A guest on the Antiques Roadshow has been left stunned after it was revealed that a torn-up book she bought for £10 was worth an eye-watering amount. Appearing on the BBC show on Sunday, May 28, which was filmed at Powys Castle in Wales the guest impressed experts after appearing with the 19th-century book.
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." 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 antiques expert continued: "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.Stunned the guest said "gosh", before admitting that she had bought the book for less than £10.