THE PURCHASE of a historic book linked with the Brontës has been highlighted by the National Heritage Memorial Fund. The fund showcased the importance of the Haworth-based Brontë Society buying ‘Mrs Brontë’s Book’ in its glossy annual report. The National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF) gave the society £170,000 towards the cost of the copy of Robert Southey’s The Remains of Henry Kirke White. Maria Brontë owned the book and it contains annotated scribblings by her daughter Charlotte, author of classic novel Jane Eyre. The book is one of the rare surviving possessions of Maria, and was greatly treasured by the Brontë family while they were living at the parsonage in Haworth.

Amy Rowbottom, a member of the curatorial team at the Brontë Parsonage Museum, this week tweeted about the NHMF report. She wrote: “@BronteParsonage thrilled to see the generous grant we received in the NHMF's latest report. Thank you!” She later told the Keighley News that Mrs Brontë’s Book was a significant acquisition by the society.

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She added: “We continue to be appreciative that the significance of the book was recognised by the NHMF and that their generosity enabled it to return to the museum where it will go on display next year.”

The book was bought earlier this year with added financial support from the V&A Purchase Grant Fund and the Friends of the National Libraries. Members of the Brontë Society were treated to a first glimpse of the book at their annual summer festival.

The NHMF report stated: “After Mrs Brontë’s early death the book became a treasured family item. “The book contains annotations and sketches by members of the family, as well as an unpublished poem and fragment of prose written by Charlotte Brontë. “The book evidently was shared and valued by the whole family as a memento of their mother. “The book was when Maria Brontë’s possessions were shipwrecked off the Devon coast shortly before her marriage to Patrick Brontë in 1812.

“It contains Latin inscriptions in Patrick’s hand stating that this was “the book of my dearest wife and it was saved from the waves. So then it will always be preserved.” The book was sold at the sale held at the Parsonage following the death of Patrick Brontë in 1861 and spent most of the last century in the USA. Ann Dinsdale, collections manager at the Parsonage Museum, believes Mrs Brontë’s book is one of the most significant Brontë items to come to light in many years.