Precious Lord of the Rings find for Huntingdon charity shop
Tolkien trilogy being auctioned on behalf of Oxfam, Huntingdon - Credit: Archant
The power of the One Ring has helped a Huntingdon charity to raise hundreds of pounds – with more money to follow.
An original copy of Tolkien’s Fellowship of the Ring, which was donated to Huntingdon’s High Street Oxfam shop, has been auctioned for £650.
The book, and a set of the Tolkien Lord of the Rings trilogy, thought to be worth about £1,200, were discovered by an Oxfam volunteer.
The trilogy, a set of first edition books which are in good condition, will be auctioned on October 23 and bidding is open to anyone.
Geoffrey Stalker, who has worked at the branch of Oxfam for 12 months, told The Hunts Post he knew immediately the books, although not rare, were of interest.
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“I knew we had an unusual find as one of the books in the trilogy is a first edition and also a first impression, which makes it valuable.
“I did some research and checked out websites selling rare books and quickly realised we had books that were selling for high prices online.
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“I rang Bloomsbury’s auction house at 5pm that day and they came out to collect the books for auction the following day.”
Oxfam said it was unable to trace the owner of the books because they were donated anonymously, but the money raised from the auction will be a significant amount for the store.
Bidding for the three Lord of the Rings books takes place on October 23 and all bidders need to register with the auction house beforehand and supply photographic ID.
INFORMATION: Visit www.bloomsburyauctions.com for more information about the books and for details on how to make a bid.
