John Lennon scribbles exceed sale estimates at Sotheby's
Handwritten letters, notes, poems and sketches by John Lennon have exceeded pre-sale estimates at an auction at Sotheby's in New York.
The Fat Budgie, a nonsensical poem, was sold for $143,000 (£85,000), having been valued at up to $35,000 (£21,000).
A handwritten manuscript called I Sat Belonely went for $137,000 (£82,000), four times its estimate.
The pieces, part of an 89 lot sale, come from Lennon's books In His Own Write and A Spaniard in the Works.
A corrected typescript titled Neville Club has been sold for $100,000 (£60,000), several times above its high estimate of $12,000 (£7,000).
Sotheby's has said the sale represents the largest private collection of the former Beatle's work to come to market. It was previously owned by the books' British publisher, Tom Maschler.