Signed Beatles LP fetches £22,800

The letter was written after Lennon's first marriage collapsed

A copy of the album A Hard Day's Night signed by all four Beatles when they performed in Suffolk in 1964 has fetched £22,800 at auction in London.

The autographs were obtained by an Evening Star reporter before the gig at the Gaumont Cinema in Ipswich.

Other Beatles memorabilia sold at the Christie's auction included a rare letter to John Lennon's first wife Cynthia, which sold for £12,000.

It is signed "your famous ex-husband" with doodles of a face and trees.

A rare Bob Dylan tour poster doubled its estimate selling for £3,840.

"John Lennon and Beatles memorabilia was highly sought-after yet again, with fans and trade alike snapping up rare items," said Christie's Sarah Hodgson.

A set of 14 lithographs from the 1970s sold for £18,000.

Second letter

However, a second letter written by Lennon to his cousin Leila, which was expected to fetch up to £15,000, failed to sell.

Both letters, written in the mid-1970s, reveals how the singer's relationship with Cynthia and his son Julian broke down after he met second wife Yoko Ono.

The auction follows a sale earlier this week at Bonhams auction house in London which saw 12 items of Lennon memorabilia go under the hammer.

Items included a signed copy of the Sergeant Pepper album, which fetched £14,000.