Staff at an Oxfam bookshop in Chelmsford were left "absolutely speechless" after a donated Bible sold at auction for an astonishing £56,280—far exceeding its estimated value of just £800.
The Bible, believed to be the first ever written in Chinese and dating back to around 1815, was spotted among a pile of donations two years ago by volunteers Chris Tyrrell and Eleanor Atac. Recognizing its potential significance, they held it back from being placed on the shop floor.
“When they found it, they knew it was something special,” said shop manager Nick Reeves. “We were watching the auction live and the price just kept going up and up. When it finally ended, I was in complete shock.”
The sale was handled by Bonhams auction house as part of a lot of 24 rare books donated to Oxfam shops. In total, the auction raised over £105,000.
Among the other high-profile items sold were:
- A first edition of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, which sold for £16,640
- A Dickens autograph quoting the same book, going for £12,160
- A first edition of The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx, which fetched £10,880
- A signed copy of Matilda by Roald Dahl, sold for £2,304
Dr Lorenza Gay, a specialist at Bonhams, described the Chinese Bible as “exceptionally rare,” noting that while they expected it to perform well, the final sale price was a pleasant surprise.
Ian Falkingham from Oxfam added: “The funds raised from this auction will go towards our work tackling poverty and inequality around the world.”
The Bible, aged and bound in worn brown hardback, never even made it to the shop floor—but it will now go down as one of Oxfam Chelmsford’s most remarkable finds. Photo by Bodoklecksel, Wikimedia commons.