"We knew we had something special on our hands" says Essex charity shop after £56,000 bible donation
The text was the first Bible translated into Chinese and donated to Oxfam bookshop in Chelmsford
A charity shop manager in Essex says he's "absolutely speechless" that a donated Bible sold for more than £56,000, seventy times its pre-sale estimate.
The rare book, which is dated 1815-1822 and translated by John Lassar and Joshua Marshman, was originally found in a pile of donations at Oxfam’s Chelmsford bookshop two years ago.
Nick Reeves, manager of Oxfam bookshop, Chelmsford, tells Greatest Hits Radio volunteers Chris Tyrrell and Eleanor Atack "knew they had something special on their hands".
The text never made it to the shop floor, instead they took it to professors at universities to get it valued, but Nick tells us "no-one could give us a value".
Having worked at the shop since November 2024, Mr Reeves tells us it was only when Oxfam announced a book auction with Bonham Auction House that they decided to put the Chinese text forward.
Bonham valued the Bible at £600-800, says Nick, who was "absolutely speechless" when it instead sold for £56,280.
"It was shocking, absolutely shocking, we just didn't expect it to go for that much.
"To see the bid over the course of a few days go higher and higher, was just unbelievable.
The amount raised for Oxfam is "phenomenal", and will help tackle poverty and inequality around the world, added Nick.
The Bible was among 23 other texts donated to various Oxfam shops, which went under the hammer at Bonhams between 10 and 20 March.
More than £105,000 was raised by the sale of books at the auction.
Some of the bestselling Oxfam books included:
A first edition of Charles Dickens’ famous novella A Christmas Carol for £16,640
A Charles Dickens’ autograph quoting from A Christmas Carol for £12,160
A 17th Century manuscript prayer book, Prayers of the Lady Pakington for £10,880
A first English translation of Karl Marx’ Manifesto of the Community Party for £7,040
Dr Lorenza Gay, Bonhams Associate Specialist, said: “The Lassar and Marshman Chinese translation of the Bible was an exceedingly rare item, which we could not trace at auction previously. We hoped it would exceed the estimate, but it definitely surprised us with the final price achieved."