The Penguin John Lennon. Harmondsworth. 8vo. 154, (6) pp. Original printed wrappers.
$ 6,348 / 5.500 €
(106203/BN68455)
Later Penguin printing of Lennon’s collected comic prose and drawings, signed and inscribed in 1971 with a characteristic speech‑bubble added in the author’s hand. - The inscription reads: "To Bob love from / John Lennon ’71", written as a bubble emerging from a printed creature on the page facing the copyright page, neatly integrating Lennon’s autograph with the book’s graphic idiom. - Issued as Penguin’s compact anthology of Lennon’s two mid‑sixties books, it brought the playful absurdism of "In His Own Write" and "A Spaniard in the Works" to a new paperback audience at the end of the decade.
Lennon’s drawn speech‑bubble inscriptions are keenly sought for the way they echo his doodle‑and‑wordplay aesthetic; this example, dated 1971, offers appealing proximity to his post‑Beatles period in London. - A well‑presented signed copy of an iconic Beatles‑era literary offshoot with visual flair..