Rare books discovered by Oxfam staff have raised about £42,000 for disaster victims around the globe, including those hit by the cyclone in Burma.

The haul included A Study in Scarlet, the first appearance in print of the famous detective Sherlock Holmes, which sold for £15,500 at auction in Oxford.

The story by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was printed in Beeton's 1887 Christmas Annual, and spotted by staff after it was handed in to a shop in Harrogate last year.

The book was expected to fetch between £7,000 and £9,000 but a flurry of bidding at Bonhams in Park End Street on Tuesday saw it go for £15,500.

The winning bidder said: "I'm elated and now I need to sort out the money - it's lucky I have an understanding wife!"

The total amount raised will help fund Oxfam's contribution to the international aid effort to help disaster victims.

The 45-year-old Holmes fanatic from the north of England, who asked not to be named, added: "I paid a little bit more than I wanted to pay but when I looked at the dealers in the room I didn't think I was going to get it.

"I'm very happy because I've been collecting Conan Doyle for about 30 years now. This was top of my wants list and it was for a good cause as well, so perhaps that stimulated the bidding. I keep rereading the books because they are such good yarns."

Oxfam spokesman Rob McNeil said: "This is fantastic news for Oxfam and a major contribution to our efforts to tackle poverty and injustice around the world."

A Study in Scarlet was one of 97 lots sold for Oxfam and Michael Taylor, manager of Valued at Oxfam, added: "I am absolutely delighted - A Study in Scarlet has flown because there was some telephone bidding and a lot of interest from America.

"This is not the first time we have sold a book for a five-figure sum and books are now our second biggest revenue generator.

"My heart was in my mouth during the bidding when the price went up and up.

"Staff in Harrogate did very well to spot this book and I'm sure some people don't realise the value of the books they are donating."

Simon Roberts, of Bonhams, said: "It was an eclectic range of books auctioned for Oxfam from modern first editions to the Conan Doyle story.

"It was a very inauspicious and unassuming start for Sherlock Holmes in this Christmas annual."

Other highlights of the Oxfam sale included an 1876 first edition of Lewis Carroll's Hunting of the Snark, which sold for £170, and a 1952 first edition of CS Lewis's The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, which sold for £1,300.