An album launch invitation from the Beatles is to go on sale at Charterhouse Auctioneers in Sherbourne, UK as part of its September 27 auction.
The invitation features the iconic image of the four on the Abbey Road crossing with the words: "The four of us would be greatly honoured if you would grace the first floor at APPLE 3, Savile Row, with your presence at 3.45 pm on September 18th (Thursday this week), so we can meet you all again and play you our new album Abbey Road. Love from John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr." It is signed in red ink by McCartney.
 The invitation was taken from the home of Ringo Starr |
It was acquired by in 1974 by a young Beatles fan who bought it for 2 pence from a friend's father - a heating engineer who had been carrying out work at the home of Ringo Starr.
He had found a collection of documents relating to the Beatles behind a radiator, and had asked if he could take them, to which Starr agreed.
While the invitation is only estimated to bring £150-200 ($236-315) at auction, Beatles memorabilia often changes hands for large sums.
This August, a tie given by John Lennon to a teenage fan auctioned for £3,627 ($5,626) - beating its £2,500 high estimate by 45.1%.
An unreleased interview, given by Lennon to Howard Smith (a dj and journalist for the village voice) in 1969 is also expected to rise far in excess of its $300 starting bid when the sale ends on September 26.
A spokesperson for Charterhouse, Richard Brommell, commented: "Anything original to do with the Beatles will attract interest from collectors young and old alike.
"Over the years, we have sold Beatles autographs, records and ephemera, but I have never come across an album launch invitation, which has the added bonus of being signed by Paul McCartney. I guess most of them were simply thrown away after the event!"
We have a large collection of Beatles memorabilia for sale, including an extremely rare signed copy of A Hard Day's Night. For more information on collectibles and music memorabilia, please sign up to our free weekly newsletter.
