The book, which is translated by John Lassar and Joshua Marshman, was originally found in a pile of donations at Oxfam’s Chelmsford bookshop in Essex.
Spotted as being potentially valuable by two of the shop’s volunteers, the Bible was put up for Bonhams’ auction and valued at between £600-£800. After two weeks of bidding, it sold for £56,280.
Nick Reeves, Oxfam Chelmsford’s bookshop manager, said: “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.
“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.
“We were sat watching the bidding and just seeing it go up and up. 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 Oxfam. It’s just wonderful.”
The Bible was among 23 other books donated to various Oxfam shops which were at Bonhams’ auction this week and which have raised over £105,000 in total for Oxfam, which will go towards tackling poverty and inequality around the world.
Among the donations were a first edition of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, which sold for £16,640, a Charles Dickens’ autograph quoting from A Christmas Carol for £12,160, and a 17th Century manuscript prayer book, Prayers of the Lady Pakington, which sold for £10,880.
Ian Falkingham, Oxfam’s donated goods strategy lead, who specialises in books, said: “We are absolutely blown away by the sales at Bonhams’ auction today.
“We are so grateful for all our donations at Oxfam, and the many incredible, rare and unique books we are donated.
“The money raised from these books will go towards helping tackle poverty and inequality across the globe, at a time when it is needed most.
"It just goes to show that you never know what you might find in our wonderful shops. Thank you so much to Bonhams for their auction and to everyone who has ever donated to Oxfam.”
Dr Lorenza Gay, Bonhams associate specialist – books and manuscripts, added: “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.
“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.”
