John Lennon’s Original ‘Sgt. Pepper’ Album Cover Sketch Set For Auction

An original sketch by The Beatles’ John Lennon for the cover of the world famous Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album is heading to auction.

The sketch will anchor Julien’s Auctions’ upcoming sale in New York City. The Music Icons 2017 auction will take place on 20 May at the Hard Rock Café in Manhattan’s Times Square, and Lennon’s sketch is expected to fetch up to $60,000 when it goes under the hammer in the US.

The drawing was initially discovered in a sketchbook found at Lennon’s former home in Surrey, England, where he lived with his first wife Cynthia. While the couple were in residence at the house, Lennon wrote several Beatles hits, as well as some of the songs which the band later recorded for Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band.

The early album artwork sketch features a bass drum adorned with the LP’s title and is estimated to be worth between $40,000 and $60,000. In addition to the sketch, further lots of Beatles memorabilia will also be auctioned. These include a Please Please Me album cover signed by Lennon, a George Harrison-signed Fender guitar used by the band, and a concert programme from 1963, which all four members of The Beatles signed.

A number of Beach Boys items are also set to hit the auction block. These include photographs, manuscripts, handwritten notes and lyrics, music sheets and band contracts. Several Elvis Presley-related items will also reputedly be up for sale, including his first piano and a chest X-ray. Additional items of note expected to attract major bids from serious music collectors are a selection of Prince’s handwritten notes and lyrics, the zoot suit David Bowie wore in the film Jazzin’ For Blue Jean, a Rickenbacker guitar used by U2’s The Edge, Eric Clapton and Morrissey and Django Reinhardt’s popular Levin Deluxe guitar.

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