Lewis books raise £34,000

9:29am Saturday 19th July 2008

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The former secretary of CS Lewis said he was delighted to raise £34,000 by donating 11 of the author's books to an Oxford church.

Walter Hooper, 77, from North Oxford, gave the books to the Oxford Oratory Church of St Aloysius in Woodstock Road for its £3m renovation appeal.

The Narnia books were given to Mr Hooper by the author and three of them were signed.

The signed first editions were expected to raise about £3,000 each at a Sotheby's auction in London on Thursday but they far exceeded the original estimate and sold for a record amount.

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader raised £10,625; The Horse and his Boy £10,000; and The Last Battle raised £9,375. Eight other books raised a further £4,000 in total.

When the Oxford Mail revealed the sale price, Mr Hooper said: "That's very impressive - I didn't expect the books to raise quite so much."

The renovation work will include the construction of a new chapel and student accommodation.