Rare first edition Alice in Wonderland book sold for £3,000 at Oxfam Stirling charity shop

A Stirling charity shop has had a record boost after a rare first edition copy of a book sold for a four-figure sum.

The book, a French first edition of Alice in Wonderland, was donated to Oxfam’s Stirling Books and Music shop before Christmas.

The novel, which sold for £3,000, was inscribed by author Lewis Carroll to Beatrice Cecilia Harington, one of the children whom he had photographed along with Alice Liddell who inspired the classic tale.

The book was bought by a specialist dealer from London who visited the shop during the first week of May and is the highest earning single item to ever be sold in store.

The book is the highest earning single item to ever be sold in store. Oxfam Scotland

Neil Paterson, who manages the shop, 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.

He 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.”

It is not the first time that the shop has sold a rare book for a four-figure sum.

Last year, Neil hailed the “donation of a lifetime” after someone handed in a first edition of A Christmas Carol, the classic story by Charles Dickens.

The novella, which was written and published in 1843, was handed into the shop in a carrier bag full of Victorian fiction.

As the book was not in pristine condition, it had been expected to sell for between £600 and £800, however it ended off selling for more than £3,000 at auction in Edinburgh.

Staff at Oxfam’s Stirling store are encouraging people to donate their pre-loved books.

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.”