RE: https://mastodon.social/@gutenberg_org/117512602693493082
True story: between school and university I worked in a second-hand bookshop on Broad Street in Oxford.
There was a guy who used to come in there who was late 20s and from a well-to-do family.
He used to boast that Oxfam thought he was volunteering out of the kindness of his heart, but he was actually spotting first editions, buying them for a few pounds and selling them for thousands.
A forgotten 1890 first edition of Sherlock Holmes novel The Sign of Four arrived among ordinary charity-shop donations in England; staff spotted its significance and it sold for £11,520
The Sign of the Four at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2097
@dajb thanks for sharing your story here, really appreciate it