Narnia First Edition Sells for £1,000 at Cornwall Charity Shop A volunteer at a charity bookshop in Cornwall has found a rare first edition of CS Lewis’s 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe', and it has sold for £1,000. Jane Rickard spotted the 1950 copy at the Oxfam bookshop in Truro while sorting through newly donated books. She said she came across it “completely by chance”. The shop listed the book on the charity’s online store, where a buyer snapped it up within a short time. “It looked like an old copy of it, I looked inside to see if it was a reprint, and it wasn’t, and I got quite excited,” she said. “So I checked online for what a first edition would look like and that’s when I thought, ‘It’s a first edition!’” She admitted that “my jaw dropped” when she realised what the book might be worth. “For us, it’s very unusual,” she said. “We do get some excellent donations, and it’s not that rare to have a £30 book, a £50 book, but £1,000 has never happened.” She put the find down to luck. “I can only think it was the magic of Narnia because there was no reason for me to even be looking at that section - I’m normally behind the counter or in the shop. It just looked like a small hardback book.” Volunteer Jane Rickard’s “Jaw Dropped” When a Donated Book Proved to Be a 1950 First Edition Barnaby Attwell, manager of Oxfam Books Truro, said he was amazed “when Jane plucked the book out amongst many other similar-looking books”. Volunteers then confirmed the find between them. “Another volunteer looked it up and saw that, even without a dust jacket, a first edition is worth over a thousand pounds,” he said. “A couple of other volunteers checked it too, and we all agreed. Another volunteer wrote a description of it, and I photographed it and put it online for £1,000. So it was a real collaborative effort.” Attwell said “we were all over the moon” when the book sold. “I haven’t stopped thanking Jane, and gave her a bunch of flowers at our shop general meeting recently,” he added. “It’s great to know that money will be going to help people in need.” 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe' is the best-known of the seven Chronicles of Narnia novels, which Lewis published between 1950 and 1956. The series has been adapted many times for screen and stage. The latest version is a Netflix production directed by Greta Gerwig. Seasoned Editor and Author with over a decade of experience in literary journalism, author interviews, and publishing trends. Known for curating impac... View More