The remarkable thing about The Pilgrim's Progress, and indeed the rest of John Bunyan's work, was its immediate popularity. By the end of the 18th century it was more read in the homes of the working people in England than the Bible. It spread rapidly, not only in England but throughout the world. The Pilgrim's Progress was first translated into Dutch, where its Calvinist Puritanism struck many chords. Even by the time of Bunyan's death, ten years after the book's publication in 1678, there were already 10 English editions in addition to five in Dutch, one in French, and one in Welsh. There are in all some 800 editions of The Pilgrim's Progress, half of them in translations.

The Museum has a collection of The Pilgrim's Progress in over 200 different languages. There is also a Braille edition. The collection includes many English editions illustrated by well-known artists, including Holman Hunt, G., E., J. and T. Dalziel, Sir John Gilbert, F. Barnard, David Scott, W.B. Scott, William Strang and George Cruikshank. Two notable 19th-century copies are the edition of 1830, which contains a life of Bunyan by the poet Robert Southey, and the 'Elstow' edition of 1881, which is bound in oak boards taken from Elstow Abbey.

The earliest copy of Bunyan's work that the Museum possesses is a first edition of his third book, A Few Sighs from Hell, or The Groans of a Damned Soul, published in 1658. Bunyan had written books and short tracts before the publication of The Pilgrim's Progress; many of them are included in the Museum collection, with his autobiographical Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners among them. There are also copies of some 15 later Bunyan works in the Museum, including The Life and Death of Mr Badman, The Holy War, and the second part of The Pilgrim's Progress. In total, Bunyan wrote some 60 books and pamphlets.

The Museum possesses a copy of A Relation of My Imprisonment in the Month of November, 1660, which remained unpublished for over 100 years. The book contains a wealth of personal detail and adds much to his other autobiographical work. Hannah Bunyan, John's granddaughter, sold the manuscript to a London printer for a reputed £5. It was eventually published in 1765. Meanwhile, Hannah died in the St Paul's Parish Workhouse in Bedford.

There are publications by John Bunyan's contemporaries, including his opponents. One of these publications is Dirt wipt Of; a manifest discovery of the gross ignorance ... of one John Bunyan, lay preacher in Bedford, published in 1672. This and other works give an indication of the turbulence of the times and the vigour with which religious arguments were pursued.

The Museum also contains later work, including the original manuscript of John Bunyan: His Life, Times and Work, written by the Reverend Doctor John Brown and published during his ministry at Bunyan Meeting in 1885. The manuscript is dated by the author.