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Chinese Bible found at Oxfam sells for £56,000
2025-03-24 13:06:03 / MISTERE&KURIOZITETE
The first Bible written in Chinese has sold for more than £56,000 after Oxfam staff found it among donations.
The rare text, which dates from around 1815, had been donated to an Oxfam bookshop in Chelmsford, Essex.
Volunteers Chris Tyrrell and Eleanor Atac saw the book, thought it might be valuable, and put it up for auction at Bonhams.
The Bible, which was translated by John Lassar and Joshua Marshman, was originally valued at between £600 and £800.
But after two weeks of online bidding, it sold for £56,280.
Staff said they were left "absolutely speechless" by the final price.
Nick Reeves, Oxfam Chelmsford bookshop manager, said: “The Bible was originally found in a pile of donations by some brilliant volunteers, who suspected it might be worth something.
"When it was put up for auction, it was initially valued at a few hundred pounds, so we never imagined it could go for that much."
"We were sitting there watching the bid and just watching 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 so much money for Oxfam. It's just wonderful."
The Bible was among 23 other books donated to various Oxfam shops, which went up for auction at Bonhams between March 10 and 20.
More than £105,000 was raised from book sales.
Some of the highest prices achieved included a first edition of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, which sold for £16,640; a first edition of Karl Marx's Communist Manifesto, which sold for £10,880 and a signed copy of Roald Dahl's Matilda, which went for £2,304.
Ian Falkingham, Oxfam's head of donated goods strategy, specialising in books, said: "We are absolutely amazed by the sales at Bonhams today.
“We are so grateful for all our donations to Oxfam and for the many extraordinary, rare and unique books that have been donated.
"The money raised from these books will go to help tackle poverty and inequality across the globe, at a time when it is needed most."
Dr Lorenza Gay, Associate Specialist - Books and Manuscripts at Bonhams, added: “For over twenty years, Bonhams has proudly worked with Oxfam Bookstores and we are delighted to have been able to use our expertise and platform once again to deliver excellent results for the charity.
“The Chinese translation of the Bible by Lassar and Marshman was an extremely rare item, which we could not find at auction before.
"We hoped it would exceed the estimate, but we were definitely surprised by the final price achieved. This incredible result is great news for the important work Oxfam does around the world."
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