Most books typed backwards

The most books typed backwards is 84, and was achieved by Michele Santelia (Italy), in Campobasso, Italy, on 8 February 2025.

Michele, who works as an accountant during the day, likes to pursue his hobby in the evenings. He started to type backwards when he found out he could do it easily in 1992 and never stopped since.

A great fan of Leonardo, Michele typed all the works using his famous backwards mirror writing and without looking at the screen. Other typed works include the Divine Comedy, Romeo and Juliet, Cyrano de Bergerac, Candide ou l’Optimisme, Tristana, the Georgics, The Bucolics, The Iliad and some of Leonardo's most famous books (Atlantic Code, Treatise on Painting, Leicester’s code, etc.).

The largest book Michele wrote backwards is the Egyptian Book of the Dead, one of the oldest documents of Mankind dating back 5500 years. This book weighs 78.8 kg and has 610 huge pages (104.5 by 66 cm).

Becoming a Guinness World Records title holder means a lot to him and writing backwards represents a challenge which he hopes other people will take on as a test of mental skill.