The books had been stored in an Edinburgh warehouse

The book was one of a number of Jane Austen rarities discovered in a dusty collection by a book expert at Scottish auctioneers Lyon and Turnbull.

It was the second first edition of the work to be found by John Sibbald in the space of a year.

Published in 1813, it had been expected to fetch �12,000 at the auction on Tuesday.

The three-volume novel was sold to an anonymous British bidder who was not present at the sale.

Mr Sibbald found a first edition of Pride And Prejudice at a car boot sale in Ayrshire last year.

The 58-year-old made the second discovery after he was asked to sort through thousands of books inherited by a London-based owner.

Edinburgh warehouse

"Generally speaking, it is thought lightning doesn't strike twice but it seems to be striking fairly regularly now," he said.

"The owner hadn't looked at the books so we didn't know what to expect and when we laid them all out, one of the first things we found was another set of first edition Pride And Prejudices."

The book was found within 70 boxes of nondescript volumes taken from a warehouse in Edinburgh's Leith area.

The haul also included first edition copies of Austen's Northanger Abbey, second edition copies of the novel Sense And Sensibility and early books of poems by William Wordsworth.

Tuesday's sale also featured 13 Harry Potter books, including an uncorrected proof copy of JK Rowling's first book, Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone.