Darwin first edition 'found in toilet'

A first edition of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species has been sold for over £100,000 after it was found in a family's toilet.

The auction of the influential 1859 work was timed to coincide with the 150th anniversary of its publication, AFP reports.

Margaret Ford, director and head of books and manuscripts at Christie's, said: "We are thrilled to have seen so much interest for the book leading up to the auction where clients competed in the room and by telephone, with an anonymous telephone bidder winning the battle and acquiring it for £103,250."

The book, one of 1,250 first-edition copies, was bought by the Oxford-based family for a few shillings around 40 years ago and kept in a bookcase in a guest toilet in their home.

According to the auction house, the previous owners' son-in-law realised the importance of the book when he spotted a picture of its spine at a Darwin exhibition.