THE earliest known letter written by The Beatles' John Lennon is expected to fetch more than £30,000 at auction next month.
In the greeting card, which was written by Lennon when he was 11 years old, he thanks his Aunt Harriet for presents she had given him, including a book about ships.
He sent the neatly hand-written thank you message shortly after Christmas in 1951 to his mother Julia's younger sister.
In the letter, the young Lennon shares his delight at receiving a personalised towel and a reading book about famous ships.
He wrote:
Dear Harrie
Thankyou for the book that you sent to me for Christmas and for the towel with my name on it, And I think it is the best towel I have ever seen.
The book that you sent to me is a very interesting one. I am at the bottom of page 18 at the moment. The story is famous Ships its all about a man called Captain kidd the pirate.
I am on the second chapter, the first chapter is called the Victory and the second chapter is called the Mary Celeste.
Thankyou for the red jumper that you sent to me.
I hope you have a happy new year. Love from
John x
This letter is believed to be the first of many that Lennon wrote, with further letters being penned to family and friends during his Beatles career.
It is from a collection of his cousin David Birch, Harriet's son, and is due to be sold at an online auction that closes on April 3.
The auction contains over 300 lots of Beatles and music memorabilia, including the address book from Liverpool's Cavern Club where the group played many gigs, the band’s promotional posters and a collection of records that were previously owned by Lennon.
