John Lennon (1940-1980) - photo 1
John Lennon (1940-1980) - photo 2
John Lennon (1940-1980) - photo 3
John Lennon (1940-1980) - photo 4
John Lennon (1940-1980) - photo 5

John Lennon (1940-1980)

Lot 43
09.07.2025 10:30UTC +01:00
Classic
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CHRISTIE'S
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
Buyer Premiumsee on Website%
ID 1449845
Lot 43 | John Lennon (1940-1980)
Estimate value
£ 30 000 – 40 000
John Lennon (1940-1980)
Autograph letter signed ('John') to Cynthia Powell (later Lennon), Star Club, Hamburg, n.d. [19-24 April 1962]
On rectos only, 4 pages, 295 x 210mm (excisions, apparently by Cynthia Lennon, to pp. 1 and 3). Provenance: Cynthia Lennon (1939-2015), sold in 1991 to – Bruno Tillander, exhibited in Lund, Sweden, in October 1991, and in Stockholm, April-August 1993 (manuscript exhibition card by Cynthia Lennon) – acquired by the present owners in 1993.

The 21-year old John Lennon in Hamburg to his future wife, Cynthia Powell: 'I love love love you and I'm missing you like mad ... I wish I was on the way to your flat with the Sunday papers and chocies and a throbber'. A stream-of-consciousness letter written over five days during the Beatles' first residency at the Star-Club in Hamburg, interspersing news of the band with more personal passages ('I love you ... I love you Cyn'). The letter refers at the outset to Lennon's close friend and the Beatles' original bassist, Stuart Sutcliffe, who had died on 10 April ('I wonder why all the newspapers wrote about Stu') and his fiancée, Astrid Kirchherr ('I haven't seen Astrid since the day we arrived I've thought of going to see her but I would be so awkward') before discussing Cynthia's plans to share a house with Paul McCartney's girlfriend Dot Rhone in Liverpool: 'I don't like the idea of Dot moving in permanently with you 'cause we would never be alone really ... imagine having her there all the time when we were in bed – and imagine Paul coming all the time ... I love you Cyn'. Lennon is impressed with the newly-built Star-Club: 'The club is massive and we only play 3 hrs one night and 4 the next – and we play an hour – then an hour break so it doesn't seem long at all really ... God I'm knackered it's 6 o'clock in the morning and I want you...'.

He resumes the letter on Easter Sunday afternoon: 'Happy Easter Cyn. I love you ... My voice has been gone since I got here ... I can't seem to find it – ah well! I love you Cyn Powell and I wish I was on the way to your flat with the Sunday papers and chocies and a throbber! Oh yes! I forget to tell you I've got a GEAR suede overcoat with a belt so I'll look just like you now! Paul's leaping about on my head (he's in a bunk on top of me and he's snoring) ... Shurrup Mcarntey [sic]!... I can't wait to see your new room it will be great seeing it for the first time and having chips and all and a ciggie'; also boasting of their 'good bathroom with a shower ... I've had ONE whole shower aren't I a clean little rocker? ... Will you send me the words to "A SHOT OF R[H]YTHM AND BLUES" please? there's not many'. The letter resumes on the Tuesday morning after a set at the club: 'we finished playing about 3/4 hr ago (it's 2 o'clock') I'm dead beat my sweet ... I love you I love you please wait for me and don't be sad and work hard be a clever little Cyn Powell ... PS. They're leather PANTIES not pants (just in case y'know)!'.

Cynthia Powell (1939-2015) had been in a relationship with Lennon since 1958, having met when they were both at the Liverpool College of Art. She and Dot Rhone had visited Hamburg in 1961, staying with Astrid Kirchherr. Cynthia and Lennon married on 23 August 1962; their son Julian was born on 8 April 1963. The couple divorced in 1968. The Beatles' residencies at the Indra Club, Kaiserkeller, Top Ten Club and finally the Star-Club in Hamburg between August 1960 and May 1962 were a formative period, honing their musical skills and defining their look. Their increasing status is reflected by the fact that they were the opening act for the newly built 2,000-seat Star-Club in April 1962: they were to return to the Star-Club for two further stints, in November and December the same year. The band's original bassist, Stuart Sutcliffe, a friend of Lennon's since their days at the College of Art, had left the group in July 1961 to study art in Hamburg. He died of a cerebral haemorrhage on 10 April 1962: the Beatles learnt the news from Astrid Kirchherr on their arrival at Hamburg airport on 13 April, only six days before this letter. Kirchherr, who is sometimes crediting with inventing the Beatles' moptop haircut, was later to design the sleeve for Revolver. The letter also refers to the band's booking manager, Allan Williams, and to the Jacaranda Club in Liverpool which he ran, to Manfred Weissleder, manager of the Star-Club, and the club's bouncer Horst Fascher, and briefly to Lennon's aunt Mimi Smith. The Beatles were to record Arthur Alexander's 'A Shot of Rhythm and Blues' at the BBC in 1963.

Published with a facsimile in Hunter Davies, John Lennon's Letters (2012), 44-45. In two places Cynthia Lennon has cut out phrases or sentences, presumably as censorship: the first follows the phrase 'where are you my little ...'. Christie's would like to thank noted Beatles autograph and handwriting expert Frank Caiazzo for his assistance in authenticating this lot.
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
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09.07.2025 – 09.07.2025
Phone +44 (0)20 7839 9060
Email
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