An authentic first edition of George Orwell's novel 1984 has turned up in a pile of books donated to Lifeline on the NSW south coast.
Volunteer book sorter Paul Hol immediately recognised the 1950s style cover was potentially a first edition when he discovered it in a bin of 200 books last week.
"I found this (book) right at the bottom of this bin," he told AAP on Thursday.
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"It's in a remarkable good condition for a book that's 61 years old."
The 1949 first British edition with a red dustcover is estimated to be worth several thousand dollars.
Lifeline board member, journalist and first edition collector Bruce Elder said the book would be sold in a blind auction at Lifeline's fundraising book fair in Wollongong at the weekend.
He said he hopes to get $5,000 for the book.
"It's likely that this is the only copy that's for sale in Australia," he said on Thursday.
The George Orwell novel was one of 66,000 books donated and Lifeline said it could not identify where it had come from.
"People donate 10, 20, 50 books at a time... it could be from anywhere," said Mr Hol.
