Rare Narnia first edition found in a Cornwall Oxfam shop, BBC reports

BBC News reported that a volunteer at the Oxfam bookshop in Truro spotted a 1950 first edition of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe while sorting new donations.

An old leather-bound book with worn gold-edged corners and a pink spine, on a plain white background

Collectables

The Vintiqi team · 4 November 2026

Rare Narnia first edition found in a Cornwall Oxfam shop

BBC News reported that a 1950 first edition of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by CS Lewis has sold for £1,000 after a volunteer spotted it at an Oxfam bookshop in Truro, Cornwall, in "Narnia book found in charity shop sells for £1k" (external source).

How it was spotted

The BBC said volunteer Jane Rickard was sorting through newly donated books when she came across the volume "completely by chance". She said "my jaw dropped" when she realised what it might be worth.

Ms Rickard told the BBC that the book "looked like an old copy of it". She said she checked inside to see whether it was a reprint, and that she then looked online for what a first edition looks like.

Checked, photographed and listed

According to the BBC, other volunteers checked the book too. Store manager Barnaby Attwell said one of them saw that "even without a dust jacket, a first edition is worth over a thousand pounds".

The BBC said Mr Attwell photographed the book and put it on Oxfam's online selling portal for £1,000, and that it was quickly snapped up. He told the BBC: "It’s great to know that money will be going to help people in need."

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