Two volunteers sorting through donations at an Oxfam charity shop in Essex were surprised to uncover a rare copy of the first Bible ever translated into Chinese — a discovery that later sold at auction for more than £56,000 ($72,514 USD).
An Oxfam press release confirmed the rare book, discovered at its bookshop in Chelmsford, was dated between 1815 and 1822. It had been translated by John Lassar and Joshua Marshman. Bonhams’ online catalogue confirmed the Bible had been “published serially in Serampore, starting in 1817.”
Bonhams auction house led the sale, originally valuing the book between £600 ($777) and £800 ($1,036). However, after two weeks of bidding, the Bible sold for an impressive £56,280 ($72,871).
“The Bible was originally found by some of our brilliant volunteers, Chris Tyrrell and Eleanor Atack, in a pile of donations, who suspected it could be worth something,” recalled Nick Reeves, Oxfam Chelmsford’s bookshop manager.
“When it was put up for auction, it was originally valued at a few hundred pounds, so we never imagined it might go for this much.”
Reeves said that seeing the offer bids rocket upwards from the original valuation was shocking.
“We were sat watching the bidding and just seeing it go up and up,” he recalled. “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 that much money for Oxfam. It’s just wonderful.”
The Bible was one of 23 donated books auctioned for Oxfam this past week, collectively raising £105,000 ($132,336 USD) for the U.K.-based aid charity.
Dr Lorenza Gay, Bonhams Associate Specialist - Books and Manuscripts, expressed her delight that the auction raised money to help those in poverty.
“For more than 20 years, Bonhams has proudly worked with Oxfam bookshops, and we are thrilled that we’ve been able to use our expertise and platform once again to deliver brilliant results for the charity,” Gay 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. This remarkable outcome is great news for the important work Oxfam does around the world.”
Other books sold during the same auction include a first edition of Charles Dickens’ famous novella A Christmas Carol for £16,640 ($21,545); a 17th-century manuscript prayer book, Prayers of the Lady Pakington, for £10,880 ($14,091); and a first edition of J.R.R. Tolkien’s three-volume The Lord of the Rings for £2,048 ($2,652).
“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,” said Matthew Haley, managing director of Bonhams Knightsbridge and head of Bonhams U.K. Books & Manuscripts.
“We are particularly thrilled that the selection of works offered by Oxfam performed so well, helping to raise indispensable funds for a worthy cause.”
Ian Falkingham, Oxfam's Donated Goods Strategy Lead, said the charity is “enormously grateful” for the “incredible array of books” donated and raising money through the auction.
“All of these books help make a big difference — just as those sold at Bonhams’ auction have today. 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.”
