I once was lost but now am found.. at the bottom of a cupboard

In the 17th century it would have been kept on the pulpit in plain sight, a book to inspire the faithful and help to save their souls.

More than 300 years after it was first printed, however, a rare copy of the King James Bible is set to provide a blessing of a rather different kind.

The large leather-bound book is set to be sold by a local charity shop, after being found under a pile of other donations in a cupboard.

And if the value of similar bibles to have sold at auction is anything to go by, the group could find itself with more than a few pennies from heaven.

The bible was uncovered in the Bethany Christian Trust charity shop on Morningside Road five years ago by store manageress Helen Dickie.

Despite her fascination with the book, which she removed from under a pile of other old donations and kept carefully in a shoebox, nothing had ever been done until a new staff member suggested it might be more valuable than they realised.

"When I started working here I was going through the office cupboard, where there were a load of old donations and papers - the sort of thing most charities have, I would imagine," she said.

"This book was near the bottom, and it was almost hidden. It was fascinating, especially for Christians, and we put it aside as it was clear we needed to do something special with it.

"We never got around to it though, and then a few months ago a new member of staff joined who had worked with antiques before, and when he heard about he started looking into it.

"He found similar bibles in America had sold for $13,000, and that was quite a shock, so we contacted a local auctioneers and they said they would be very interested in looking at it and providing a valuation."

The book is in good condition, with the print and pages very well preserved, and although the bindings on the cover have fallen off it is certainly in good condition for its age.

The history of the book, which appears to have been printed in London in 1679, is unclear, though a stamp at the back says it was gifted to a Robert Ferrie in Dundee in 1777.

How it came to be left under a pile of other books in an Edinburgh charity shop, however, is a mystery which may never be answered.

"I do not have a clue how it came to be in the shop, or why for that matter it was put in the cupboard for so long," said Ms Dickie.

"It is interesting to think about who would have been reading from this 300 years ago, and where it has been over the years.

"The money raised by selling it will be able to help a lot of homeless people in the Capital, however, so we are getting it valued now."

James Dickson, one of Scotland's foremost experts on antique religious texts, said he couldn't provide a detailed valuation without seeing the book, but admitted it sounded like a rare find.

"Bibles from that period are not as rare as people might think, but if it is large enough to have had bindings then it was probably used in the pulpit and that would certainly make it quite rare," he said.

"Its value would depend a lot on its condition, as well as whether it had any notes or additions, which a few bibles at the time had."