oliver Curwood
• 1924 #6  The Call of the Canyon by Zane Grey
• 1924 #7  The Midlander by Booth Tarkington
• 1924 #8 The Coast of Folly by Coningsby Dawson
• 1924 #9  Mistress Wilding by Rafael Sabatini
• 1924 #10 The Home-Maker by Dorothy Canfield Fisher [Also 1925 #10]

1925 Bestselling Novels

• 1925 #1  Soundings by A. Hamilton Gibbs
• 1925 #2  The Constant Nymph by Margaret Kennedy
• 1925 #3  The Keeper of the Bees by Gene Stratton-Porter
• 1925 #4  Glorious Apollo by E. Barrington
• 1925 #5  The Green Hat by Michael Arlen
• 1925 #6   The Little French Girl by Anne Douglas Sedgwick [Also 1924 #3]
• 1925 #7   Arrowsmith by Sinclair Lewis
• 1925 #8  The Perennial Bachelor by Anne Parrish
• 1925 #9  The Carolinian by Rafael Sabatini
• 1925 #10 The Home-Maker by Dorothy Canfield Fisher [Also 1924 #10]

1926 Bestselling Novels

• 1926 #1 The Private Life of Helen of Troy by John Erskine
• 1926 #2 Gentlemen Prefer Blondes by Anita Loos
• 1926 #3 Sorrell and Son by Warwick Deeping [Also 1927 #4]
• 1926 #4 The Hounds of Spring by Sylvia Thompson
• 1926 #5 Beau Sabreur by P.C. Wren
• 1926 #6 The Silver Spoon by John Galsworthy
• 1926 #7 Beau Geste by P.C. Wren
• 1926 #8 Show Boat by Edna Ferber
• 1926 #9 After Noon by Susan Ertz
• 1926 #10 The Blue Window by Temple Bailey

1927 Bestselling Novels

• 1927 #1 Elmer Gantry by Sinclair Lewis
• 1927 #2 The Plutocrat by Booth Tarkington
• 1927 #3 Doomsday by Warwick Deeping
• 1927 #4 Sorrell and Son by Warwick Deeping [Also 1926 #3]
• 1927 #5 Jalna by Mazo de la Roche [Also 1928 #9]
• 1927 #6 Lost Ecstasy by Mary Roberts Rinehart
• 1927 #7 Twilight Sleep by Edith Wharton
• 1927 #8 To-Morrow Morning by Anne Parrish
• 1927 #9 The Old Countess  by Anne Douglas Sedgwick
• 1927 #10 A Good Woman by Louis Bromfield

1928 Bestselling Novels

• 1928 #1 The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder
• 1928 #2 Wintersmoon by Hugh Walpole
• 1928 #3 Swan Song by John Galsworthy
• 1928 #4 The Greene Murder Case by S. S. Van Dine
• 1928 #5 Bad Girl by Vina Delmar
• 1928 #6 Claire Ambler by Booth Tarkington
• 1928 #7 Old Pybus by Warwick Deeping
• 1928 #8 All Kneeling by Anne Parrish
• 1928 #9 Jalna by Mazo de la Roche [Also 1928 #5]
• 1928 #10 The Strange Case of Miss Annie Sprague by Louis Bromfield

1929 Bestselling Novels

• 1929 #1 All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
• 1929 #2 Dodsworth by Sinclair Lewis
• 1929 #3 Dark Hester by Anne Douglas Sedgwick
• 1929 #4 The Bishop Murder Case by S. S. Van Dine
• 1929 #5 Roper’s Row by Warwick Deeping
• 1929 #6 Peder Victorious by O. E. Rolvaag
• 1929 #7 Mamba’s Daughters by DuBose Heyward
• 1929 #8 The Galaxy by Susan Ertz
• 1929 #9 Scarlet Sister Mary by Julie Peterkin
• 1929 #10 Joseph and His Brethren by H. W. Freeman

See the Bestselling Novels of 1930 through 1969 here