AN EXTREMELY rare book that dates back to 1627 was found by a Northwich resident among items that had lain in storage for more than 40 years.

The tiny book, which is less than two inches in height and width and less than an inch thick, is expected to fetch between £3,000 and £5,000 when it is auctioned on Thursday, March 5.

The resident, who wishes to remain anonymous, brought the book, 'The Booke of Martyrs' by John Taylor, to Adam Partridge Macclesfield's weekly valuation day, completely unaware of its value.

It was among other items which had belonged to the resident's mother and had been in storage since she died in 1971.

Valuer Fiona Young spotted the book while sorting through the items.

She said: "Despite the size of the book, it was clear that it had some age to it, and the distinctive dos-à-dos [meaning back-to-back] binding caused it to catch my eye.

"After doing research into the item, its rarity became apparent and we are looking forward to it going up for sale.”

The book is an abridgement in couplets of an original text by John Foxe published in 1563.

Northwich Guardian: Adam Partridge takes a closer look at the rare 17th century book.

Adam Partridge takes a closer look at the rare 17th century book

Called 'Actes and Monuments', but more commonly known as 'Foxe’s Book of Martyrs', it details Christian martyrs throughout history.

Martyrs mentioned include William Tyndale, the first person to translate the Bible into English, Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury from 1533 to 1555, and Thomas Cromwell, 1st Earl of Essex, played by Mark Rylance in the BBC’s recent adaptation of Hilary Mantel’s 'Wolf Hall'.

This particular miniature book was the third edition, and there is only one other copy of this edition known to be in existence.

It was one of the first printed examples of it being referred to as the 'Book of Martyrs', a title that John Foxe took umbrage with, adding this line when the second edition of the book was printed in 1570: “I wrote no such booke bearying the title Booke of Martyrs. I wrote a booke called the Acts and Monumentes”.

John Taylor, sometimes known as The Water Poet, a title he created himself, was a writer and boatman, earning a living ferrying people across the Thames in London.

The book will be sold at Adam Partridge’s Macclesfield branch and for more information visit adampartridge.co.uk or call 01625 431 788.

Northwich Guardian: Thomas Cromwell, played by Mark Rylance, and Anne Boleyn, played by Claire Foy, in BBC Two's Wolf Hall. Picture: Giles Keyte/Company Productions/BBC

Thomas Cromwell, portayed by actor Mark Rylance in the BBC adaptation of Wolf Hall (pictured above left), is mentioned in the book.