Oxfam has raised more than £105,000 from a recent auction of donated books, including a rare Chinese bible.
The bible, donated to Oxfam’s Chelmsford bookshop in Essex, sold for over £56,000 at Bonhams’ auction last week.
It was among 23 other books donated to various Oxfam shops which were listed at the auction and raised over £105,000 in total for the charity.
A first edition of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol sold for £16,640 while an autograph by the author quoting the novella went for £12,160.
Other books sold at the auction included a 17th-century manuscript prayer book, which attracted £10,880, and the first English translation of Karl Marx’s Manifesto of the Community Party, which sold for £7,040.
Ian Falkingham, Oxfam’s donated goods strategy lead, said he was “absolutely blown away” by the sales.
“We are so grateful for all our donations at Oxfam, and the many incredible, rare and unique books we are donated,” he said.
Bookshop manager ‘speechless’ at bible sale
Translated by John Lassar and Joshua Marshman, the bible was the first to be produced in Chinese and published more than 200 years ago.
Initially valued at under £800, bidding continued for two weeks before eventually attracting the seven-figure sum.
Nick Reeves, Oxfam Chelmsford’s bookshop manager, said: “The bible was originally found by some of our brilliant volunteers, Chris Tyrrell and Eleanor Atac, in a pile of donations, who suspected it could be worth something.
“When it was put up for auction, it was originally valued at a few hundred pounds, so we never imagined it might go for this much.
“We were sat watching the bidding and just seeing it go up and up. When it finally ended, I was in complete shock. We were absolutely speechless.
“It’s amazing to think that a donation from our shop could help raise that much money for Oxfam. It’s just wonderful.”
