The 1896 tome is a biography of Barrie’s mother Margaret Ogilvy, and paints a portrait of her and the tragic early death of the writer’s brother.
Rory Fairweather manages the Oxfam shop in Queensberry Street, and he said: “One of our volunteers found this rather plain looking book when sorting through donations.
“We are given lots of hidden gems like this.”
But realising the book might benefit an ongoing project built on Barrie’s connection to the town, he added: “Dumfries has a rich cultural history, and with restoration work progressing quickly at the Peter Pan Moat Brae Trust I thought they’d be interested in this rare book.
“I’m delighted to donate it to the Trust on behalf of Oxfam Dumfries so that it stays in our community for all to enjoy.”
The Peter Pan Moat Brae Trust are behind work to convert the Georgian House in George Street into a National Centre for Children’s Literature and Storytelling opening next year.
Barrie dreamt up characters for Peter Pan while playing in the gardens as a pupil at Dumfries Academy.
The book is now set to become part of a collection of Barrie’s works that may be used to bring the Peter Pan stories to life for both children and adults.
Peter Pan Moat Brae Trust marketing manager Catherine Colwell said: “We were delighted when Oxfam Dumfries contacted us to offer this special first edition as part of our collection of JM Barrie’s works.
“The restoration of Moat Brae is reaching a really exciting phase and it’s so important to have this kind of community spirit and support behind what we are doing.”
Catherine added: “We will treasure this special book and look forward to sharing it with our many visitors over the years to come.”
