RARE books found in dusty boxes by Oxfam volunteers in Oxford are expected to net the charity more than £2,000.

Six collectable titles, which were dropped off at three different shops in the city, will go up for sale at auction later this month.

The books are among 120 valuable publications donated to Oxfam from across the UK, which will go under the hammer at Bonhams near Kidlington on June 16, with a total guide price of about £44,000.

The titles include a second edition of Virginia Woolf’s 1919 book The Mark on the Wall, which was handed in at the Oxfam bookshop in St Giles, and is expected to fetch up to £600.

The same shop also received a first edition of JK Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets worth about £400. Nihal Alahendra, manager of Oxfam St Giles, said: “I’m delighted that our volunteers have found these valuable books, which will raise thousands of pounds for Oxfam.

“Their discoveries are indicative of the hard work that goes on day in, day out, all year round at our shops, to sort through donations and identify the most valuable items.

“There are 80 people who volunteer at this bookshop and many of them have years of experience.

“This is the second year we have worked with Bonhams, and it’s great to see these books being auctioned in Oxfordshire.”

Another first edition, Travels in the Central Caucaus and Bashan by Douglas Freshfield, was left at Oxfam in Banbury Road.

The charity’s branch in Headington also received a 16th century astronomy book entitled Astronomica Veterum Scripta Isagogica Graeca and Latina. The two titles are expected to raise up to £400 each.

Two other books handed in to the St Giles shop are being sold together.

The Causes of the Decay of Christian Piety by Richard Allestree, featuring engraved plates, and The Christian Hero by Richard Steele, are expected to raise a total of £400.

The Oxford-based charity is now Europe’s biggest retailer of second-hand books.

Its general charity shops and 130 specialist bookshops bring in £1.6m every month from the sale of publications.

The money is enough to buy 50,000 emergency shelters or 64,000 goats, or provide safe water for 2.1m people.