London 21st May 2008

Rare Sherlock Holmes book Sparks Atlantic bidding war

Spotting valuable books to raise thousands of pounds for charity is becoming elementary work for volunteers who have turned detective to discover a rare printing of the first Sherlock Holmes story.

Discovered in an Oxfam shop, the rare copy of   Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's first Sherlock Holmes story, A Study In Scarlet, sold for more than £15,000 after a bidding war between buyers in the US and the UK.

The first edition book broke its upper reserve price of £9,000 to fetch £15,500 at the Bonhams Auction in Oxford.

The story was discovered inside a book called Beeton's Christmas Annual for 1887 by two volunteers at an Oxfam shop in Harrogate, North Yorkshire.

An Oxfam spokesman said: "There was a bidding war going on between bidders in the US and bidders in the UK for the Sherlock Holmes. It has smashed its reserves.

"This is the first appearance of Sherlock Holmes in any book anywhere. It is not only the first edition but the first printing."

The sale of 97 lots of rare books donated or discovered by Oxfam in its shops fetched more than £30,000 in total.