An “extremely rare” working draft of lyrics to one of Bob Dylan’s most esteemed works of songwriting could fetch between £20,000 to £40,000 at auction.
The page of draft lyrics to the singer-songwriter’s track “I’m Not There” was recently discovered inside a first-edition paperback of Allen Ginsberg’s Ankor Wat.
The book was once owned by Sally Grossman, the wife of Dylan’s first manager, Albert Grossman, and a close friend of the singer who famously appeared with him on the cover of his 1965 album, Bringing It All Back Home.
Omega Auctions, which listed the lyrics page, said it was likely that it would have sat nestled within the book since not long after Grossman was gifted the book by Ginsberg in 1969.
The book, along with many others, were part of a collection from the Sally Grossman estate sold to a book dealer in the US following her death in 2021.
Dylan wrote and recorded more than 100 songs, including “I’m Not There”, during the summer of 1967 with his then-backing group The Band.
A small collection of tapes were released eight years later by Columbia Records; further songs were released in the following decades.
Yet “I’m Not There” was not officially released until it appeared on the soundtrack album for the film of the same name, starring an ensemble cast – Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Richard Gere, Heath Ledger, Ben Whishaw and Marcus Carl Franklin – playing different facets of Dylan’s public personas.
The page of lyrics – a piece of lined paper that has been torn along the lower edge bearing the typed lyrics with several amendments – is set to go under the hammer this month.
Early drafts of Dylan’s lyrics are hard to come by: last year, a work-in-progress version of his 1965 chart-topper “Mr Tambourine Man” was sold by Julien’s Auctions for more than $500,000 (£376,000).
The description on the “I’m Not There” listing says: “After discussions with notable Dylan collectors, it is believed that this is an extremely rare working lyric draft of what is regarded as one of Dylan’s greatest pieces of songwriting.”
Music fans have plenty of opportunities to get their hands on some important memorabilia this month, from a guitar used by Guns N’ Roses musician Slash to a leather jacket worn by the late George Michael in his “Faith” music video.
Part of the Music Memorabilia Live Auction collection, Slash’s guitar is expected to fetch between £150,000 to £300,000, while Michael’s jacket could sell in the range of £60,000 to £120,000.
Other Beatles memorabilia include an original manuscript of the lyrics to “Goodbye”, which was handwritten by Sir Paul McCartney and dates back to 1969.
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