Bob Dylan's original lyrics to Blowin' in the Wind have sold for $324,500 at Sotheby's New York.

The manuscript headlined the From Folk to Fury auction in New York on December 10.

Bob Dylan was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature earlier this year

Dylan wrote the song in New York in April 1962.

He gave a jaw-dropping rendition of the track in Gerde's Folk City on April 16, before teaching the track to his friend Gil Turner.

From there it spread quickly around the New York folk community.

It became an anthem around Greenwich Village and was so ubiquitous by the summer of 1962 that parodies were being performed in the streets (including the masterfully titled Blowin' out your End).

A recording of the song by Peter, Paul and Mary, released in August 1963, became a huge hit - earning Dylan his first serious royalty cheque.

An accompanying letter from Dylan scholar Clinton Heylin explains: "There are four manuscript versions known to exist: a fragment dated April 12, 1962; a version that appears to be a 'final working draft' on Taft Hotel stationary from late April/ early May 1962, a fair copy given to 'Sis Cunningham around May 1962, reproduced in The Bob Dylan Scrapbook, and this three verse version of the song which also appears to be an original period manuscript in the hand of Bob Dylan."

Dylan was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature earlier this year, in recognition of his singular contribution to the art of song writing.