Brontë guardians have hit the jackpot again after outbidding rivals to buy a rare treasure at auction in Sotheby’s, London.

They paid £32,000 for Wuthering Heights author Emily Bronte’s artist’s box and geometry set.

Just weeks ago at an auction in New York they acquired one of the rarest Charlotte Brontë miniature poetry manuscripts, paying 50,000 dollars.

The artists’ box and geometry set still contains items used by Emily, such as sticks of sealing wax, gummed paper and glass bottles.

Ann Dinsdale, Brontë Parsonage Museum collections manager, said: “We are absolutely thrilled. What a fantastic Christmas present. We can’t wait to see them returned to their home in Haworth.

“We watched the bidding on line and we dug as deep as we could — we’ve now used up our acquisitions budget but it’s been well worth it.”

They were unable to stretch to the other items, a collection of pencil drawings owned by Emily and a writing desk that belonged to Charlotte, author of Jane Eyre.

Now they were looking forward to receiving the items and displaying them at the museum in Haworth from the New Year.