A centuries-old book penned by a Norfolk writer and inventor of the protractor is expected to fetch up to £30,000 at auction - after being discovered buried in a Wiltshire thatched roof.
The work, by 16th century academic Thomas Blundeville, forms part of a collection of science texts from the period which were found being used to block a hole in the leaky roof.
Blundeville - who lived on a family estate in Newton Flotman - was one of the leading writers and mathematicians of the Tudor period and is credited with the invention of the humble classroom instrument, the protractor.
His book, 'A Briefe Description of Universal Mappes and Cardes, and of heir Use: and also of the use of Ptholemey his Table' was first published the year after the Spanish Armada.
It was discovered as part of a sammelband - a bound collection of printed texts.
In total, there are ten texts in the volume, which is predicted by auctioneers to fetch in the region of £20,000 and £30,000 when it goes under the hammer.
Chris Aldbury, of Dominic Winter Auctioneers, told the Daily Mail: "It is an incredible find in that it was discovered in the last few years under the thatch of an outbuilding under straw and bird poo and may have been there undisturbed for centuries.
"Each book is rare and some of them very, very rare.
"I had to collate it carefully to see what was missing before coming up with a valuation and I was staggered to find how complete it is and how careful the binder had been.
"I don't know if my estimate will turn out to be a massive underestimate but it is certainly very special."
Mr Blundeville was born around 1522 in Norfolk, lived in Newton Flotman and died in 1606, in Norwich.
As well as being credited with inventing the protractor, he also wrote about the art of horseriding, geography, travel, navigation and astronomy.
The book of his included in the collection was first printed in 1589, when Queen Elizabeth I was on the throne.
While the auctioneers predict the book will fetch in the region of £30,000, another of his works was sold in a 2007 auction in New York for a staggering £54,000.
The book will be auctioned by Dominic Winter Auctioneers on Wednesday, April 6.
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