The ‘world’s rarest Beatles album’ is up for sale (Report)

A copy of a rare Beatles album once owned by John Lennon, complete with hand-drawn sketches, is expected to go under the hammer for more than $200,000 next month.

The early edition of ‘Yesterday and Today’ features an infamous photo of the Fab Four dressed as butchers, and remains one of the only copies in existence after record executives ordered the destruction of albums featuring the contentious photograph.

Lennon’s personal copy was among the rare survivors, and he gave it to Beatles collector Dave Morrell in 1972 in return for memorabilia and bootleg material.

The album sleeve even features a personal message from the late Beatles icon, along with personal drawings.

The message states ‘To Dave, from John Lennon’, alongside a date of December 7 1971.

Now, it’s going under the hammer and experts believe that it could go for upwards of $200,000 (£151,000).

Gary Shrum, the director of music memorabilia at Heritage Auctions, told the Daily Mail: ‘The term world class is probably a bit over-used in describing collectibles, however, labeling this unique, rare, and desirable Beatles item as world class is not hyperbole.

‘This piece is rare because one it’s the butcher cover that was withdrawn and never sold on the market after the second day. It’s John Lennon’s personal copy, it’s a prototype that had a blank back, which John did artwork on the back of.

‘Plus it’s a stereo copy which was the rarest of the butcher covers, because only a few stereo copies got out when they were for sale.

‘So this is a brilliant piece for any Beatles collector or Rock and Roll collector that likes to collect the history of music.’