1890 Sherlock Holmes first edition found in charity donations sold for £11,520

A scientific paper that went largely unnoticed during its author's lifetime has become one of the most valuable pieces of scientific history. Written by Gregor Mendel, an Augustinian monk whose experiments with pea plants helped establish the foundations of modern genetics, the rare 1866 publication sold for US$640,000, around Rs 6.10 crore, at a Christie’s auction in October 2026.The paper, titled “Versuche über Pflanzen-Hybriden”, or “Experiments on Plant Hybrids”, presented the results of years of carefully planned breeding experiments. Today, Mendel is widely recognised for explaining patterns of inheritance, but his findings were not fully appreciated when they first appeared.