Chinese Bible Donated to Oxfam Secondhand Bookshop Sold for £56,000

A selection of works offered by Oxfam performed well at Bonhams' Fine Books and Manuscripts sale with the first complete Bible in Chinese translated by John Lassar and Joshua Marshman, published serially in Serampore, starting in 1817, going for £56,280 against an estimate of £600-£800.

The book was discovered by volunteers at the Oxfam bookshop in Chelmsford, England. Ian Falkingham, Oxfam’s Donated Goods Strategy Lead, said: “We are enormously grateful to be donated an incredible array of books across Oxfam’s shops every day, which often include some remarkably rare and unique finds. All of these books help make a big difference. The money raised will provide vital funds for Oxfam and our partners to tackle poverty and inequality across the globe, at a time when it is needed most.”

The top lot of the auction was a first edition of The First Comprehensive Flora Of The East Indies by Henrik Van Rheede. During his tenure as a Dutch East India Company administrator in Malabar from 1636 to 1691, Van Rheede oversaw an extensive botanical survey, focusing particularly on plants with economic and medicinal value. The work sold for £165,500.

Other highlights included:

• Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, first edition, Smith's first issue, second state, Chapman & Hall, 1843. Sold for £16,640
• a 17th century manuscript prayer book (A Collection of Prayers, Prayers of the Lady Pakington), R. Hodgkinson, 1641; and two others, manuscript poetry and prayers. Sold for £10,880
• first authorized English translation of Manifesto of the Communist Party by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, 1888. Sold for £7,040
• Oliver Byrne, The First Six Books of the Elements of Euclid, 1847. Sold for £5,376
• group of items relating to Churchill and Eisenhower's secret train, Alive, including a signed menu, letters and photographs. Sold for £19,200
• The Whole Works of Homer; Prince of Poetts, In His Iliads, and Odysses, translated by George Chapman, 5 vol.,1930-1931. Sold for £33,280
• Julia Margaret Cameron, illustrations to Tennyson's Idylls of the King, presentation copy inscribed by Cameron to Henry Irving, 1875. Sold for £30,720
• Francisco Manuel Blanco, Flora de Filipinas, deluxe edition limited to 500 copies, Manila, Establecimiento Tipografico de Plana y Ca, 1877-1880. Sold for £28,160
• five sketches of private theatricals performed by Charles Dickens and his friends at Tavistock House, by his neighbour Nathaniel Powell, [1857]; and associated material. Sold for £9,600

Matthew Haley, Managing Director of Bonhams Knightsbridge and Head of Bonhams UK Books & Manuscripts commented: “We are delighted with the results of the sale with many highly desirable and rare works soaring past pre-sale estimates to achieve terrific results. We are particularly thrilled that the selection of works offered by Oxfam performed so well, helping to raise indispensable funds for a worthy cause.”