A copy of a rare Beatles album once owned by John Lennon, complete with hand-drawn sketches, is expected to sell for more than $200,000 at auction next month.
The early edition of Yesterday And Today features an infamous photo of the group dressed as butchers, and remains one of the only copies in existence.
Lennon gave it to Beatles collector Dave Morrell in 1972 in return for memorabilia and bootleg material.
Woah! #JohnLennon's own copy of the #Beatles 'Butcher Cover' up for sale @HeritageAuction: https://t.co/Ib7md7bVUu pic.twitter.com/XKleN3JiFc
— JustCollecting (@just_collecting) October 11, 2017
The message states ‘To Dave, from John Lennon’, alongside a date of December 7 1971.
Gary Shrum, the director of music memorabilia at Heritage Auctions, told the Daily Mail: ‘The term world class is probably a bit over-used in describing collectibles, however, labeling this unique, rare, and desirable Beatles item as world class is not hyperbole.
‘This piece is rare because one it’s the butcher cover that was withdrawn and never sold on the market after the second day. It’s John Lennon’s personal copy, it’s a prototype that had a blank back, which John did artwork on the back of.
‘Plus it’s a stereo copy which was the rarest of the butcher covers, because only a few stereo copies got out when they were for sale.
‘So this is a brilliant piece for any Beatles collector or rock and roll collector that likes to collect the history of music.’