A charity shop in Shrewsbury has raised a staggering £11,520 for Oxfam thanks to a rare first edition of a Sherlock Holmes novel which was discovered among the donations. The 1890 first edition of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Sign of Four, part of the Sherlock Holmes series, was among a routine donation from a regular supporter of the Oxfam shop in Shrewsbury. Upon discovering the book, the shop’s team soon realised that the book could be more valuable, and sent for a specialist to appraise the item.
The book, which has its original red binding complete with gilt lettering, also features a bookplate showing that it once belonged to James Burgess Boote of Gwernaffel, Knighton, who was High Sheriff for Radnorshire in 1913. Following its assessment, the first edition was consigned to Bonhams auctioneers where it sold for £11,520. The proceeds of which went to the charity Oxfam.
Bonhams
Tom Cotton, manager of the Oxfam shop, said: “The book was donated by a very generous, regular donor who had always been delighted to see his books valued highly.
“Initially, I could tell the book was special – it was an early Sherlock Holmes story. However, when it comes to appraising antiquarian books, I do not have the power of deduction like Sherlock Holmes – I’m more of a Mrs Hudson!
“Determining the value was a real group effort. I had my own Baker Street Irregulars: my volunteers, the Oxfam book development team, my area manager and even a close friend of my area manager. To prevent the book falling into the Reichenbach Falls of an Oxfam backroom, I used their skills to uncover a rare find!
“We’re absolutely thrilled that a generous donation from someone in our community has turned into £11,000 to support Oxfam’s work.”
Oxfam is a British-founded confederation of independent non-governmental organisations, focusing on the alleviation of global poverty. They have charity shops across the UK, as well as a second-hand bookshop online.
