Antiques Roadshow guest floored as horrible torn £10 book is worth thousands

An Antiques Roadshow guest was left stunned after a torn-up book she bought for under £10 was valued at an eye-watering sum.

Tonight's edition of the popular BBC programme (May 28, 2023) was filmed at Powys Castle, Wales and saw guests bring in a variety of items including a Rolex watch, unique perfume bottle and rare Sindy doll.

Another item valued by the antiques experts was a handbook of British Flora, which dated back to the 19th century and included hand drawn illustrations by its previous owner.

READ MORE: Antiques Roadshow fans confused as guest brings Nike Air Jordan sneakers to expert

It was bought by its current owner for under £10 and although its exterior binding was in pieces, its valuation left both the guest and viewers at home stunned.

Speaking about the book's appearance, the antiques expert began with a joke as he said: "You've brought in the most horrible copy I've ever seen of a late 19th century Flora…handbook of British Flora and it's by George Bentham."

He then continued to praise the illustrations on the inside of the book, saying: "It's a perfectly ordinary Flora, one you'd carry around in your pocket, but the great thing about it is these incredible floral gems inside it. These are all hand-drawn, hand-painting pictures."

The current owner explained that she "had no idea about the illustrations inside it, so it was a great surprise when I opened it," and explained they had been drawn by the book's original owner Mabel Hannan.

Mabel had been gifted the book by her husband in 1897 and then travelled across the UK finding the plants and flowers detailed in the book.

When she found a particular variety of Flora, she would paint an image of it on the pages of the book, complete with the date.

The last illustration was dated 1938 – three years before her death – with the total number of illustrations reaching 412 overall.

The antiques expert then said: "I've never seen anything like it, or of such enormous quality," before advising the current owner to have the book restored as they were about to give the item a huge valuation.

He said: "I think it will be worth it, because I'm going to put a value on it.

"I think something like this of this quality, I'm going to put £1500 on it."

The guest was left stunned, saying "Gosh," before admitting that she had bought the book for less than £10.

Speaking about her decision to bring the book onto Antiques Roadshow, the owner said: "I just wanted to pay tribute to the lady who did all that work and so meticulously recorded it."

Antiques Roadshow viewers were left stunned by the book too, with one saying: "How beautiful are those floral illustrations?"

"I don't know if you're watching #AntiquesRoadshow but that illustrated botany book is simply gorgeous," agreed a second.

However a third joked: "I got detention for drawing in books," next to a shocked face.

After the current owner was advised to have the book restored, another viewer made a joke as they suggested that the guest should appear on another popular BBC series.

"Get that book on the repair shop, they'll do it for nowt #antiquesroadshow," they said.

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