A TREASURE trove of memorabilia straight out of Wonderland will go under the hammer this week.

A 25-year-old collection of 'Alice in Wonderland', boasting more than 3,000 pieces will be on sale with Mallams auctioneers in Oxford on Wednesday.

Some priceless gems in the collection include Christmas crackers, toffee tins in the shape of Alice and the White Rabbit from the 1930s and a rare 1920s calendar stand with the Mad Hatter.

The items were gathered over the years by the late Thomas Schuster and his wife Greta.

Mr Schuster, who died in 2013, was an international antiquarian books and prints dealer in London and his interest in English children's literature was ignited by a client in Japan and he went on to become a recognised expert in the works of Kate Greenaway, Beatrix Potter and the Enid Blyton character 'Noddy.'

But it was the Victorian writer, photographer and Christ Church College don Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, better known as Lewis Carroll, who proved a lasting passion for Mr and Mrs Schuster.

Buying at auction, at antique fairs at home and abroad, and through specialist dealers, Alice in Wonderland was the couple’s shared hobby for more than a quarter century.

Mrs Schuster said: "What attracted my husband and I to the work of Charles Dodgson is the sheer magic of the stories and the extraordinary intelligence behind them.

"He created a world of great imagination which we found bewitching.

"If he had been alive today we would have been the best of friends, as he became one of our best friends through many happy years of collecting his works."

Highlights from the massive collection have been exhibited publicly on two previous occasions: at the Schuster gallery in the late 1990s and at the Tate Modern Liverpool in 2012.

But Mallams' sale will be the first time the collection will be viewed in its entirety - the myriad books, porcelain, artwork, posters, toys, dolls and ephemera that have surrounded the cult of Alice since the earliest years.

Mrs Schuster and son Chris chose to sell the collection in Oxford for its intimate associations with the Alice story.

It was famously during a boat trip on the Thames in 1862 that Dodgson first entertained the 10-year-old Alice Liddell and her sisters with the tale of a girl who fell down a rabbit hole into a world called Wonderland.

Dodgson was persuaded to write down the story, with the book Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland first published in 1865.

Every year Oxford celebrates all things Alice, with the annual Alice's Day celebrations scheduled this year for July 1.