eBay users of a literary bent may be considering hiring a courier service to deliver a unique item that has been put up for sale on the online auction site - four and a half toilet rolls containing the entirety of Herman Melville's magnum opus Moby Dick.

The rolls are up for sale on the site for the price of £640 after the seller typed up the manuscript to win a bet.

An American based in Florida, the user goes by the handle of The-Heppcat. He explained that he and his friend had been joking about toilet roll with words printed on it when the idea came to them.

"One day, the conversation grew from there and turned into a wager that I couldn't, or wouldn't, be able to type out a novel on toilet paper," explained the eBay user.

Herman Melville's Moby Dick was published in 1851 and is considered one of the canonical classics of American literature.

Author:  Adrian Medland