Fifty Years After the Beatles Broke Up, Trove of Memorabilia Goes on Auction

If you’ve ever dreamed of wearing a pair of John Lennon’s iconic round glasses, now’s your chance—as long as you have $50,000 or so to spare.

A half-century after the Beatles’ breakup, Sotheby’s is auctioning a wide-ranging collection of objects related to the beloved band, including a set of the signature Windsor spectacles.

The 63 lots up for auction span the Beatles’ career, starting before John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr began playing together in Liverpool in the late 1950s and early ’60s and continuing through their rise to superstardom.

Among the items featured are a signed, seven-inch vinyl record of the band’s first single, “Love Me Do”; fan club newsletters; posters; and royalty statements.

The glasses, which are expected to sell for between £30,000 and £40,000 (roughly $38,700 to $51,650 USD), may have been Lennon’s first pair in that style. He gave them to his housekeeper, Dorothy “Dot” Jarlett, in 1965. At the time, the musician was wearing contact lenses during public appearances; he only began wearing glasses publicly the following year.

More