John Lennon’s Doodles, Poems & Drawings To Be Sold at NYC Auction

A collection of doodles, poems and comic drawings by John Lennon entitled “You Might Well Arsk” are hitting the auction block at Sotheby’s in June. The 89 lot offering will feature an assortment of personal items from the famous Beatle, ranging from a humorous drawing of a “National Health Cow,” which pokes fun at Britain’s national health service, to original manuscripts and art.

Highlights of the June 4 sale include drawings and poems from the ’60s when Beatlemania was at its all time high. When the Beatles made their first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964, nearly 73 million viewers tuned in, creating a new phenomenon in music—and a worldwide following.

The auction will also feature Lennon’s unpublished typescripts, which reference the group’s 1962 single “Love Me Do.” “It is gibberish, it is gobbledygook, and yet it’s funny, it’s humorous verse,” explained Philip Errington, the director of printed books and manuscripts at Sotheby’s. “It’s very much like Lewis Carroll. ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’ and ‘Through the Looking Glass’ were two of Lennon’s favorite books from childhood and he read them on a yearly basis.”

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