The personal collection of comedian, actor, and writer Barry Humphries is being sold including a rare book that could realise £150,000.
Humphries is most famous as the creator of Dame Edna Everage, a Melbourne housewife who he portrayed from the 1960s on stage and TV in his native Australia and the UK.
He was also a significant collector of art and books.
Humphries was himself a surrealist painter, and well-informed enough on art to present Open University TV shows on the subject.
Among the star items from his personal collection, to be auctioned by Christie’s in London on February 13, is a copy of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Ernest that is expected to raise between £100,000 and £150,000.
The presentation copy of the first edition, subtitled, “A Trivial Comedy for Serious People. By the Author of Lady Windermere’s Fan,” is numbered 1 of 12 copies in purple ink.
Oscar Wilde’s signature inside the book is as elegant as you’d expect. Image courtesy of Christie’s.
Wilde has inscribed the book to its publisher, writing: “To Leonard Smithers from the Author. In sincere friendship and astonishment. Feb. 1899.”
A book plate confirms Humphries’ ownership of the volume.
Wilde’s clever, witty play was a huge hit. But it was abruptly cancelled when its author was imprisoned for gross indecency (Wilde was gay) in 1895.
An example of the the 12 presentation copies have previously been sold. One reached $362,500 in 2012 in New York. In London in 2015 the same copy sold for £197,000.
Much of Wilde’s personal library and some papers were sold in 1895 to clear his debts.
The Humphries collection also includes a first edition of Wilde’s play Salome that was probably owned by Lord Alfred Douglas. Douglas was Bosie, Wilde’s lover and the origin of the court cases that ended the Irish writer’s career.
That book, printed in Paris in 1893 in a limited edition of 50, is expected to make between £40,000 to £60,000.
“Barry Humphries’s collection of books and manuscripts is a rare and significant treasure trove,” said Mark Wiltshire, Specialist, Books and Manuscripts at Christie’s, “reflecting a deep intellectual engagement with some of the most important works in literature’s most decadent era.
“From the sharp wit of Oscar Wilde to the effervescence of F. Scott Fitgerald, this collection offers invaluable insight into the cultural and artistic movements that shaped the modern world.”
