A Stirling charity shop is celebrating a wonder-ful record after a book donated by a mystery donor raised a whopping four-figure sum.
Oxfam’s Stirling Books and Music shop’s bumper book sale, saw the rare read raking in £3,000.
The book, a French first edition of Alice in Wonderland, was donated to the shop before Christmas.
The novel was inscribed by author Lewis Carroll to Beatrice Cecilia Harington, one of the children whom he had photographed along with Alice Liddell, the girl who inspired the iconic tale.
The book was bought by a specialist dealer from London who visited the shop last week.
It is the highest earning single item to ever be sold in store.
The donor wasn’t someone the shop team recognised, and they didn’t leave any personal details through Gift Aid or other means.
Neil Paterson, who manages Oxfam’s Books and Music shop in Stirling’s Murray Place, thanked the donor for their generosity and encouraged other savvy shoppers to pop in to discover what other hidden gems they could get their hands on.
Neil said: “We’re absolutely over the moon to have raised so much money through a single sale for Oxfam’s life-changing work around the world.
“It just goes to show that you never know what you might stumble upon inside our shop: we’ve got everything from bargains to bestsellers, to rare and antique collectables.”
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The astounding sale is not the first time donated books have netted the shop an eye-watering sum.
Last year a rare first edition of Charles Dickens’ classic tale ‘A Christmas Carol’, published in 1843, raised £3400 at auction.
It had been among a clutch of Victorian fiction handed in to the Stirling charity store in a carrier bag.
The first edition was in a rather worn condition and expected to reach between £600 to £800, but store staff were delighted when it fetched £3400.
Staff at Oxfam’s Stirling store this week were also encouraging people to donate their pre-loved books - including far more modestly valued tomes.
Neil added: “Oxfam is the biggest chain of second-hand bookshops in Europe, so by donating to us people are giving their books the best chance of finding a new home as well as helping Oxfam in its vital work to build a future free from poverty.”
