A rare first edition copy of a book written by Charles Darwin has been given to the museum service – after volunteers found it had been donated to their second-hand bookshop.
Becci Sayer from Attingham Park gives the book to Peter Boyd, museum collections manager at Rowleys House Museum
The book is titled The Formation of Vegetable Mould through the Action of Worms, with Observations on their Habits.
The dusty volume, which was published in 1881, was discovered by workers at Attingham Park’s bookshop when they were sorting through books. It had been donated by an unknown member of public.
It was published by John Murray of London and is one of the first 3,000 printed.
The volunteers decided, in view of Darwin’s association with Shrewsbury, to donate the find to the Shrewsbury Museum Services and Mary White, museums manager and Peter Boyd, collections manager took delivery of the book yesterday.
Malcolm Soutar, volunteer bookshop organiser, said: “This is most interesting find amongst the hundreds of books that are donated each year. It has created a lot of interest among the staff and volunteers at Attingham.”
Mary said: “We are delighted to receive the book and it will hopefully be incorporated into the Darwin exhibition next year.”