Biggest New Zealand book?

Today’s blog story on “The largest book in the world” prompts Auckland author Gordon Dryden to wonder if a presentation copy of his Chinese-language book, The Learning Revolution, is one of the largest printed versions of a New Zealand book.

After an earlier Chinese edition had sold 260,000 copies,* a slightly-amended new one sold 10 million in seven months from late 1998. At celebrations to mark the launch of the second 5-million-copy print-run, the then distributors, Clever Software, produced this giant souvenir edition: all 520 pages blown up from the pocketbook-sized original.

Dryden’s giant copy was presented to him at the celebratory press-conference dinner. “It weighed so much, it cost me US$400 in excess airfreight from Beijing to Auckland. Unfortunately my bathroom scales don’t go high enough to weigh it.”

The mainland and souvenir editions were printed in “simplified Chinese characters”. A much smaller edition in “traditional Chinese characters” was distributed in Hongkong and Taiwan.

* Each book print-run in China has to carry both the current print-run and the total copies printed to date. The title-page details of the first print run confirmed 1-130,000 copies printed (80,000 copies were sold to China’s Bertlesmann Book Club) , and the second 131,000-260,000.
Footnote:
If anyone out there knows of a larger version of a NZ title than this one by Dryden please let The Bookman know.