Last week, we had a look at John Lennon's unending ability to attract newspaper headlines in 2009. Meanwhile, at Bonhams in London, The Beatles were continuing to turn heads at auction.
Along with Michael Jackson's fedora, and an iconic piece of punk artwork from The Clash's 1979 London Calling LP, an autographed issue of The Beatles Book monthly fan club magazine was also a big seller.
No. 5, Xmas Edition, December 1963 bears blue ballpoint signatures by each of the Fab Four on its cover. It sold along with No. 36, July 1966 and five 8x10 black and white press photographs.
This historic piece of Beatlemania left the auction block valued at $12,000.
 A signed December 1963 edition, sold for $12,000 |
It brought slightly less than another Beatles magazine of notorious provenance: an issue of a teen magazine, Datebook, featuring Lennon's infamous proclamation, "We're more popular than Jesus".
The magazine, later signed by Lennon - "To Art, with love from John C Lennon," obviously a cheeky pun on Jesus Christ's initials - brought $12,713 in New York, in September 2009.
Thirty years after his death, Lennon's appeal to collectors shows no sign of abating, and he remains one of today's top earning dead celebrities, according to Forbes magazines.
However, his former Beatles colleague, Paul McCartney, is also among the top selling autographs. There are presently a number of highly sought-after McCartney signatures on the market which can be yours to own.
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