Barry Humphries, famed for his character Dame Edna Everage, has left behind a unique auction of his collectibles at Christie's following his death. Though Dame Edna herself has reportedly retreated to a nunnery, her distinctive items, including a pair of sparkling 'Sydney Opera House' spectacles, will be featured at the auction, which celebrates Humphries' extensive career. Notably, one prized lot is an early copy of Oscar Wilde's 'The Importance of Being Earnest,' highlighting Humphries' dual legacy as both a comic genius and a cultured individual.
The inclusion of pairs of her glasses among the lots, as well as her spangled frocks, will surely summon her presence all the same.
Humphries amused television, radio and theatre audiences as the housewife superstar for nearly seven decades, and as other characters, including the heavily-foxed Australian diplomat, Sir Les Patterson.
In his autobiography, he recalls how as a boy, he fossicked for books in the second-hand shops of Melbourne, much to the disgust of his mother.
A star lot in the sale, one of the first copies ever printed of Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest, inscribed by Wilde.
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