Scottish bookstore finds century old Jane Austen book in storage

A 110-year-old Jane Austen novel has been discovered in a bookshop in Inverness, Scotland.

Bookshop owner Charles Leakey kept busy during the COVID-19 lockdown by searching through and sorting the shop’s extensive book collection of approximately 30,000 volumes that were kept in storage. Most of the books in storage had been there for years, many untouched.

One particular collection caught the Leakey’s eye- a 12-volume set of 1911 Jane Austen books published by Edinburgh-based John Grant.

Mr Leakey remarked: “It was just in a big pile of stuff I was going through. When I saw it, I remembered it, but I hadn’t thought about it for quite a long time. I thought now’s the time to take it out.

“Obviously, with all the shops being shut, sales on the internet have been very active in the last year, so that’s been keeping the business going.”

He continued: “Jane Austen is one of the greatest writer the United Kingdom has produced, maybe the world has produced. She’s right at the top, it doesn’t really get better than Jane Austen. That fact is attested to by the demand for her work, whether it’s paperbacks – obviously, first editions one never sees, I’d love to have a chance to see and handle a first edition of one of Jane Austen’s novels, but I never have.

“Over the years, there’s been a number of collector’s editions, and this is quite a handsome one, produced by John Grant in Edinburgh at the turn of the last century. I wouldn’t call it rare, but it’s very sought after.”

The books were priced at £400 on the website and, unsurprisingly, it wasn’t long before a buyer was found.
Mr Leakey’s personal collection includes an Italian book on theology which dates to 1492 – “Henry VIII was one year old when that was published,” he added, proudly.

The Jane Austen set is not the only treasure to be discovered in storage, Leakey said: “Just yesterday we discovered a letter written by and signed by Bonnie Prince Charlie, Charles Edward Stuart. That’s unusual.

“He wrote in French, so I haven’t had a chance to read it yet, but we’ll get it translated.”

We wonder how many more amazing finds the owner will find as he searches through his treasure trove of books!