A miniature photograph of the father of the three most famous author sisters in English literature – Charlotte, Emily and Anne Bronte – should return to the place he made his home.

Andrew McCarthy, director of the Bronte Parsonage Museum in Haworth, would like to see the framed picture of the Rev Patrick Bronte back in the Parsonage, now a world-famous museum to the family.

The oval-shaped sepia image is being sold by auctioneers Ewbank Clarke Gammon Wellers on June 24, and they expect it to fetch up to £600.

The lot also includes the original Sotheby’s sale catalogue, now dog-eared, which includes details of the miniature when it was first sold in 1898. Global interest could push up the price of the picture and catalogue, which was found at a Midlands antique fair hidden in an old box of papers.

Mr McCarthy said: “Later this week we will be sitting down to see how we should approach the sale – this is where the photograph belongs.

“It’s a lovely item which would enhance the museum, and we would like to acquire it, and support from the public would be appreciated.

“It is not a new image – copies are known to exist – but it is a new item on the market, and we will be reviewing our financial position.”

He stressed that with the exposure it would get in the media, the price could be inflated beyond the estimate.

The museum was the world custodian of Bronte material, he said, but in reality as a small organisation it was not possible to acquire everything without generous support, from the Bronte Society and the public.

The Brontes’ father was an enlighted and forward-thinking man who believed in equality of education.

The photograph was once proudly displayed alongside other Bronte mementoes in the Museum of Bronte Relics housed in the Temperance tea rooms in Haworth.

It was eventually auctioned by Sotheby’s in 1898 when the museum closed and sold everything off.

The Bronte Society was set up in 1893 and opened its first museum in the upper floor of the Yorkshire Penny Bank, now Haworth Tourist Information Centre.

The society acquired the Parsonage in 1928, thanks to the generosity of Sir James Roberts, a Haworth man and member of the society.

Patrick Bronte died in 1861, aged 84, outliving his wife and all his children.

Anyone interested in supporting any bid by the Bronte Society should conatct the museum on (01535) 642323.