Manuscripts by writer Virginia Woolf discovered in a Sussex house could soon be published for the first time.

The documents are a series of hand-written and typed articles written by Woolf for a mock newspaper created by her nephews Julian and Quentin Bell.

Yesterday, the British Library acquired 188 editions of the newspaper, The Charleston Bulletin, after they were discovered in Quentin's home in Firle, near Lewes.

Woolf's sister Vanessa Bell and her husband Clive took up a lease on the house in 1916 and it later became their home.

The Bulletin was founded in the summer of 1923 by their children Quentin, 13, and Julian, 15.

The precious copies were discovered in an old tin trunk after Quentin's death in 1996 and have remained in the hands of the Bell family ever since.

The library has paid an undisclosed six-figure sum for the papers, which were put up for sale by Quentin's wife Olivier and daughter Virginia.

Woolf is the subject of renewed interest following the success of Stephen Daldry's film The Hours.

Nicole Kidman won a best actress Oscar for her portrayal of the author of Orlando and Mrs Dalloway.

Many of the articles are humorous essays about fellow members of the Bloomsbury set, the circle of artists and intellectuals, of which she was a leading light.

The Bulletin chronicles the comings and goings at Charleston, the country refuge of the group.

The boys recorded outings, dinner parties and dances and included contributions from their parents as well as letters and plays.

Woolf's essays were produced for the Bulletin's Christmas and Year In Review specials, written in her favourite purple ink.

They include The Messiah, in which she describes art critic Clive as "our hero, the Messiah of Bloomsbury"; Scenes In The Life Of Mrs Bell, written about her sister; and Eminent Charlestonians: The Dunciad, about painter Duncan Grant.

Dr Christopher Wright, the British Library's head of manuscripts, said: "This important and exciting acquisition of The Charleston Bulletins will allow scholars the opportunity to study this material, offering a penetrating perspective on the Bloomsbury group for the first time.

"Although its existence was already known, it has never been worked on before by academics."

The British Library already holds several important Woolf manuscripts, including her 1925 novel Mrs Dalloway and her own juvenile periodical, The Hyde Park Gate News.

The new acquisitions are likely to be published in academic works and will be displayed at the library.