Lennon's Schoolbook Art up for Sale
A 10-page school exercise book, bound in red paper and filled with the scribbles of a 12-year-old Liverpool boy, is expected to fetch £100,000 at auction next month. The exercise book, somewhat grandly entitled My Anthology, is the work of John Lennon and includes doodles, drawings and poems said to have inspired some of the Beatles' greatest songs. One sketch is of the walrus from Lewis Carroll's The Walrus and the Carpenter, believed to have been the inspiration for the band's song I Am the Walrus.
"He will always be remembered as one of the greatest singers and songwriters of all time," said Louise Cooper of auctioneers Cooper Owen. "But these sketches and poems paint a new picture of the creativity and passion that was rushing through his veins at such a young age. The book includes 10 famous poems, including The Walrus and the Carpenter. That obviously led in his mind to I Am the Walrus. It is a very early link to that song. It shows how artistic he was. He'd sit there at his desk and he'd be off daydreaming and writing poems."
The book is not the oldest example of Lennon's belongings in the sale of rock memorabilia on April 19. Also being auctioned is his engraved silver christening bracelet.
A devastating letter from Lennon and fellow Beatles George Harrison and Ringo Starr to Paul McCartney, which some Beatles experts believe led to the irrevocable split in the band, is another item in the sale. John, George and Ringo wanted the group to be managed by former Rolling Stones manager Alan Klein, but Paul wanted Linda McCartney's father, Lee Eastman, to be manager. "The others thought that would give Paul too much power within the band," Ms Cooper said.