SOUGHT-after copies of Bronte books have been put on sale by the UK’s largest rare book seller.

Peter Harrington is highlighting the 200th anniversary of Emily Bronte’s birth as it prepares to auction the first American edition of her novel Wuthering Heights.

Alongside will be an “exceedingly rare” collection of poems published by Emily, Charlotte and Anne Bronte and library sets of the Bronte sisters’ novels.

Harrington is also highlighting the 40th anniversary of Kate Bush’s hit single Wuthering Heights – based on the novel – as attracts interest in the auction.

The company pointed out that Emily and Kate Bush share a birthday, with the singer turning 60 on the day Bronte enthusiasts are due to gather in Haworth to celebrate Emily’s 200th birthday.

Harrington said Wuthering Heights was published in 1847 under the pseudonym Ellis Bell and shocked readers with its ill-fated and unconventional relationship between Heathcliff and Cathy.

Emily Bronte’s name didn’t appear in the first edition and she died in 1848 just a year after it was published, at the age of 30, without knowing how famous she and her novel would become.

Pom Harrington, the owner of Peter Harrington, said: “Emily Bronte only wrote one novel which became a literary classic after her death.

“The first and second English editions of Wuthering Heights are extremely rare, so we are pleased to be able to offer this first American edition of her famous novel for sale.

“Emily along with Charlotte and Anne also published ‘Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell’, (their pseudonyms), in 1846, which was the Bronte sisters’ first publication and we are delighted to have one of the first 1,000 copies of this very rare book for sale too.”

The American first edition, published in April 1848 and’s original price of 75 cents, is described as an excellent copy with a guide price of £8,500.

Pom said: “The book does not contain Emily Bronte’s name and the publisher on the title page misattributed the book to Charlotte Bronte saying ‘By the author of Jane Eyre’.

“The first English edition of Wuthering Heights was published in 1847 and the second English edition in December 1850, after the American edition.

“The first edition along with Anne Bronte’s Agnes Grey was rushed out by the publisher Thomas Cautley Newby in December 1847 to try and capitalise on the unexpected success of Jane Eyre, which was published by one of Newby’s rivals.

“Newby then embarked on an advertising campaign to confuse the identity of the three Bell “brothers”, suggesting that all the novels were the work of one person which led to the mistaken attribution on the title page of this edition.

Poems by Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell, published in 1846, will begin the bidding at £35,000, as it is one of only a tiny number of copies still in existence.

It was originally published in an edition of 1,000 copies, of which just 39 were sold. Following the success of Jane Eyre, the unsold stock of 961 copies was purchased by Smith, Elder and re-issued with a different title page. This is one of the original copies with the first title page.

The slim volume contains 19 poems by Charlotte ("Currer"), and 21 each by Emily ("Ellis") and Anne ("Acton"). Though the book was a commercial failure, Emily’s poetry in particular is now recognized as having real quality, with hauntingly elegiac lyrics written in a spare, natural style.

Starting bidding at £2,500 will be 10 library sets The Works of the Sisters Bronte in 12 volumes, published in 1893.

Peter Harrington was established in 1969 and has since specialised in selling and buying top-quality original first editions, signed, rare and antiquarian books, fine bindings and library sets.

Since 1991 it is catalogued more than 125,000 rare books.